By Bruce W. Miller The North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) held its 147th National Competition May 17 through 21, 2023. Member units competed in livefire matches with original or
War period muskets, carbines, breech-loading rifles, revolver mortars, and cannon. It is the largest Civil War event of its kind in the country and attract not only spectators but Civil W enthusiasts and shooting sports media coverage.
Rob Bethke pulls the lanyard to 24-pounder mortar. Crews fire s 100 yards from the firing line. then tallied to determine a tea 14 – American Battlefield Trus 34 – Book Reviews 12 – Central Virginia Battlefi
America’s Monthly Tributes and Targets at N-SSA 147th Natio The only bittersweet occurren at this sun-drenched national was the retirement of longtime executive secretary, Judy Stoneburner. This past winter, health issues plagued Judy who has served the association in th key role for 13 years. A native Virginian, she joined the N-SSA in 1994 and continues to be a member of Mosby’s Rangers. Judy was also the first woman to be the director of a national skirmish. In her own words, she lists her top three duties as “a take care of the members’ needs,
e 3rd Maryland Artillery’s tar balls at target stakes place tances of the five closest shots e. (Ericka Curley) 26 – Critic’s Corner 28 – Emerging Civil W t 39 – Events
This is the range officer’s view person musket teams fill 65 line communicate via the range’s PA s represent the association in a positive and professional manner and strive for excellence in all her assigned duties.” Judy was the hub of the organization and will be greatly missed. It was a big weekend for one of the N-SSA’s founding units, the Washington Blue Rifles. They won medals in five of the seven small arms team matches. They won the musket team match with a time of 514.9 seconds for the five-event program finishing 48.5 seconds ahead of the second place team. One hundred fiftyfive teams participated in this N-SSA signature competition. The 2nd Maryland Artillery (CSA) triumphed in the carbine team match over 121 other sundrenched teams. The Nansemond Guards won the smoothbore musket match, defeating 123 other four-member team The Iredell Blues bested 63 other teams to win the fourevent revolver team match by a whopping 77.6 seconds. The 24 – The Gra 18 – The Sou 20 – This An
the main tower during the musket ions controlled by one main towe short wave radios, and signal f
Charlie Smithgall smiles as he s 12-pounder field howitzer. His c the 138th N-SSA National Skirmis
Washington Blue Rifles scored another gold medal in the single shot rifle match, the 1st Maryla Cavalry (CSA) won the Spencer class match and the 2nd Maryland Artillery (CSA) won the breechloading rifle match. The cannon matches on Saturday afternoon opened with a special tribute to Charles W. ar 10
h of a National Skirmish. Ei three sub-towers, which (Ericka Curley)
with his 1848 dated Ames ad just won the howitzer mat tober 2018. (Ericka Curley)
“Charlie” Smithgall. Charlie one of America’s most renown collectors of artillery piec equipage from the 18th centu modern times. He established Smithgall Foundation, a 501c dedicated to the preservatio
H N-SSA . . . . . . . . . . . . see Unfinished Fight ough the Lens
