Every shot a Highlander fired began as a paper cartridge: a tube of paper holding a lead ball and a measured charge of black powder. The drill was the same in the forests of New York as on a European parade ground. He tore the end of the cartridge open with his teeth, shook a little powder into the priming pan and closed it, then poured the rest down the barrel and rammed the ball and paper home on top. A man without front teeth could not easily open a cartridge, so armies paid attention to a recruit's mouth as well as his height. In the field a trained soldier fired two or three rounds a minute.

This grenadier holds his musket across his body in the priming position and lifts the cartridge toward his mouth. He wears the tall black fur cap of the grenadier company with its red front, and a red coat with blue lapels and cuffs. The coat has white lace and white-barred shoulder wings, the grenadier's mark. Below are a dark tartan kilt, a leather sporran, red-and-white diced hose with red garters, and buckled shoes. To show the whole loading cycle in a single rank, stand him with 42nd Battalion Coy Standing Ramming, No.2, 42nd Battalion Coy Standing Make Ready and 42nd Grenadier Standing Firing No.1.

W. Britain model 16056. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.