Whitworth Sharpshooters were the Confederates

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

' answer to the Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 sharpshooter regiments

2nd United States Volunteer Sharpshooter Regiment

The 2nd United States Volunteer Sharpshooter Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. From 1861 to January 1863 they were members of the "First Iron Brigade" also known as the "Iron Brigade of the East"....

 and used the English Whitworth rifle

Whitworth rifle

The Whitworth Rifle was a single-shot muzzle-loaded rifle used in the last half of the 19th century.-History:The Whitworth rifle was designed by Sir Joseph Whitworth, a prominent British engineer and entrepreneur. Whitworth had experimented with cannons using twisted hexagonal barrels instead of...

. These men accompanied regular infantrymen- their occupation was usually eliminating Union artillery gun crews.

The rifle

The gun proved to be an accurate and deadly instrument. Its most remembered act was on May 9, 1864 at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania , was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged...

, where Union General John Sedgwick

John Sedgwick

John Sedgwick was a teacher, a career military officer, and a Union Army general in the American Civil War. He was the highest ranking Union casualty in the Civil War, killed by a sniper at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.-Early life:Sedgwick was born in the Litchfield Hills town of...

 urged his men to leave a ditch in which they lay in order to cover from the Confederate snipers hidden 800 to 1000 yards away. According to Martin T. McMahon

Martin T. McMahon

Martin Thomas McMahon was an American jurist and a Union Army general during the American Civil War. He was awarded the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of White Oak Swamp. After the war, he held various legal and judicial positions in...

, Brevet Major-General, U.S.V. [Chief-of-Staff, Sixth Corps], he and General Sedgwick were walking along the line when he [Sedgwick] noticed a soldier dodging a near-passing bullet, and said to him -
Just seconds later he fell forward with a bullet hole below his left eye.