At Quatre Bras on June 16, 1815, two days before Waterloo, French lancers came on so fast that the 44th Foot had no time to form square — the one formation that reliably stops cavalry. Caught in line, the regiment did the next best thing: the rear rank faced about and fired outward, so the battalion met the horsemen from both sides at once. A lancer drove straight for the King's Colour, the regiment's heart. Ensign Christie took a lance through the face but threw himself over the flag as he fell; the point tore away a corner of the silk, yet he kept the rest. The 44th held its ground and its Colours, in line, against cavalry — something that should not have been possible.

The two-figure set tells its own story — one man kneeling with bayonet braced up to take a horse, his comrade wounded but still upright and gripping his musket, both in the red coats, white cross-belts and grey trousers of the 44th. As the dramatic centerpiece of a British line-meets-cavalry diorama, it draws the rest of the line around it: kneel a British 1st Foot Guard Kneeling to extend the front rank, brace a British 1st Foot Guard Standing Defending behind, and steady the whole with a 1st Foot Guards Sergeant with Pike. This is a limited edition of only 400 sets.

W. Britain model 36130. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Two-figure set — one kneeling to meet cavalry, one kneeling wounded — on a single sculpted groundwork base. Limited edition of 400 sets. Boxed.