The Iron Brigade's combat debut was on the evening of August 28, 1862, at a farm belonging to John Brawner near the Warrenton Turnpike in Virginia. Gibbon's brigade was advancing east toward Manassas Junction, expecting to meet at most a Confederate cavalry screen, when it came under artillery fire from a wooded ridge. Gibbon deployed his four Western regiments into line of battle and pushed forward to clear what he assumed was a small enemy detachment. What he had walked into was Stonewall Jackson's entire corps — three Confederate divisions, fifteen thousand men, dug in along the ridge and waiting. Gibbon held his line anyway. For nearly two hours, the two sides exchanged musket fire at seventy-five yards — neither moving, neither breaking, both feeding fresh men into the line as casualties dropped. When darkness ended the engagement, Gibbon had lost a third of his brigade. He had also discovered something important: his Wisconsin and Indiana volunteers, under fire from Jackson's Confederates, could stand.

This W. Britain figure depicts an Iron Brigade soldier advancing at right shoulder shift in the disciplined regulation kit: dark blue nine-button frock coat, light blue kersey trousers rolled at the cuff, white canvas gaiters above the brogans, the tall black Hardee hat with brass eagle and regimental insignia, the knapsack with rolled blanket on his back, and the cartridge box and canteen on his hips. The right shoulder shift is the U.S. Army marching carry, used to cover distance quickly with the rifle in a stable carry position before snapping it down for combat. This is the kind of figure that anchors a brigade-line diorama — paired with other Advancing figures in the range it builds out a regimental front in the moment before contact. Pair this figure with Iron Brigade Advancing in Gaiters, the matched companion figure for a multi-figure brigade front; with Col. Henry A. Morrow of the 24th Michigan, the brigade's regimental commander at Gettysburg; or with Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, the Confederate corps commander whose troops the brigade fought to a draw at Brawner Farm on the day they earned their reputation.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31414. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure, supplied painted and ready for display.