The 146th New York fought as the only volunteer regiment in a brigade of United States Regular Army infantry. Brigadier General George Sykes's 2nd Division of the V Corps was the Army of the Potomac's regular division — built around the U.S. Regular Army infantry battalions, most with pre-war service and professional NCOs — and the volunteer brigade attached to them was held to the same drill and discipline standards. The 146th NY drew their Zouave uniforms in summer 1863 and earned their place in the regular division through Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. By war's end, surviving regulars considered them equals.

This W. Britain figure catches a 146th New York Zouave at the seventh motion of the loading drill — right hand reaching back over the right shoulder to a small leather cap pouch on his belt, left hand bracing the rifle butt grounded between his feet. He wears the regiment's Zouave kit: red fez with yellow tassel, sky-blue jacket trimmed in yellow braid, the leather belt with brass U.S. buckle, baggy sky-blue trousers, white gaiters above black shoes. The pose is the same drill motion any well-trained Civil War infantryman executed under fire — but the visible Zouave uniform anchors this particular figure to a specific regiment in any diorama. Pair this figure with 146th NY Zouave Standing Firing No.1 for the next motion of the firing sequence; with 146th NY Zouave Officer, the regimental leadership; or with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the commanding general whose Overland Campaign was the 146th NY's main combat period.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31297. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure, supplied painted and ready for display.