76 Russian Line Infantry 1854, Colour Party (pre-owned)

Each Russian infantry battalion carried one colour, all similar with green cross, and central disc bearing the Imperial eagle, and in each corner the royal cipher. The colour was borne central in the front rank.

Set 76 consists of six Russian Line Infantry figures from the 23rd Azov Regiment; five soldiers with rifles an a colour bearer. They wear the distinctive Russian/Prussian pickelhaube helmet of black leather, with brass eagle plate, and the long shivel overcoat. Next to the bayonet is their short sword.

Within the Russian Army at the time of the Crimean War, there were 42 Line Regiments and 42 Light Infantry (Jager) Regiments, each numbered from 1 to 42. At the Battle of Balaclava the 12th Infantry Division was composed of the 23rd (Azov) and 24th (Dnieper) Regiments of Line Infantry; and the 23rd (Ukraine) and 24th (Odessa) Regiments of Light Infantry. The Russian battle tactics relied on bringing massed columns of infantry into close contact with the enemy, and to quote the 1848 officers manual, 'the success of this was dependent on the correct stretching of the toe in the march'. This set of figures depicts the 23rd Azov Regiment of Line Infantry.