The French infantry's loading drill was a twelve-motion sequence that turned the bare elements of musket and cartridge into a fired shot. Adopted in essentials from the 1791 royal regulations and carried forward through the Empire, the drill ran from the order "Ouvrez le bassinet!" (open the pan) through "Prenez la cartouche!" (take a cartridge), "Déchirez la cartouche!" (tear the cartridge — with the teeth, on the order), the priming of the pan, the closing of the frizzen, the seating of the musket, the pouring of the powder charge, the ramming home of ball and paper wad, and finally the priming again before firing. A well-drilled French soldier could fire two to three rounds a minute under good conditions; in smoke, confusion, and the constant interruption of the bayonet ready and the orders to dress the line, the actual rate was often slower. The cartridge itself — paper-wrapped with the ball at the top and the powder charge at the bottom — was sealed against weather and held in a leather cartridge box (the giberne) at the soldier's right hip on a cross-belt over the left shoulder. The figure shown here is at the Prenez la cartouche beat of the drill: the soldier reaching back to the giberne for the next round, eyes still on the enemy, the empty paper of the previous shot still in his teeth or in the dust at his feet.

This King & Country figure shows a French light infantryman kneeling on his right knee with the left foot planted, the Charleville musket held vertical at the chest by his left hand, the right hand reaching back behind his hip to the giberne for the next round. The eyes stay forward on the enemy line throughout the motion — the trained reflex that kept a French infantryman ready to react while his hands worked the drill. He wears the légère regulation: dark blue coat with red collar, cuffs, and turnbacks; red epaulettes at the shoulders; white waistcoat; white trousers with red side-stripes; black short gaiters; tall black shako with red plume, red cords, and a brass plate. The yellow leather belt at the waist carries the briquet infantry sword and bayonet scabbard. He completes the kneeling-rank trio with the F.L.I. Kneeling Priming His Musket figure at the next beat of the drill and the F.L.I. Kneeling Ready figure at the bayonet-fixed pre-fire moment, all three kneeling against the cover of the European Walls and Gates at the perimeter of the European Farmhouse.

Model: NA534 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 1 piece set