Vermont riflemen in the war for the union, 1861 to 1865 A history of Company F, First United States sharp shooters — Text and Context

A Marksmanship Gap and Its Remedy

Ripley argues that Northern recruits—drawn from farms, workshops, and offices—often had never fired a gun before enlistment, while Southern men arrived with hunting and target experience. To counter this, the Union raised sharpshooter regiments from men who had made rifle shooting a study. The author’s emphasis on this disparity shapes the early chapters, which detail the organization and training of Company F. He notes that the company’s men had been in constant battle for a year and a half by mid-1863, suggesting a steep learning curve. The narrative thus frames the sharpshooters as a deliberate answer to a tactical problem, not merely a collection of skilled individuals.

The Voice of a Veteran Officer

Ripley’s prose is direct and occasionally sardonic. Describing a staff aide who led the regiment on a pointless march, he writes of “those nice young men who were so often appointed to positions on the staff for their beauty or their fragrance.” The anecdote ends with Lieutenant Colonel Trepp, a Dutch officer, cursing the aide and ordering the men to camp on the spot. Such moments reveal the author’s impatience with inefficiency and his willingness to name frustration. The narrative also includes a Shakespeare epigraph from Richard III before Chapter I, linking the Civil War to earlier civil strife—a literary choice that adds gravity to the account.

Movement and Memory on the March

The excerpts show a keen attention to geography and the emotional weight of familiar ground. As the regiment marches north toward Gettysburg, they pass “Hartwood church, Rappahannock Station, Catlet's Station, Manassas Junction, Centerville and Green Springs—all familiar as the scenes of past experience, and many of them sacred to the memory of dead comrades.” Ripley notes that twice before the sharpshooters had left the same camp to fight desperate battles, and twice returned defeated and despondent. Yet he adds that soldiers are optimists by nature, and the men soon step out merrily to the bugle. This blend of somber reflection and practical morale captures the rhythm of campaign life.

Readers should note that the excerpts cover only the opening chapters and the Gettysburg campaign buildup. The narrative continues through the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg before concluding. Ripley’s perspective as a field-grade officer offers a view from just above the company level—close enough to name individual soldiers, but broad enough to discuss strategy. The book is best read as a primary source on the sharpshooter experiment and the experience of a Vermont unit in the Army of the Potomac.

Rain fell against the window while I traced Company F’s stubborn learning curve, their pride dented by Southern bushwhackers. That same uneasy thought—empire’s confidence meeting local cunning—hung in the air. Later, idly, I reached for A history of the Zulu Rebellion, 1906, and of Dinuzulu's arrest, trial, and expatriation — Story, Setting & Ideas. Different rifles, same quiet realization: skill rarely wins alone.