Shock Troops of the Confederacy

I came across this book recently after reading about it over at Drew Wagenhoffer’s Civil War Books and Authors blog. It deals with the Sharpshooter Battalions formed in each brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia. The idea originated with Robert Rodes, who organized a sharpshooter battalion in his brigade in 1863, and later that year, after promotion to division command, he created one for each brigade in the division. Lee liked the idea so much that he ordered its adoption among the other brigades of the ANV in the spring of 1864. Author Fred Ray argues that these units played an important and sometimes decisive role in the late-war engagements of 1864-1865. The book is currently being offered at a pre-order price of $25 plus $4 S&H, with an option to have the author sign the book at no extra cost. For further information on this groundbreaking study, see http://sharpshooters.cfspress.com/.