Each Union 12-pounder Napoleon required six horses to move it under combat conditions — three pairs of horses harnessed to the gun limber, with the cannon hooked behind. Three drivers — one per pair, riding the left-side horse — controlled the entire team. The drivers' job was the most exposed of any battery role: mounted, visible, responsible for getting the gun into and out of position under direct artillery and small-arms fire, while three more drivers handled the caisson team and its ammunition resupply load behind. A six-gun light battery thus required 36 horses and 18 drivers just to move. Without them the cannoneers could not get into position, and without the cannoneers the gun was no use.

This W. Britain figure depicts a Union light artillery driver in regulation kit — dark blue forage cap with red artillery trim, dark blue shell jacket with red piping on collar and shoulder seams, the red horse-cloth across his arms, light blue cavalry-pattern trousers. He is holding the McClellan saddle and tack he would use on his assigned mount — the distinctive open-tree saddle the U.S. Army adopted in 1859, designed by George B. McClellan and used by the U.S. cavalry until 1934. The figure is an essential support piece for any Union artillery diorama — gun crews, limbers, and caissons all required driver figures to be historically complete. Pair this figure with M1841 6-Pound Bronze Field Gun for a complete battery vignette; with Union Artillery Crewman for the cannoneer team; or with Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, the army commander who designed the saddle the driver carries.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31497. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure with saddle accessory, supplied painted and ready for display.