Napoleon's white Arab stallion Marengo was the most famous warhorse of the modern era. The Emperor brought him back from Egypt — the small grey gelding, about fourteen hands and typical of his Arabian breeding, was reputedly captured at the Battle of Aboukir in 1799 and entered Napoleon's stable when the army returned to France. Marengo carried him through the campaigns that built the Empire: across the Saint-Bernard pass into Italy and into the battle in 1800 that gave the horse his name; into the central position at Austerlitz in December 1805; up the road to Jena in 1806; across the Vistula at the start of the Russian campaign in 1812. He survived the retreat from Moscow that killed thousands of other horses. He was captured at Waterloo in 1815 — taken to England as a trophy by a British officer — and lived another sixteen years in retirement, dying in 1831 at the remarkable age of thirty-eight. His skeleton stands today at the National Army Museum in London, the most-visited animal remains in British military history.

This King & Country figure shows Napoleon mounted on Marengo in his standard campaign dress — the grey wool redingote greatcoat open at the front to show the green Chasseur à Cheval tunic underneath, white waistcoat with red sash visible, white breeches, black tall riding boots. The bicorne hat is worn athwartships in his trademark style. The famous hand-in-coat pose is implicit in the rider's stillness as Marengo walks forward — Napoleon's calm in the saddle was as recognizable on campaign as the coat itself. The shabraque (saddle blanket) is the gold-laced Imperial pattern, and the horse furniture in black leather with gold fittings is the regulation tack of a senior Imperial officer. He is the mounted action counterpart to the dismounted Napoleon as Colonel and Napoleon as Colonel of the Imperial Guard figures showing the same Emperor at standstill, and rides at the head of the Imperial Guard cavalry under General Jean-Baptiste Bessières.

Model: NA439 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 1 piece set