S.A.A. Soldier Running Forward

The Mexican infantry's run for the Alamo walls began before dawn on March 6, 1836. Santa Anna had ordered the assault for five in the morning, and four columns of regulars and presidiales moved forward in the dark — Cos and Duque against the north wall where the Texans had patched the breach with timber, Romero against the east, Morales against the south — with the elite zapadores and grenadiers held back as a reserve under Santa Anna's hand. The first two waves were broken at the foot of the walls by close-range musketry and the defenders' cannon firing canister at point-blank range. The third attempt got over the north wall around six o'clock, supported by the reserves Santa Anna fed forward. The fight inside the compound lasted another half hour, and by half past six the defenders were all dead. The cost to Santa Anna's army was around six hundred killed and wounded — far higher than his official report admitted, and a price the regular battalions like the Toluca and the San Luis Potosí would feel keenly in the campaign that followed. This King & Country figure shows a Mexican line infantryman in mid-charge — left foot driving forward, bayonet leveled, musket gripped low across the body in the charging position. He wears the Mexican infantry regulation order of 1836: tall black shako with brass eagle plate, yellow band, and the green-white-red pompom of the Mexican national colors; dark blue coatee with red collar, cuffs, and turnbacks; white cross-belts supporting cartridge box and bayonet scabbard; white trousers rolled at the ankle. The huarache sandals at his feet are the diagnostic detail — Mexican line infantry of the campaign was as often shod in leather sandals as in boots, a function of the army's supply system rather than the regulations. He runs in the same assault column as Santa Anna's Laddermen carrying their scaling ladders forward to the walls and the Santa Anna's Shouting Soldier calling the line on, under the overall command of General Santa Anna himself directing the attack from the reserve. Model: RTA145 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 1 piece set