When Federal cavalry dismounted to fight, every fourth trooper became a horse holder. The system was regulation and absolute: one man held the reins of his own horse plus three others while the remaining three troopers from each four-man group went forward on foot as a dismounted firing line. A regiment of four hundred men thus put three hundred carbines into the line and held a hundred horses behind it. The arrangement let Federal cavalry combine mobility with infantry-style firepower — ride to the position, dismount, fight a brisk engagement with breech-loading carbines, mount up again, and move to the next ground before infantry could close. John Buford used the system at Gettysburg on the morning of July 1, 1863.

This W. Britain figure depicts a Union cavalry trooper dismounted, working the breech of his carbine to reload — likely a Burnside, Sharps, Smith, or Spencer, the four most common Federal breech-loading carbines. He wears the regulation cavalry kit: dark blue shell jacket with yellow trim on the collar and cuffs, light blue cavalry trousers with the yellow NCO stripe, dark forage cap, the tall black cavalry boots over the knee, and the cartridge box, holstered revolver, and belt with brass U.S. plate. The figure represents the dismounted Federal cavalryman as he would actually fight from 1863 onward — a key piece for any cavalry-dismounted-action diorama. Pair this figure with Union Cavalry Trooper Mounted on Trotting Horse for the mounted-to-dismounted transition; with Brig. Gen. John Buford, the cavalry commander who used dismounted tactics at Gettysburg Day 1; or with Federal Cavalry Trooper Holding Horse for the matched horse-holder figure.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31431. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure, supplied painted and ready for display.