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Uniform coat and hat of Berdan’s sharpshooter


This uniform and hat belonged to a soldier of the 1st Regiment of U.S. Sharpshooters, better known as Berdan’s Sharpshooters. Mustered in 1861, this unit was commanded by Colonel Hiram Berdan, the top marksmen in the United States for fifteen years before the Civil War. The unit was composed of the best marksmen in each state of the North. Each sharpshooter received a Sharps rifle and wore a uniform, regulation cut but of a forest green, which was chosen as camouflage to make the lone soldier less conspicuous.


Division of the History of Technology, Armed Forces History
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Behring Center
Transfer from the U.S. War Department

 

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