Posted 8 years ago
hotairfan
(385 items)
Although snipers and sharp shooters prevailed as early as the French & Indian War, the American civil war brought out most wide spread use of, and trained groups of snipers on both sides of the conflict.
These sharp shooters would sit in trees and other unsuspected camouflaged positions and fire upon their opponents if they were foolish enough to show their selves between skirmishes. Usually officers were the preferred targets. Their rifles were equipped with long tubed sights and the sniper often wore spectacles as shown here to better aim on their unknowing target.
I'm not sure why they used yellow lenses (I've also seen civil war sniper glasses with clear lenses). Today modern shooting glasses often have yellow lenses. This coloration might help with glare.
They are frosted around the perimeter and not in the center of the lens. Again, I believe that this helped them better close in on their target.
I would be interested to know for sure as to exactly why they used these additives to these spectacles. There are much more knowledgeable civil war and shooting buffs out there that are more knowing then me and can shed better light on this subject. I surely would welcome their input ..... hotairfan
Great glasses.
Hate to disappoint, but these glasses post date the Civil War.
They are part of the "lore" of early Civil War collecting and still can be found with some regularity at Civil War shows (with the Sharpshooter ID). There is no period documentation and the consensus is that they are later sun glasses.
Based on the case and eyeglass construction, I would think your glasses were toward the end of the 19th century.
scott
Could be your right Scott. As I said, There are much more knowledgeable people out there than me, especially pertaining to the Civil War.
The glass case is possible to have been added to the glasses at any time and they could be with the glasses as a mater of convenience.
What puzzles me is that last July I went to a reenactment of a great Civil War Battle. The participants were required to meet every detail of the period. Some of the soldiers set up display tents to show some of their artifacts during periods of no skirmishes. One display had a pair of these spectacles as well as a sharps rifle with a tube sight. The spectacles were marked as sharp shooter's glasses used by snipers. I remember well, because I told the reenactor that I had a pair and the only difference between mine and his was the fact that his was clear frosted lenses around a clear center. If they are sun glasses, why would they be clear and not tinted?
I can't speak to the other glasses without seeing them.
I can tell you without any doubt that your glasses aren't Civil War. I deal in Civil War items and set up at several major Civil War Shows each year.
Here is some info to read:
https://www.historiceyewearcompany.com/files/HOYFrevisedMcBrayer.pdf
The last few pages should be of particular interest.
scott
Thanks Scott for the very informative and interesting article. You proved your point, and, I am appreciative ..... hotairfan
Glad to help out.
scott
I would like to include here, that I was recently researching the 1855 colt revolving rifle, its use by the 1st USSS (Berdan's Sharpshooters) and stumbled across 2 sources that mention "sharpshooter spectacles". Granted, both books were written by the same author, one published in 2008, The History of Sniping and Sharpshooting, as well as the 2009, Sharpshooting in the Civil War. Both by Major John Plaster (USAR Retired). Both books mention that the "principle of the orthoptic is the focusing of the field of vision before it reaches the lens of the eye, explains a 19th-century shooting guide. The advantage is better defintion, especially of the foresight and bull's-eye. The U.S. Army's Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Georgia includes in its collection a pair of these unusual spectacles, used during the Civil War by Private J.C. Nobel, a Union sharpshooter, whose rifle also is on display."
Just thought I'd put this out there. I have no dog in the fight, just wanted to make this known. There is a picture of the spectacles in the book, and they look almost exactly like the one's you show, minus the case.
This is a great post with great comments loaded with great knowledge. I enjoyed reading all of this!
This style of glasses wasn't around in the Civil War.
thanks everybody for your input. We only know what we read, or are told by experts or what we research. I learn something every day, if only a little bit, it adds up.
thanks again to scottvez for your input and to dmurray6 and Kerenoke for your comments..... hotairfan
Don't know a thing about sniper sunglasses from the civil war but what I do know for a fact is the following. In the early 1990's we; myself and my two relic hunting partners were hunting the camp of the 5th Corps, off Crater Road, Petersburg, Va.. Wayne had a reading and was having trouble pin pointing it. He was using his 24" Eagle detector, good for depth but did not do well on small items. I went over to him and asked if he needed some help. I was using my 15" Eagle detector. He told me he had just got a faint reading out of the hole but could not find it in the loose dirt around the hole. I told him to unplug his machine and I'd see if I could pin point the target. I got the faint reading off to the side of the main pile and when I reached down and brushed some dirt away with my hand there was a pair of sunglasses. One lense was missing but the other intack. What they looked like was similar to the shape of those glasses you see on Ben Franklin paintings, very thin wire frame and the glass was very thick and dark green like a 1960's Coke bottle. We spent about 15 minutes going thru the dug dirt looking for the other lense but nothing. The next week when we got together to go out hunting again Wayne had with him a book of pictures from the Civil War and in the book was a picture of 5 troopers standing side by side all wearing the same sunglasses which Wayne had found. Under the picture it gave the Reg. number and I remember it was a Mass. Reg and it said, Petersburg, Va.
Boy, thanks to all of you for your comments. It's great to hear all the responses to the an interesting entry. Comments agreeing with the article and also comments disagreeing with the article. One can learn a lot by reading the entries, even if you don't have any entries yourself, but, it is so much more fun to hear what our fellow readers have to say and how much research went into their comments. thanks to all.
I've been reading this article with intense interest especially from Acey the individual who found a pair below ground at a battle site. One possibility is these may not fall into the category of "spectacles" or even "eyeglasses" but rather specialized shooting equipment. As such, they may have been produced over a long period of time (Civil War to turn of the Century???). In addition, if they were being used in battle, target shooting or hunting, they had to be carried in a pocket or pouch which could have spurred the invention of the hinged sidepiece. But the bottom line is that we need rigorous research including determining the age of the dirt layer the glasses were found, were these designed to work with the "tube scope", etc. It's hard to argue that these made good sunglasses which brings up a host of other questions. One thing is for sure, History doesn't release it's secrets easily - and when it does, it's rarely yes or no!