New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-04-30

side of the river there flashed as many rifles; when
In an instant, every man on our lde dropped mo
his nit, and twenty balls passed by where the men
hal stood. FOR an instant II was a. still az 0eath
when IN leaned the men who had stood target 70
show themselves unhurt, while the Reoel'' aston
ished AZ snch audaclty, began one by one 10 Pus
forth their heads from their covers 10 zee what II
ali meant. This was the wished.ior OBJECT OF our
men, Quicker than fash, from some concehsd
pits on the right aud left of our men. dozen rhes
were discharged with deadly aim, and from two pits
OH the opposite shore there came fearful e1ecraon'
From the fact that not again after this laal VoIty
was there seen any smoke 10 srlse from tlese prs
during all the rect OF the day we judged that III TWO
cases at least the aim OF our niles was uheiIIhS.
In several cssss the enemy tried 10 draw the IRE OF
our men by images aud by bsts held up on sticks,
but this wac an old dodge, and 1t did not take;
nothing but actual exposure OF person wonid draw
fire. And after all, the risk Of exposure OF me
whole person was but slight where the tash OF the
gun could be SEEM For after the flash, ii took from
two 10 four seconds for the ball TO reach the target
go that any one quick 10 dodge could be IN cover
before the bail reached BIN,
An instance Of this nature on one occasi0n amused
me not little, in spite Of its daring. One OF our
sharpsbOoers had fired and been fired al for three or
four hours, without any effect apparently on either
eide. The distance between him and his rlval was
about sixty rods At length, standing upright above
lis pit he called ont, fire p and fire 1t was but toe
ball Of his antag onst fell short some TWO feet Gong
deliberately TO where It struck, he put down bs hSl
on the spot and said hit il again If you can" In
moment, whz came another ball. but This time II
was TOO high. Our sharpshOOter now promptly ele-
waited his hat his ramrod aud said: lou shot 100
! high. you Rebel; there is where your bail went.
| In moment more there came another ball, which
/ but barely missed the bold fellow head. Getting
angry, as well as excited, he screamed: Now, you
id Reb., you have shot three times. and missed ;
20 show your own head" Quickly, IN response, a
hat appeared over the top OF the Rebels PIT, TO all
appearance containing the Rebels head. Taxing
deliberate am our nan fired. saw ths dirt ny d.
rectly beneath the hat and that there was
one re bel less 10 be hanged when the war was over
But not go; the hat renamed stationary, and little
OH one eide up jumped the Rebel, hatless, to show
himself unburt. 10 his eegerness and excitement ne
had forgotten 10 replace bis bat on his head before
showing himself, and hence had betrayed be cow
ardy trck without intending to do so. He did not
hear the last Of his coTardly smartness that day.
| Conversations, jokes and gatherings between the
rival shaTpsbooers are Of frequent occurrence and
sometimes are sharpened with considerable wit!
At one time during the day, in pit near at hand
/ heard Rebel snap his gun several times; but II
missed fire, much 10 his disgust, for could bear HIM
swear when it failed TO go off One OF our men,
amused at bis perplexty, called out, Hello Reb,
where did you get your percussion cape r.
"Tbey are Northern CopPerheads," was his
quick response.
Again, one of the Rebel sharpshooters, seeing one
Of our men toss plug Of tobacco into peghboring
pit, called out: ~ say, you Yankee toss me II
chaw."
"Show your head, open your mouth and shut
your eyes, and we will send you plug" said the
Ysnt ee. cooking his rife. The Rebel did not show
his head.
But spite Of such occasional pleassntries sharp
shooting, or "hunting squirrels" as they call 1t,
proves 10 many poor fellow serious business Sew
era Oh our side have been shot this past week, and
it is positively known that very many more OF the
Rebels have been shot by our sbaIpshoO,ers than
their reports have pretended TO account for Rebel
des.rtors have expressed surprise al the long dis
taoce aId accuracy with WHICH our rifles carry balls
J II IN common practice among infantry It takes a
mans weight in balls TO kill a Rebel, 1t If grand
pity thai Government has not bestowed more atten-
ton iu organizing companies Of sbarpshooters, ss
mere matter Of economy; for a company OF sharp
shooters costs no more than company OF infantry,
and they kill three to one. When our new lsyles
are brought into the field would 1t not be well to
organize at least company for every regiment or
brigade and send them out regularly organized
sharpshootersi A little practice under good
master will make any ordinary marksman, with u
good rife, in q short time good shot. good eye
ana steady nerve, with practice, Will do the WORK.
have been informed by Capt Brady, who came
out from Your State in charge Of three Of thene com
panies that on last pay day the average amount oil
money sent home by each one Of these companies
was about $4,000. Show us companies that have
done better. Yours truly, NAIoH'