Re: How Many SH Members are/were Snipers
The verb "to snipe" originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper".[2] The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter".[2]
During the American Civil War, the common term used in the United States was "sharpshooter", which is a reference to and a tribute to the Sharps rifles that were commonly used by Civil War "snipers", but the term "sharpshooter" does not originate with users of the Sharp's Rifle. The rifle was designed by Christian Sharps and made from 1850 onwards by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company. They were renowned for long range and accuracy, and they were issued only to the best shooters. However, the term "sharp shooter" had been in use in British newspapers as early as 1801. In the Edinburgh Advertiser, 23 June 1801, can be found the following quote in a piece about the North British Militia; "This Regiment has several Field Pieces, and two companies of Sharp Shooters, which are very necessary in the modern Stile of War". The term appears even earlier, around 1781, in Europe.
Another common term used in the United States during the American Civil War was "skirmisher". Throughout history armies have used skirmishers to break up enemy formations and to thwart the enemy from flanking the main body of their attack force.[3] They were deployed individually on the extremes of the moving army primarily to scout for the possibility of an enemy ambush. Consequently, a "skirmish" denotes a clash of small scope between these forces.[4] In general, a skirmish was a limited combat, involving troops other than those of the main body.[3] The term "sniper" was not in widespread use in the United States until after the American Civil War.