The hunting shirt was Washington's deliberate sleight of hand. With Continental regiments arriving in 1775 and 1776 in whatever dress their states could provide and no national uniform yet to call regulation, the Commander-in-Chief recommended the long fringed pullover for general adoption in the summer of 1776: "It is a Dress justly supposed to carry no small terror to the Enemy," he wrote, "who think every such person a complete Marksman" — playing on the reputation of the Pennsylvania and Virginia riflemen whose Long Rifles could reach a man at three hundred yards. The shirt was also cheap, durable, and could be made at home from local linen. Southern, frontier, and light-infantry units carried it as their standard dress, and northern line regiments slipped it on for campaign work when regulation coats were thin on the ground or worn out in the field.

The W. Britain figure shows a Continental in mid-stride at the charge: fringed off-white hunting shirt belted at the waist, brown linen breeches and gaiter-trousers, black tricorne pulled low, bayonet fixed and musket carried at the level. The hunting-shirt fringe along the shoulders and skirt catches the running motion, and the front teeth show in a shout that places the moment somewhere between alarm and battle cry. He pairs directly with the Charging No.2 pose moving into the same enemy line, supports the standing defending figure holding ground behind him, and runs against musketeers like the Hessian Regiment von Donop standing firing the charge was meant to overrun.

Model: 16067 / W. Britain 1/30 (60mm) / matte finish / 1 piece set