Louisiana Tigers, Advancing Firing, 1861-62

The Louisiana Tigers were the most visually distinctive Confederate infantry of the Civil War — and arguably the most notorious. The original Tigers were Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat's 1st Special Battalion Louisiana Infantry, recruited in 1861 from New Orleans dock workers, gamblers, river toughs, and Irish and German immigrants. They wore Zouave-style uniforms modeled on French North African regiments: red fez, short blue jacket, red flannel shirt, and the unmistakable blue-and-white striped trousers tucked into white gaiters. They earned their battlefield reputation at First Manassas in July 1861 and were equally famous for indiscipline in camp. After Wheat was killed at Gaines's Mill in 1862, the Tigers nickname was extended to all of Louisiana's troops in the Army of Northern Virginia.

This figure shows a Tiger in the early-war uniform — exactly the period (1861-62) when Wheat's original battalion was at the height of its reputation, before the iconic Zouave dress was lost to attrition and supply shortages. The advancing-firing pose puts him mid-stride, weapon shouldered, taking the shot on the move. He works as a standalone display piece for the visual punch of the uniform alone, and pairs with the other figures in the W. Britain Louisiana Tigers release set for an early-war Confederate vignette.

1/30 scale (60mm), matte-painted, single figure boxed. Catalog number 31505. As with the rest of the W. Britain modern range, the painting is photographic-quality detail intended to read well in dioramas and display cases.