An escalade — storming a wall with scaling ladders — was among the deadliest tasks a soldier could be given. The laddermen went first, hands full and weapons useless, straight at the defenders' fire, to plant the ladders others would climb. Santa Anna had ladders prepared for the assault on the Alamo, but in the dark and the crush of 6 March 1836 many were dropped, too short, or never brought up at all. The columns piled against the base of the walls unable to climb, taking fire, until men found their way over the north wall — its battered face patched with earth and timber that gave hand- and footholds where the ladders had failed.

King & Country's two-figure set shows the ladder party at a dead run — the lead man leaning into the weight with his mouth open in effort, his partner close behind, the wooden ladder braced between them and their bayoneted muskets carried awkwardly across their bodies. Both wear the Mexican line uniform with red facings, white crossbelts, and tan haversacks, their white trousers torn and grey, on huarache sandals. Run them at the wall behind S.A.A. Soldier Charging Forward and Santa Anna's Shouting Soldier, with Santa Anna's Casualties of Battle already fallen at the base, and the escalade builds into the centerpiece of an Alamo assault diorama.

Model: RTA127 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 2 piece set