New France got its first company of regular gunners in 1750, when Versailles approved a company of canonniers-bombardiers at Quebec. It was raised within the troupes de la marine, the colony's own regulars, and Canadian-born soldiers could serve in it. A second company followed in the mid-1750s. The gunners were counted the elite of the colonial troops. Officers trained in France commanded them, among them Fiacre-François Potot de Montbeillard. They served guns at Carillon in 1759, and on the Plains of Abraham that September they fought on the French left. The next spring they were in action again at Sainte-Foy.

The officer stands behind the gun in a long blue coat with red cuffs over a red waistcoat and breeches. Beside him, a gunner in the same blue coat works at the breech. The four gunners in red coats serve the piece: one holds the ladle for loading powder, one the sponge, one levers the carriage with a handspike, and one brings up a roundshot. The black gun sits on a red four-wheeled garrison carriage, the kind used on fortress walls and ships rather than in the field. Mount it on the walls of Quebec or Carillon with Compagnies Franches de la Marines as its garrison. Set Royal Artillery 1750 opposite, and compare it with the field gun of French Artillery Gun (Seven Years War).

Tradition of London set 617. Officer, five gunners and garrison gun, six foot figures on square gloss bases. 54mm scale (approximately 1/30). All toy soldiers cast in quality white metal and individually hand-painted in gloss enamels. Packed in the Classic Tradition Red Box. Please allow 2–3 weeks for shipping.