An officer of this period carried a curved sword unlike any other in American service — the Mameluke, its cross-hilt modeled on the blades of the Ottoman world. The pattern entered Marine tradition through Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon, who in 1805 led a handful of Marines and a polyglot mercenary column some 500 miles across the Libyan desert to storm the city of Derna — the "shores of Tripoli" of the Marines' Hymn. A grateful Ottoman viceroy, Prince Hamet, is said to have presented O'Bannon a jeweled Mameluke sword. Marine officers have carried the pattern ever since, and this officer of 1806-18 wears it barely a year after Derna made it famous.

W. Britain stands the officer in the privately tailored finery of his rank: the blue full-length coat with red facings and gold lace and buttons, a red standing collar, white breeches, tall black boots, and the plumed cocked hat, a curved sword at his side and white gloves in hand. Every officer bought his own dress, so small variations were common. He belongs to the young Corps between the 1798 Marine of the Quasi-War and the 1833 NCO, and would have led men like the Marine drummer of 1811-18 who beat his commands.

W. Britain model 13066. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), solid metal hand-painted in a matte finish. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Supplied in original W. Britain packaging.