During the French Indian Wars, there was not a great deal
of artillery deployed outside of the forts due to the heavily wooded
terrain. In fact only 20 gunners and six officers of the Royal
Artillerie were sent out to Canada in 1757 to train and assist the
colonial troops.
The Corps Royal de l'Artillerie was formed from several independant artillery units on the 5th of February, 1720 to be controlled by the new post; the Inspector of Artillery, Jean-Florent de Valliere (later succeeded by his son, Joseph-Florent in 1755). Although this corps was organised into Battalions as were the regular infantry, the company was the basic operational unit, which would have been attatched to infantry divisions or worked at fortifications.
Men of the artillery were usually better educated than those of the line. Indeed, officers could not buy their commission but instead had to pass exams, with a quarter of all commisions being taken by promising NCO's.
