A cannon was served by a team, and every man in it had a number and a job. Serving the gun was a strict drill done under fire: one man sponged the barrel to kill any smouldering ember, another loaded the powder and shot, a third rammed it home, a fourth pricked the charge and primed the vent, and the gun-captain touched it off with a glowing linstock — then the whole crew heaved the recoiled piece back into place and began again. A good crew managed perhaps two rounds a minute. The drill was unforgiving: if the sponge man missed a live ember, the next charge could go off as it was loaded and take his arms with it.

The six-figure set is a Guard artillery crew on parade — an officer, a sergeant, gunners with handspike and rammer, and a drummer, in the dark blue and red of the arm under the bearskin of the Guard. Crew it to a gun and mass it into a grand-battery diorama: give it the field piece of the French Foot Artillery of the Imperial Guard, range it beside the French Foot Artillery, and bring up the French Horse Artillery on the flank.

Tradition of London model N2B. 54mm, white metal, hand-painted in gloss enamel. Six-figure set — an officer, a sergeant, gunners, and a drummer, 1810. Supplied in the Tradition Classic Red Box. Allow 2–3 weeks delivery.