155 US 16th Infantry Regiment "Doughboys", 1917

The Big Red One: America's first doughboys in France

"Lafayette, we are here!"

One hundred and forty years after the Marquis de Lafayette crossed the Atlantic to fight for American independence, American soldiers crossed it the other way. General Pershing's words (actually spoken by Col C.E Stanton) at Lafayette's Paris grave said it all: the debt was being repaid.

The 16th Infantry Regiment arrived in France at the end of June 1917—the advance guard of two million doughboys to come.

This WWI figurine set captures the doughboys of the 1st Infantry Division as they appeared in those early months: Montana-peak campaign hats, gaiters, field packs with Springfield M1903 bayonets lashed to the back. These were the men who would become the "Big Red One."

First to fight

The 16th Infantry Regiment holds a sombre distinction in American military history. In November 1917, its soldiers became the first U.S. troops to suffer combat casualties in the Great War. The 1st Division had arrived as America's promise to its allies—and the 16th Regiment paid the first installment in blood.

The division's iconic red shoulder patch came in 1918. But the reputation was already earned.

The mystery of the doughboys

"Doughboys"—the name that would define a generation of American soldiers. Its origins remain debated. One story traces it to the 1916 Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa, when infantry marching through Mexico emerged coated in white adobe dust. Mounted troops called them "adobes" or "dobies," and the name stuck. Other explanations abound, but no definitive answer exists.

Whatever the origin, the doughboys of the 1st Division wore the name first.

Authentic early-war kit

Our figures show the 16th Infantry as they appeared before the mud and trenches changed everything. The distinctive Montana-peak campaign hats would eventually give way to steel helmets. The gaiters would be replaced by puttees. But in those first months, this was the American soldier: eager, untested, and carrying the weight of a nation's entry into the world's greatest war.

Collector's edition packaging

This set marks the beginning of our new World War 1 American series. Each box features original artwork by David Cowe—a pastel painting drawn from a period photograph of American troops in France. Gold foil lettering and border complete the presentation, styled after the great contemporary compendium books on the Great War.

All American sets in this series come boxed in blue star paper as a nod to Imperial's successful Americana (Civil War) series, now retired.

A museum-quality tribute to the doughboys who arrived first—and fought first.