LEE'S SHARPSHOOTERS - BY MAJOR DUNLAP C.S.A. - CIVIL WAR

Description: LEE’S SHARPSHOOTERS Or THE FOREFRONT OF BATTLE A STORY OF SOUTHERN VALOR THAT NEVER HAS BEEN TOLD BY MAJOR W.S. DUNLAP MINT CONDITION This is a brand new, unread, pristine condition book. Sharp, Clean, Bright, Solidly Bound, Brand New Book Illustrated Throughout HANDSOMELY PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS OF MORNINGSIDE BOOKSHOP, IN 2000 From the Introduction to the Morningside Edition: Civil War generals had been slow to adjust to the tactical revolution wrought by rifled musketry, but by early 1864 R. E. Lee was experimenting on several fronts. His increasing use of complex fortification systems was changing the nature of defensive warfare. As a tactical innovation with potential for use in offensive, defensive or static situations, Lee ordered that sharpshooter battalions be organized before the opening of the spring campaign. Capt. William S. Dunlop commanded the sharpshooter battalion which was formed from, and served with, the fine old South Carolina brigade which had been commanded first by Maxcy Gregg and then by Samuel McGowan. Each of the five regiments in the brigade--1st, 12th, 13th, and 14th Infantry and Orr’s Rifles—contributed about three dozen men to the new battalion. Dunlop sought such qualities as 'intelligence, sound judgment . . . marksmanship . . . unfaltering courage.' The manual on rifle practice published by Cadmus Wilcox in the 1850’s was used to train the men. The manual was a standard in its field; it would doubtless have been used even had Wilcox not been the division commander. Dunlop’s book provides fascinating accounts of the training process, of ordnance tests which certified the Enfield as superior to its competitors, and of marksmanship exercises quite unheard of in regular infantry units. As a reader progresses through Dunlop’s account of the 1864 operations, there dawns an awareness of the increasing competence of the sharpshooters. Already seasoned by years of war, the men became skilled and confident skirmishers. At the onset of the war’s last winter the sharpshooters were short of comforts and supplies, so they calmly headed out one dark night and routed a well-stocked enemy to capture what they needed (page 224 and ff.). They had become Lee’s shock troops, situated where Dunlop’s subtitle put them: 'At the Forefront of Battle.' There were, meanwhile, similar battalions doing service with other brigades throughout the Army of Northern Virginia. Dunlop’s narrative draws them into the story intermittently. The only one of those other battalions which receives major attention in the book is the one which was attached to the Mississippi brigade of Joseph R. Davis. Lt. Robert F. Ward was an officer in Davis’ sharpshooters; more than one hundred pages of this book were prepared by Ward to tell the story of his command. Lieutenant Ward’s account is actually the best portion of the book. It is dedicated almost exclusively to the battles of Wilderness and Spotsylvania. For each battle, Ward supplied a lively, dramatic personal narrative of his battalion’s experiences. Ward also supplied a contemporary account of each of the two battles, written by the correspondent of the London Herald. Newspaper accounts have never been favorably acclaimed as primary historic material, and with good cause. Newspaper correspondents were not (and are not) renowned for being reliable and objective at the level sought by serious historical students. The May 1864 London material which Ward reproduced is, however, very fine stuff indeed. It contains little that is demonstrably in error and much that is important for instance a firsthand account of A. P. Hill’s illness, and an early secondhand account of the famed Lee-to-the-rear episode at the Widow Tapp field. Captain Dunlop’s section of the book is strongest when it is a personal recollection of deeds which came under his own eye. Frequently there are extended narrations of events elsewhere in the army, or concerning the brigade at large. These latter segments are liberally paraphrased from the excellent brigade history by J. F. J. Caldwell, published in 1866 and reprinted by Morningside in 1974. Wedged between the South Carolina and Mississippi portions of the book is a 30-page filler of 'Promiscuous Anecdotes,' which is to say odds and ends of the sort that fill the Confederate imprint Marginalia by De Fontaine. An amusing episode about the fondness of Harry Heth’s brother for liquid refreshments is the highlight of the section. Three of the most interesting pieces of Dunlop’s work appear after the battle narrative. A roster of the sharpshooters is included. This reprint edition includes a detailed index to the whole book, including the roster. Painstaking search of official Compiled Service Records has made the index entries to the roster much more accurate than were the original entries themselves. Also interesting is the captain’s account of his enforced excursion to Johnson’s Island. Finally, on pages 293-298 there is a bittersweet essay by Dunlop which combines pride in Confederate service with disillusionment verging on rancor over the attention paid to Spanish-American War recruits at the expense of aging Confederates. That later war, which was going on when Lee’s Sharpshooters was published, is not mentioned specifically, but its armies are cited as 'mere suggestions of the mighty past,' filled with 'the dapper soldiery of a mock struggle.' Being a forgotten old soldier in 1898 was almost harder than being a hungry and frightened but proud young soldier in 1864. - Robert K. Krick THIS BOOK IS IN MINT CONDITION This is a brand new, unread, pristine condition book. Handsomely bound with a dark brown spine with light brow covers, gold lettering on the spine, and featuring three crossed flags of the Confederacy on the cover, the book is brand new and has no shortcomings. The book is clean with no wear and it doesn’t have a mark in it. The binding is solid and fine throughout. The lettering is bright. A brand new, clean, bright, sharp, new book; you won’t go wrong with this one. Track Page Views WithAuctiva's Counter

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Location: Burke, Virginia

End Time: 2024-09-16T15:46:55.000Z

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