On the afternoon of July 2, 1863, two companies of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters were posted in the boulders below Little Round Top — the rocky tangle Confederate veterans afterwards called Devil's Den. Their job was the standard sharpshooter role: deploy in dispersed pairs ahead of the main Union line, take cover among the rocks, and engage anyone trying to come around the southern flank of the Army of the Potomac. Hood's Texas Brigade came around that flank later that afternoon. The Berdan's men in Devil's Den held the boulders against the first Texan attempts, fired until their cartridge boxes ran low, and were finally pushed back through the rocks after taking serious casualties. The Texans took the Den. The Round Tops held.

This W. Britain figure depicts a 1st U.S. Berdan's Sharpshooter in the standing-fire stance — body angled, rifle leveled, weight back on the right foot. He wears the regiment's signature dark green uniform — green forage cap, green frock coat, green trousers, deliberately chosen for concealment. The Sharps breech-loading rifle is at his shoulder, the falling-block action visible behind the trigger guard. The cartridge box and percussion cap pouch ride on the belt for quick access; the rolled blanket crosses his chest. The figure completes the three-figure 1st USSS skirmish team available in the W. Britain range and is a natural centerpiece for a Devil's Den or Plum Run diorama. Pair this figure with 1st U.S. Berdan Sharpshooter Advancing for a matched skirmish pair; with 1st U.S. Berdan's Sharpshooter (Reaching for Cap) for the loading-then-firing sequence; or with Col. William C. Oates of the 15th Alabama, whose regiment attacked Little Round Top above Devil's Den on the same afternoon.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31477. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure, supplied painted and ready for display.