Reid Henrichs of Valor Ridge is one of the more interesting firearms instructors in the United States today, as the former Marine and adjunct history professor is a true “warrior scholar.”

Today, in an effort to point out just how much difference a single rifleman can make, Henrich points us towards a book entitled Jack Hinson’s One Man War.

Jack Hinson was a man who didn’t want war, but when Yankee soldiers committed war crimes, he went on a revenge spree that made him one of the deadliest snipers of the Civil War.

The true story of one man’s reluctant but relentless war against the invaders of his country. A quiet, wealthy plantation owner, Jack Hinson watched the start of the Civil War with disinterest. Opposed to secession and a friend to Union and Confederate commanders alike, he did not want a war. After Union soldiers seized and murdered his sons, placing their decapitated heads on the gateposts of his estate, Hinson could remain indifferent no longer. He commissioned a special rifle for long-range accuracy, he took to the woods, and he set out for revenge. This remarkable biography presents the story of Jack Hinson, a lone Confederate sniper who, at the age of 57, waged a personal war on Grant’s army and navy.

Hinson is believed to have killed up to 130 Union soldiers and sailors (including 36 officers) at distances of up to 600 yards with custom built, .50-caliber Kentucky rifle with a 41″ barrel that weighed 17 pounds. Despite numerous attempts to hunt him down, he survived the war.

Hinson did all this at 57 years of age, without any military training.

One good man who knows his riflecraft can indeed make a difference.