The U.S. Army Ordnance Department procured over fifty different shoulder-arm models for the Federal infantry during the Civil War. The Springfield Model 1861 was the standard issue and the most common, but Federal regiments also carried the Pattern 1853 Enfield from Britain (the second-most common), Austrian Lorenz rifles, French chasseur rifles, M1842 smoothbores, breech-loading Sharps and Spencers issued to specific units, and a dozen lesser-known European patterns purchased through brokers in the war's first year. The variety created supply problems: every weapon required its own cartridge, and ammunition was not interchangeable. A regiment armed with Enfields could not draw cartridges meant for Springfields. The Federal quartermasters spent the war managing this catalog.

This W. Britain figure depicts a Federal infantryman in the standing-fire position — body angled, rifle leveled, one foot braced on a rock outcrop for elevation and cover. He wears the regulation early-war Federal infantry kit: dark blue frock coat, light blue trousers, dark forage cap, the rolled blanket across his chest, the cartridge box on his belt. The rifle is the Springfield Model 1861 or Pattern 1853 Enfield — both .58 caliber, rifled, capable of accurate fire to three hundred yards. The figure pairs naturally with the other Federal firing-pose figures for a deeper two-rank firing line diorama. Pair this figure with Federal in Frock Coat Reaching for Cap No.2 for the loading-then-firing sequence; with Federal Infantry in Frock Coat Advancing for the approach-to-contact moment; or with Col. Henry A. Morrow as a regimental commander.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31372. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure, supplied painted and ready for display.