The 17th Virginia Infantry put on an impressive display of marksmanship with original or authentic reproduction Civil War period muskets, carbines, breech loading rifles, revolvers, mortars and cannons when the North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) held its 126th National Competition Oct. 5-7 at Fort Shenandoah near Winchester, VA.
Members of Virginia Tech Army ROTC Marksmanship Unit compete against the cadets from Virginia Military Institute in the Civil War Sesquicentennial Collegiate Challenge Musket Match at the N-SSA 126th National Competition held Oct. 5-7 at the Association’s home range, Fort Shenandoah, near Winchester, VA. (NSSA photo by Bruce Miller)
A total of 202 eight-member team units participated in this N-SSA signature live-fire competition in the largest Civil War event of its kind in the country.
The 8th Virginia Infantry won the musket match with a time of 489.5 seconds for the five event program, besting the second place 17th Virginia Infantry by 8.9 seconds. However, in the carbine team matches, the 17th Virginia Infantry beat 163 other companies and won the gold for the third consecutive national, and won gold in the revolver competition and finished first in the single-shot rifle match.
The 8th Virginia Infantry won the smoothbore musket match, while the breech loading rifle match was won by the 2nd Maryland Artillery (CSA). In the artillery competitions, 50 guns participated in the cannon matches. The winners included Hardaway’s Alabama Battery in the smoothbore class; the 1st Maryland Cavalry in the rifled class; the 3rd US Artillery in the howitzer class and the 1st Maryland Cavalry again in the rifled howitzer class. Completing the artillery competition was the 2nd United States Sharpshooters Company B holding off 53 other competitors to win the mortar matches.
In the special Civil War Sesquicentennial Collegiate Challenge Match, the Virginia Tech Army ROTC Marksmanship Team defeated the Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute by breaking 21 of 32 clay pigeons on a cardboard backer with musket fire in the five minute event.
The N-SSA has 3,200 individuals that make up its 200 member units. Each represents a Civil War unit or regiment and proudly wears the uniform they wore over 150 years ago. The next scheduled national will be held at Fort Shenandoah May 17-19, 2013. For more information about the N-SSA, visit their website at: n-ssa.org.
