A British line infantryman in 1780 went into combat carrying roughly twenty pounds of equipment, most of which existed to keep his musket fed. The cartridge box, worn on a wide leather strap over the left shoulder so it sat on the right hip, was the central piece of that kit: a wooden block drilled with vertical holes, each holding one paper cartridge upright, with the wooden block protected by a leather flap that buckled shut against weather. A standard British cartridge box held twenty-four to thirty-six cartridges — enough for an extended firefight at three rounds a minute, or a longer engagement at slower rates. When the soldier needed to reload, the first step in the manual of arms was "Handle cartridge": open the box, find a cartridge by feel, draw it out, bring it to the mouth for the next step. The figure depicts this opening move of the drill — the soldier reaching into the box for his next round.

This figure shows a 43rd Foot infantryman at the "Handle cartridge" step — musket held vertical in his left hand at the wrist position, right hand reaching across his body to the cartridge box on his right hip, in the moment before drawing out the next round. He wears the standard 1780 British line infantry kit: scarlet coat with white facings, white cross-belts (bayonet sheath on the left shoulder strap, cartridge box on the right), white waistcoat and breeches, black knee gaiters, tricorne with white binding. He pairs naturally with the British 43rd Foot Tear Cartridge (the next step, biting the paper open), the British 43rd Foot Ramming Cartridge, and the British 43rd Foot Make Ready — together composing the British loading drill from Handle to Make Ready, a complete sequence of the 1764 Manual Exercise.

1/30 scale (60mm), matte-painted, single figure boxed. Catalog number 16156. As with the rest of the W. Britain modern range, the painting is photographic-quality detail intended to read well in dioramas and display cases.