Located at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, Va., is steeped in Civil War history, changing hands between Union and Confederate armies no fewer than 72 times throughout the course of the conflict. Today, one group, the North-South Skirmish Association, keeps that history alive through competition shoots using Civil War-era arms at its Fort Shenandoah home base, as well as at regional shoots across the country. Watch our "American Rifleman Television" feature to see the details of the group's National Skirmish, which occurs twice a year in Winchester.
"Our nationals are big events. We have twice a year where we get people from all 13 regions coming together here to Fort Shenandoah and determine our national champions twice for all the different disciplines we do," said Dave Cole, national commander, North-South Skirmish Association. "So we've got cap-and-ball revolver, single-shot pistol, breechloaders, carbines, smoothbore, single-shot, musket, artillery and mortar. So we have five full days of a lot of gunfire, a lot of powder being expanded and a lot of fun."
The capstone to each N-SSA National Skirmish is the team musket match, which is shot on Sunday mornings. Hundreds of shooters gather on one of the longest firing lines in North America to shoot a five-stage event consisting of a number of different targets, ranging from clay pigeons to tiles to wooden blocks, all of which explode into pieces when hit by a lead Minie ball fired from one of the competitors' muzzleloading muskets.
"We shoot against the clock. Each team is on the firing line, a horn blows and the time starts. There are targets to be shot, and they're all breakable," said Dave Booz, past national commander, North-South Skirmish Association. "When the team finishes those targets, the line judge snaps, well, the clock, you know, stops the clock and a time is given. Each event is timed, and when it's all over, whoever has the smallest amount of time wins. And we go into the hundredths of a second. And there have been times over the years where teams have won literally by a hundredth, two hundreth, three hundredths of a second. And the competition is fierce. Mostly very friendly."
Many of the firearms used during the match are original guns from the Civil War, but many competitors also make use of authentic reproduction muskets that are approved by the group's Small Arms Committee, which inspects reproduction firearms for historical accuracy in order to maintain the integrity of the competition.
"The history of the match, it started actually 75 years ago in 1950. [An] individual by the name of Jack Rawls saw an article in the muzzleloading magazine from a guy by the name of Ernie Peterkin, who was talking about his little group that did Civil War shooting," Cole said. "Jack was, I think, down Norfolk at the time, and he's like, 'This is kind of fun.' The two started corresponding. They decided to meet in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, for a match. They did it. The South won. We haven't forgiven them since, because I shoot on a Union team. But since then, it's been 150, and this is our 151st time that we've had all the group together to shoot."
Since its founding, the North-South Skirmish Association has grown from a group of like-minded enthusiasts to a national organization with thousands of competitors. Its headquarters at Fort Shenandoah is located on hundreds of acres of pristine valley ground, populated by pistol, rifle and artillery ranges, as well as campsites, a food court, covered eating areas, a playground, parks and even a museum that documents the history of the organization.
"History, camaraderie and competition are the three bywords of the N-SSA," said Bruce Miller, public information officer, North-South Skirmish Association. "History, well, obviously we're we're dressed, accoutered and shoot period firearms from the Civil War. If a firearm was used in the Civil War, we have a match for it. Whether it's a single-shot pistol or whether it's muskets or cannons or mortars, yes, the N-SSA competes in that area."
Learn more about the North-South Skirmish Association and its competitions here.
To watch complete segments of past episodes of American Rifleman TV, go to americanrifleman.org/videos/artv. For all-new episodes of ARTV, tune in Wednesday nights to Outdoor Channel 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. EST.
