New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-08-07
LOCAL MILITARY MATTERS.
REunANs SHARpsHoOTERs.


aacdpg by The sir criterion Of tue rifle practice at
WesGawken yesterday il would seem as II we were
about 70 introduce into army the most vaiaaoe ""u
eaec.ive arm Of the service that could be ue'Iseu
Ose toe that il it had been employed al pun nun
might have changed the fortunes OF the day anu ="
. ficsed ineparablo lose on the enemy. Rls one 'l"s
rep arded as the greatest bulwuk oil o"NLoI '''D
case Of war, and that in our hands will und'no'euy
heeone in the highest degree popular and eiDcien'.
Earopean uations freely eoncede the macheSs sn' -
o., frontier riaemen. and to shoot like iSnAee
bsehwood.man" has passed into poyeio 10 'e''a"
ds,;ee broad Our border history teens WIN s'oi''
ol the EXHIBITS Of hardy men whose us'y ines l'O-
,eted tbem from Indian foes aud procured the mean'
of ,beir sub,istence; and in our several wars VIZ
Mcx,oo England aud the Indian tribes, these "oieo
ful uarksmen have rid us Of many Proini,'A. a,ado
and chef Strangely enough, no ehoIt hHS t,,
a. i,corrorate fbese men into regimen v
sl,ooters until Mr. Berdan volunioeleu AL, %
onerous tack How successful BIS enoi'o or %
proye. may be lered from the report "o s'''0
what We witnessed yesterday
In Switzerland every male citizen capable Of oet'-
inu arms s obliged by law to enter the service oil 'ne
Sc yvlen he reaches his twentieth year, and TO
serve actively for eight and partially for fourteen
vears On being mustered in each man is obliged TO
show his skil in Tihe-shooiing. The beat men are
drafted into the Jaeger companies, and placed in the
wings Of baitaons. These put to another
ieet and the best shots being transferred to
the companies of SctagEktscr, or shIpshoot-
es, and drilled to fgbt as skirmishers The
Government possesses itself with corps Of men
who inAict the most terrible punishment upon an
enemy, by picking of their officers, and
Killing the arierisits and artilleryhorses.
These sbarpehOOters receive two-thTds more Ray
shan the iufonty soldiers end being better fed and
Treated are regarded with envy by the whole army,
ape held in great respect by their neigbbOrs and
fr,eus They ne armed with the splendid Swiss rife
which weighs about eleven pounds and costs the Gov
eminent about ll3 francs The Dersaglieri, and Gao
satori DELI Ay Of Tyro bear the nearest resemblance
20 the Syysg scharfschuzen and in the recent Italian
war proved their title to be held in dread by attack
ing toe for perched ellis where beside them only
the ehamos clinic they rested their rifles On rocks
and shrubs and picked OF lbeiI man at almost every
shot In Switzerland there are only some Is 600 sharp
sboo,eIs in actual servce at time but at least 90
o0O can be had occasion requires by ordering out tie
reserves Of exempt aegers and shapsbooteis who 0}
law are required to keep in continual practice and be
ready for contingencies, The 4,O00are not undei 20
nor over "a years of oge but the reserves OF eeo in
chde men of all ages.
Il .iI DC rscoected BY Gil readers Of history thai al
DE batles Il Bunker Hih, Lexington, and especial.
k,s.oreans the BRUSH losi great numbers OF toHl'
ea,,s,onrd othoers the bahOs of our rienen, who
only required 10 draw good bead Oh 1hem W " gel
tAeir uan every lime" Re,eny, we have sen that
~ Great Bethel MAJOR Winthrop was shoi by hoy
who seized rife ard TOOK deliberate aim al INN. and
NJ Bull Ruu Col. Cameron was killed by Col. Wade
HAMPTON Of South Carolina, and something Ike iuTiy
q our OIL er commissioned odcers were probably killed
o. wounded by the riiemsD OF Arkansas, and "thtr
Southern Saies. Al R,ch Mountain, TOO, the Rebel
f,n,t,,, Garusu was shot through the spine by Oi
.sas riiemen, undertook tie job after whole
.omyauy u iniInSTy lad e and tailed. IL is st~ted
co excellent authority HAT 2,V,O rounds of ammuonor
are wasted Tor eaeh gian killed. and IL Ia no
easy 20 imagine bow il could he otAerwis'
when sOusioer theinefbcency Of The weapons used
and the gwkwaIduess and uepidatlOu 81 raw recrcis
Probably OILS bali Of all new levIes never fired 6
sarskes hy rin.s their lives and their firing done
siser with eyes shut, with such characterization OF
kshi aud dislan,e 9, that ninety ine per Of the
has 60 tie heads Of tae enemy. But in the case
Of ribemen, sld especially such wonderful fellow as
Col. BercHn has collected and is collecting tcgetber
things are quite difereut. The rfepan s accustomed
70 TIE ne Of Ills weapon from boyhood, lie takes deib-
srsle siu and eye, mud, aud bard trained by
pzxctce To act IN conce-, be hits lis mark with
sserriug precision. " 10 ssy, thai the n-
stAnees Of such shooting Berdan's nude yesef-
Gay alta " raI-uirget," at 2OJ yaios, are very rare
tpdeed; certainly, they not on record in England
The dBy vOabls for the exhibition, there being
70; more than lhfee-knOt breeze, and until toward
tbs ol.ee the light was good. The target consisted of
painted figure Of attached 70 upright board,
which placed Il meas ured distanee Of 600 feet
from the score Fory-ei, ht men were allowed ons
shea eaeb from rest and of the forty eight balls tired
Dvtt-f four pierced the tap line they
ecuIc all be covered by Sinch circle OF p&se-tosrd
Que of the Others ain ed tie hesd and passed
throagh the forehead q the image; aud the remain
ing three put through the left about three
inrhes from the bssrt-so L. lie only fair remark
tb&, time the wind blew somewhat stronger Ihsn
the average thus causing detection which the marks
inca could have allowed for # their firing had not
necesS4riy been hurried. We commend the fol-
loving faithful record Of the several shots TO the atten-
taou of Messr- BesuregsJd and Davis should this cone
- their notice; The fret shot pierced the heart; the
I'd the sub-cAvan sreryi the Sd tie diaphragm; 4tb
s sADei 5th 9Th and 7th the ssme--sbs three holes
beng 30 together that hGfdollar p.sce would
have covered tbemi eth right lung; 9TH, between
lungs 10Th, same; llth came l2tb heart 18th, dia
pangm; 18th, right lung; 18th, disphragm 10th be.
tween lungs; i7th, diaphragmi lsth hesrt 18TH dia.
.phsgm 2Jtb, left lungs 2ls, bone Of left arm; I'D,
lhsSn; 23d, between lungsi Glib, diaphsgmi 2Sth,
right lung; s6h lover lobe Of right lung; 9th, same
ssth, diaphragm; 29th, right lung; JOsh, diaphragm;
sisr, LETT lung justabove heart 3d. left armI 33dhea
ss'h, daphrSg0i 2Sth arm 3tth, len lung 9th,