Civil War Diorama Photos

I think somewhere along the line I posted that this year was the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. If I did then that was a BIG booboo! The Sesquicentennial (150 years) of Gettysburg was last year!! However, that being said, the Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 and Sesquicentennial celebrations of one sort or another have been going on for several years now and will continue on until next year. I am glad though that this diorama was finished in time for this years' Gettysburg anniversary and so for the next few days we're gonna post some pics taken with a few of my favorite Civil War toys. Hopefully I'll be able to do some more photo set-ups with the various toys featured so far here on Toys and Stuff so  with that in mind: Bettina & Fritz Berg :) Enjoy :)

Here's the Classic Toys Soldiers 6-horse limber, caisson, and cannon. This is one of my favorite ACW accessories and at 22" long is one of the biggest which this photo shows to good advantage (taking that turn in the road to cross the bridge is goin' to be problematic!!)

A nicer shot

Here, Forces of Valor troops square off against each other. 

Yeah, I know, it could use more trees and such. I'll have to dig through the scenery boxes and see what I've got.

CTS Confederate 4-Horse Limber, and Napoleon 12 Pdr

Last Friday we posted Classic Toy Soldiers awesome 6-horse artillery rig with limber, and 24 pdr howitzer. Today we've got the shortened version with fewer horses, only the limber and a Napoleon 12 pounder. The nice thing about CTS's rig is you can order it with four or six horses, with or without caisson, blue or gray riders, and your choice of three different artillery pieces. The horses and figures are repos of the venerable Marx figures but all the other pieces are new product. The four horse rig measures 14 1/2" (36.8cm) L so doesn't take nearly as much play area real estate were you to set up an artillery section or battery. Enjoy!

Classic Toy Soldiers Union 6-Horse Limber, Caisson, 24 Pound Howitzer

When I was growin' up there were three Civil War limbers and cannon combinations that I can think of. First, there was MPC's rather large limber and cannon meant for their 60mm figures. At the other end of the spectrum, Giant of Hong Kong made HO scale Civil War figures which included a nice little limber/cannon set-up. Right in the middle sat Marx with its 54mm limber, cannon, and four horse hitch with driver and outrider. It wasn't just a toy, it was a nicely detailed replica and the standard by which other toy makers would have have to measure their efforts. It took about forty years but finely Classic Toy Soldiers (CTS) stepped up to the plate and had this absolutely gorgeous rig rig produced for the hobby market. 

A detachment consisted of one gun and it's crew. At full strength  it could appear as you see it here or the caisson (twin ammo chests on one frame) may have been pulled by a separate team of horses. While six horses may not necessarily be required to pull the rig, extras were required to replace battlefield casualties and exhausted animals. The Chief of the piece was a sergeant while a corporal was put in charge of the caisson and another tasked with aiming the piece. The crew was rounded out by: 

1) the swabber who swabbed the bore and rammed the load 
2) the loader who inserted the charge and ammo into the muzzle
3) the person who tended the vent
4) the person who primed and fired the piece at the command of the sergeant
5) assistant who carried the round to #2
6) a person in charge of the limber
7) assistant who carried the round to #5

A battery at full strength would have consisted of six guns plus a battery wagon, ambulance wagon, forge wagon (18 wagons for a full battery) and all the personnel required to support these vehicles. The battery was segmented into three sections of two cannons each and was commanded by five officers: a commanding captain, a lieutenant in charge of the caissons, and a lieutenant in charge for each section.

If you're interested in Civil War toys or modeling and want to try and replicate a battery this will give an idea of what's required.  For 54mm collectors there's two items missing from the line-up. First, no one makes a forge wagon in this scale. Also, while you could use the terrific wagons offered by CTS as supply and battery wagons they simply don't have the exact profile of those type. The wagons made by Americana have the profile but they're not true to 54mm scale. Well, without further ado: Enjoy! Bettina & Fritz Berg :)

This is one long drink of water at 22" (55.9cm)

This is a caisson: two ammo chests on a truncated frame with a spare wheel mounted in the rear.

Many people refer to the Marx limber as a caisson but that would be incorrect. I was in the same habit until I started reading up on Civil War artillery.

This is a limber NOT a caisson

Beautiful Pictures Deine Frau Gattin Bettina :)