Sharpshooters

This concise overview “fully captures the continuing evolution of snipers over the centuries” ( San Francisco Book Review ). The German states made the first serious use of sharpshooters on the battlefield during the Seven Years’ War in the eighteenth century. Some of these talented riflemen were then employed as mercenaries in America, where the tactical use of the rifle in wooded terrain was valued. By the Revolutionary War, American riflemen were formidable, able to blend into the landscape a