A Union infantryman's cartridge box held 40 rounds, packed in two tin liners. Before a battle he was usually issued 20 more to carry in his pockets or knapsack, so he went in with about 60 rounds. At a steady two or three shots a minute, that lasted less than half an hour of hard fighting. On the afternoon of July 2, 1863, Strong Vincent's brigade fought on the slopes of Little Round Top for close to two hours. Men in the 20th Maine and the 83rd Pennsylvania emptied their boxes, then crawled to the wounded and dead to take theirs. By the end, the 20th Maine had so little ammunition left that it charged downhill with bayonets.

The figure shows the moment every soldier went through dozens of times in a fight: still moving forward, his rifle musket and fixed bayonet held low in his left hand while his right reaches back under the flap of the cartridge box for the next paper cartridge. He wears K&C's 83rd Pennsylvania uniform, with a dark blue frock coat trimmed in yellow, sky-blue trousers, and white gaiters. His blanket roll, knapsack, haversack, and canteen are all in place. Build out the loading sequence with Infantry Biting the Cartridge, set him beside the Kneeling Infantryman Firing Rifle, or add Casualties of War for the fallen men whose boxes were emptied.

King & Country model CW135. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure of an 83rd Pennsylvania infantryman reaching for a cartridge, on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.