At the battle of Roncoux, the want of Artillery was sorely felt by the British, the more so, as the enemy was in this arm particularly strong; and doubtless this led to the great increase made in 1747, both in men and guns. The arrival of Colonel Belford to command the Artillery in the winter of 1746, and during the rest of the campaign, produced a marked and beneficial effect. Colonel Pattison and Major Lewis were allowed to retire on full-pay, in January 1748, on account of old age and infirmities: and their younger successors devoted themselves to giving a military appearance to the companies under their command. In this they were greatly assisted, not merely by the improved and better educated class of officers, now joining from the Academy; but also by an accidental circumstance which swelled the ranks with many well-trained soldiers. It is mentioned as follows by old General Macbean: "About this time, three Regiments of Cavalry being reduced to Dragoons, and the troopers having it in their option to remain as Dragoons or be discharged, many of them chose the latter; and above two hundred of them enlisted into the Artillery. From this period, the Regiment improved much in appearance, and in the size of the men, neither of which had been hitherto much attended to; but receiving at once so many tall men in the corps may be said to have given rise to the change that has taken place in regard to the height, strength, and figure of the men which now compose it." Among other means of training and disciplining the men under his command during the tedious months when the Army was in winter quarters, Colonel Belford devoted much time to practising them in the use of small-arms, and in infantry manœuvres, never yet practised in the Regiment. So successful was he, that the Duke of Cumberland reviewed the companies; on which occasion the gunners of the companies, with their field staffs, formed upon the right as a company of grenadiers; and the matrosses, with their muskets, as a battalion. There are not wanting, in the nineteenth century, men who wish that Colonel Belford's zeal had taken some other direction; who think the use of Artillerymen, even on field-days, as infantry, is a misuse; and who would remove the carbines from the Garrison Artillery, in order that more time might be allowed for their own special and varied drills. There are even scoffers, who say that the presence of a body of men in the garrison under his command, armed and equipped like infantry, is more than a General Officer can bear; that he is never at rest until he sees this body swelling his Brigade by another battalion; and that he inspects it in infantry details more minutely than in those of its own special arm. Whatever ground there may be for these complaints, there can be no doubt that Colonel Belford was innocent of any desire to divert his men from their own work: and merely availed himself of this, as of other means of