An army on campaign was never just soldiers. Trailing every regiment came a small civilian world — wives and washerwomen, sutlers and cantinières selling drink and tobacco, and the camp followers who shared the hardships and the plunder. In the Peninsula this informal economy mattered more than most, because the French "lived off the land" with almost no supply train, so foraging slid easily into looting, and a successful action often ended like the scene here: in drink, music, and spoils. There was a darker side — the sack of a stormed town could turn horrific — but for the men in the ranks, a moment like this, with a bottle and a dance, was a rare reward.

The set is a lively genre scene — French soldiers at their ease after an action, drinking and dancing to a seated drummer's beat, a camp follower in a dark dress spinning among them, one man kicking up his heels. It brings the human, off-duty side to a Peninsular diorama. Set it behind the French Line Infantry Marching who did the fighting, surround it with more French Line Infantry at rest in camp, and place the green-jacketed 95th Rifles nearby as the British enemy whose field they now hold.

Tradition of London model T104. 54mm, white metal, hand-painted in gloss enamel. Eight-figure Peninsular War genre set including a camp follower. Supplied in the Tradition Classic Red Box. Please allow 2-3 weeks shipping.