Washington's Bodyguard Officer with Spontoon 1/30 Figure - William Britain (16102)
Features
- Figure is approximately 2.5 tall
- All metal construction
- Hand painted and ready for display
Never primarily intended for combat the spontoon was introduced to armies as a new symbol of officer rank. In drill formation officers saluted with their spontoons and could also use them to convey orders. Standing one vertically on the ground indicated a halt. Tilting the point forward signaled a forward movement; tilting it backward ordered a withdrawal. Spontoons were never popular in the Continental army and in 1776 many British officers stopped carrying pole arms because of a report that the Americans were in the habit of picking off the officers and discarding their pole arms would assimilate their appearance more to that of the men.
