The French infantry's drill regulations in 1781 were the 1776 ordonnance, a comprehensive manual that prescribed every movement of every soldier in detail — load, fire, advance, defend, change formation. The system was different from both the British 1764 manual and the Continental Army's Von Steuben regulations: French infantry was trained to maneuver in line of battle but also, increasingly, in column for the shock of assault, a tactical preference that would become more pronounced through the Napoleonic Wars. The Royal Deux-Ponts was a parade-ground regiment, well-drilled to the ordonnance, and its discipline was visible to American observers who watched it at Yorktown. The standing-defending position depicted here was the basic ready stance for receiving an enemy approach — feet apart, weight balanced, musket vertical with bayonet ready, prepared to bring the weapon down to firing position or to thrust forward if the situation called for it. It was, in 1781, the moment between movement and decision.

This figure shows a Royal Deux-Ponts private in the standing-defending position — musket held vertically against the body, bayonet fixed and pointing up, feet apart for balance, eyes forward in the manner of a man prepared to receive a charge or to step forward into a fire-and-bayonet engagement. He wears the regiment's 1779 ordonnance uniform: blue coat with yellow facings, white cross-belts and waistcoat, white breeches, the bicorne hat with the regiment's green plume. He pairs with the Royal Deux-Ponts officer (Captain von Closen), the Royal Deux-Ponts ensign bearing the colors, and the British 43rd Foot soldier in defensive position — a striking across-the-line pairing of French and British defenders, each waiting to absorb the other's attack at Yorktown.

1/30 scale (60mm), matte-painted, single figure boxed. Catalog number 16182. As with the rest of the W. Britain modern range, the painting is photographic-quality detail intended to read well in dioramas and display cases.