The Massachusetts Andrew Sharpshooters

Named for Massachusetts governor John Albion Andrew—who prevented these two companies from joining the nationalized Berdan’s sharp-shooters so that their families could continue to receive state aid—the Andrew Sharpshooters often transferred from unit to unit as the need for their unique, long-range shooting skills changed.
This first chronicle of the Massachusetts Andrew Sharpshooters details their day-to-day activities and their courageous service at Seven Pines, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and numerous other Civil War battles. Thorough historical and genealogical information on every man who served in the unit completes this study of these significant but overlooked foot soldiers.

Alden C. Ellis, Jr., is the author of one other book about Massachusetts’s role in the Civil War and served as a consultant and advisor for the Civil War movie Lady in Black.

Alden C. Ellis, Jr.
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 276
Bibliographic Info: 76 photos, glossary, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6489-0
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8820-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1
Introduction      3

PART I: THE FIRST COMPANY OF ANDREW SHARPSHOOTERS
1. Goodbye Lynnfield      7
2. Intrepid, Eye in the Sky      17
3. Dig or Die      28
4. “Hell of Antietam”      35
5. Prestige Restored      46
6. Arduous Trek to Gettysburg      54
7. Strange Fruit on Trees      68
8. Death of a Dueling Sharpshooter      82

PART II: THE SECOND COMPANY OF ANDREW SHARPSHOOTERS
9. Basil Hall’s Farm for Winter Quarters      93
10. Shell Shocked      105
11. Horses in the Shade, Soldiers in the Sun      114
12. The Rifle or the Cell      124
13. Day of Thanksgiving, but No Food      146
14. Seventy-seven Held Longstreet      167
15. “Stuck in the Mud March”      179
16. Breakfast with Rebels      189

First Company Biographical Roster      211
Second Company Biographical Roster      235
Glossary      251
Notes      253
Bibliography      259
Index      263

“I heartily recommend Alden (Tom) Ellis’ The Massachusetts Andrew Sharpshooters to all scholars of the civil war. It is an eminently educational and enjoyable book that relates on a personal level the trials, tribulations and courage of the sharpshooters of the 1st & 2nd Co.’s of Massachusetts Sharpshooters, organized at the behest of Gov. John Andrews by Cpt. Jack Saunders in 1861. The book and Tom’s presentation to our Civil War Roundtable of Central Massachusetts were fascinating.”—Bob Carlson, President of CWRTCM.