North-South Skirmish Association’s 137th National Competition

Originally published July 2018 · p. 2

The North-South Skirmish Association held its 137th National Competition May 18-20, at Fort Shenandoah near Winchester, Va. Member units competed in live-fire matches with original or authentic reproduction Civil War period muskets, carbines, breech-loading rifles, revolvers, mortars, and cannons. It is the largest Civil War event of its kind. Tropical rain storms couldn’t put a damper on the agenda. Beautiful spring weather finally dawned on Sunday and 142 soggy eight-member teams participated in this N-SSA signature competition. Having won multiple team matches at the 2017 national competitions, the consistently excellent 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) won two more team matches this spring. They won the musket match with a spectacular time of 361.3 seconds for the five-event program, beating the next closest unit by almost 140 seconds. The 110th OVI triumphed over 89 other drenched teams in winning the carbine company match and finished second to Harlan’s Light Cavalry, winners of the smoothbore musket match. The 2nd Maryland Artillery won the breech-loading rifle match for the third consecutive national by a healthy 59 seconds. The Nansemond Guards won the four-event revolver team match once again and the 8th Virginia Infantry took the gold medal in the single shot rifle match. The 11th Pennsylvania Infantry won the Spencer class match. In the artillery competition, the steady rain and drenched field kept participation down to less than half the usual number of guns that participate in the artillery matches. The stalwart winners included 3rd Maryland Artillery in the smoothbore class; Delany Troop,

6th Virginia Cavalry, in the rifled class; the Rowan Artillery in the howitzer class; and the 1st Maryland Cavalry for rifled howitzer class. The steady rain dampened the mortar competition but the soaked crew of Manley’s Battery, gun #2, took a well-deserved gold medal. The N-SSA is the country’s oldest and largest Civil War shooting sports organization with over 3,000 individuals who make up its 200 member units. Each represents a particular unit or regiment and proudly wears the uniform the original members wore over 150 years ago. The 138th National Competition is scheduled for October 5-7, 2018, at Fort Shenandoah. For more information about the N-SSA, contact Public Information Officer, Bruce Miller, at (248) 258-9007 or spartan70@ sbcglobal.net or visit our web site at www.n-ssa.org