I looked over your r/whatisthisthing thread, and it is indeed a Napoleon figurine (Figurine with a very similar pose for comparison ). The fact that it's Napoleon is significant for reasons I'll mention later on.

I can't find much on the items at all either, which is why I'm very hesitant with giving any specific answer on how they ended up with your great grandma. Speculation (like guessing where / when the items were made or how your nana got them) is very restricted in this subreddit for good reasons. The items could've been produced in Europe - they could also have been made in America (such as in Quebéc, Louisiana etc.). Which just adds to the multitude of questions about the whole situation.

That said, your great grandma isn't exactly alone in seeing trinkets and items as valuable reminders of their loved ones. I haven't found any documents or books that would confirm "little army men" being amongst the items yet, but letters have been very prominent methods of reminding friends and family during war. WW1 and WW2 are particularly rich sources of letters - there are also still surviving letters from the Napoleonic wars and the (American) Civil War, for example.

Those items could take a more somber tone however. One extreme story is that of John S. Palmer, whose son died fighting in the Civil War. As a way to cope, the father carried the very ball that had killed the son until the former died in 1881.

I should give you some sentence- paragraphs of caution though when it comes to associating a very, very divided historical figure like Napoleon only with certain traits:

Napoleon's cultural impact has been, and continues to be, immense. The fact that he was practically the main character for at least fifteen years - including the Code, five wars (Third - Seventh Coalition) and his final defeat resulting in the Congress of Vienna - meant that he left a huge mark on European culture for more than 200 years at this point. Theresa M. Kelley notes in her article J. M. W. Turner, Napoleonic Caricature, and Romantic Allegory that a "problematic attention to scale" began to show very, very early with representations of him: Sometimes, Napoleon's a colossal, majestic figure. Other times, a weak man who walks on stilts. Depends on what you're looking for - statues raised during Napoleon III's reign? British cartoons? War and Peace, written from a Russian perspective?

And this extends to figurines and caricatures of him, toys depicting Napoleonic-era soldiers etc. There's no shortage of figurines that depict him in a more grand light, and there's likewise no shortage of caricatures.

And Americans weren't exactly unaffected: he is one of 23 historical lawmakers represented in the U.S. Capitol itself with the Code being the stated reason. Also, he did sell the Louisiana territory during President Jefferson's tenure. Yes, many modern American depictions lean on the caricature side, but then again, there were Americans that would gladly welcome Napoleon's possible arrival to the US following Waterloo.

In other words, Napoleon's the kind of figure who can be used to signal anything, really. Maybe your nana was a little hasty if she connected Napoleon with protection - whether she came up with the association or she received it from someone else. But that's a very understandable feeling. When people are away fighting in wars, the loved ones often want reassurance - which the letters prove.

You might have more luck posing this question on /r/whatisthisthing if you haven't tried it already.