Engineers of the American Civil War were mainly called upon to build roads and bridges for the army, and on occasion to destroy these when the army was retreating. They would also be employed if fortifications were required, such as those built by the Confederates around Petersburg. Any army would sooner or later find engineers indispensable, so this set fulfils an important function.
The figures show men engaged in various construction-type tasks. Some are carrying wood or sacks, others digging or using a pickaxe. The man apparently using a large lever to move a rock about the size of a football seems a bit pointless, but the pair pulling a rope will have many uses including moving artillery. The man digging with a spade is rather awkward as this is not an easy pose to achieve using the conventional two-piece mould, but the poses carrying lumps of wood around could easily fit into many situations, including camp scenes well away from any battlefront. The officer is directing the operation, with either a plan or a map in hand, and is perfectly reasonable for the role.
All the figures wear the standard fatigue dress of most ACW soldiers, and most wear the fatigue cap as well. Many are in shirt sleeves, and their general appearance seems appropriate to the hard work they are doing. In the Confederate army such work was done by men pulled from the ranks of the infantry as required until 1864, when two newly raised regiments of engineers joined the army. But whether engineers or specially detailed infantry, their appearance would have been much the same, and these figures look good. The officer too is much like his infantry counterpart except in insignia and branch-of-service colour, which was buff or yellow for the Confederates and black for the Union.
The set includes several accessories which should prove useful in adding extra realism to battle scenes. The chevaux-de-frise - logs spiked with sharpened wooden stakes - became a very common sight on many battlefields and are particularly appropriate to this period. However this is not a good model as it has very short spikes along the central pole (which would not have presented much of an obstacle to anyone, mounted or otherwise), when normally these were very long, and the whole thing rested on the lower part of the spikes rather than requiring the stands this model has. In addition, it stands at below waist height, which again would hardly have presented any sort of a barrier to an attacking enemy when they could fairly easily have jumped over it even if on foot. The gabions, barrels and boxes are of more general usefulness for many periods, and are well modelled here.
As with the rest of the Accurate range, these figures are beautifully sculpted, with a very natural look and great proportions. While a couple of the poses failed to impress us, the general sculpting of the men is excellent, and all the clothing looks good. On our example we found no flash, although later batches released by Revell do have some more (this sort of thing always varies over the years anyway). The man carrying a plank on his shoulder has the plank as a separate piece, which helps to improve the pose, but the angle of his right hand is not a good match for the burden he carries, as can be seen above, and the plank must be glued in place. The only other assembly required is placing the main log on the stands for the chevaux-de-frise, which again will require gluing if gravity alone is not enough.
The Confederates were the first to appreciate how well built entrenchments could compensate for their often inferior numbers, but as the war progressed both sides used large numbers of engineers. Like most American Civil War figures, those in this set can represent the engineers of either side simply by altering the painting. The figures are well sculpted, properly proportioned and accurate. The chevaux-de-frise is not good, however, but the rest of the accessories are very generic and well done, and could easily serve in a far wider context than just the Civil War. This is a most useful set that covers an unusual subject with some fine figures.