Ran across a privately published book about the shadowy 1st New York Sharpshooters. I’ve come across references to this unit but was unable to come with much information about it. Now John Bennett has done it for me, tracking down the sometimes tangled history of this unit in the first book about it. Originally intended to be a full regiment with five companies from New York and five from Pennsylvania, the 1st NY Sharpshooters eventually ended up as a battalion assigned to various different commands and ended its service at the Weldon Railroad near Petersburg in 1864, when the remaining members of the command were captured. So far I have not had time to do more than skim the book, but Bennett includes diary excerpts, orders, and a number of photographs of the unit’s men.
Bennett also has a blog about the sharpshooters, and you can order a print on demand hard copy from Lulu.com or from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. I downloaded a copy in PDF format ($9.95), which saves shelf space and is fully searchable.
No Word of Them: First Battalion New York Sharpshooters, 1862-1865
Author: John Bennett
ISBN: 978-1-4357-1138-9
Publisher: Lulu.com
Copyright: © 2007 John E. Bennett Standard Copyright License
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