7th Cavalry Troopers

The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army Cavalry Regiment, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century.  The Seventh Cavalry Regiment patrolled the Western plains for raiding native Americans and to protect the westward movement of pioneers.  In 1873 the 7th Cavalry moved its garrison post to Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory. From here, the regiment carried out the historic reconnaissance of the Black Hills in 1874, making the discovery of gold in the Black Hills public and starting a gold rush that precipitated the Great Sioux War of 1876–77. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876 with 211 men of the 7th Cavalry.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which occurred on June 25 and 26, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory, was the most prominent action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake). The U.S. Seventh Cavalry, including the Custer Battalion, a force of 700 men led by George Armstrong Custer, suffered a severe defeat.

Information paraphrased from Wikipedia.

These are 54mm recasts of Crescent Toys' 7th Cavalry set. Crescent Toys was a British toy manufacturing company in operation from 1922 to 1980. The original 8 figure box included a model of General Custer and were painted. The recasts however only included 3 poses, came unpainted but cast in a variety of colors.

picture taken from www.michtoy.com

The officer is in a "charge" pose, with a sword in his left and a pistol in his right. Since General Custer was known to have worn a different jacket, this figure could represent one of his officers.

The next trooper in firing his pistol and carrying a knife in his left hand.

The last figure is running carrying a flag. The flag is quite small and mounted on a small staff. The figure is scuplted wearing sergeant stripes and among the three, his pistol is looks long enough to resemble a Colt 1860 Army.

I remember seeing another pose from this set in my parents' house a few years back and might have a go at looking for it when I visit next week.

More on these guys soon!