Pioneers were the Army of the Potomac's combat engineers. Every infantry brigade kept a detachment of pioneers — eight to twelve men per regiment, drawn from the ranks, armed with axes, picks, and shovels in addition to their rifles. They built the corduroy roads that let artillery cross swampy ground, cut the trees that blocked the army's line of march, threw up the breastworks the line infantry hid behind, dug the rifle pits the picket lines used, constructed the pontoon bridges that carried the army across rivers, and after the fighting was over they buried the dead. The yellow crossed-axe insignia on this soldier's left sleeve is the pioneer's mark — the visible reminder that without the pioneers, the army stayed where it was.

This W. Britain figure depicts an Army of the Potomac pioneer in regulation kit — dark blue four-button sack coat with the yellow crossed-hatchet pioneer insignia on the left sleeve, light blue trousers, dark forage cap, and the cartridge box on his belt. The large felling axe carried over his right shoulder is the pioneer's primary tool — used for cutting timber for fortifications, clearing roads, and chopping firewood for the camp. The figure adds the construction-and-engineering element that any complete Army of the Potomac diorama needs alongside the line infantry and the artillery. Pair this figure with Union Forever Marching Set for an engineering detachment supporting a marching column; with Col. Henry A. Morrow as the regimental commander; or with Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, the Army of the Potomac commander whose engineers built the fortifications at Pipe Creek behind the Gettysburg position.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31373. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure with axe accessory, supplied painted and ready for display.