The short answer is that battalion guns were never manned by infantrymen as a matter of course. The longer answer is more complex. In order to do their job battalion guns had to fire as fast as possible as their targets were large and at close range. To do this they needed a well-trained crew of skilled men who could perform the various drills without thinking under battlefield conditions. T'hese were nearly always provided by the artillery regiments of the various countries -- detachments to the infantry battalions. As well, the guns needed less-trained men to fetch and carry ammunition and above all to manhandle the gun as it moved with its battalion. These came from two sources.

The most common practice was to use infantrymen. In Prussian service, the infantry pioneers or "Zimmerleute" made up the numbers 5-8 on the 3 and 6 pounders. The British took 1 man per company to be trained as "additional gunners" at the beginning of a campaign. Similar practice was followed in most of the German states.

However, another method was for the "handlargers" to be provided from the artillery. In Austrian practice the artillery fusiliers were "hand larger - 6 of each per 3 and 6 pounders alongside the 6 skilled "buchsenmeister. In Russia, the 2nd Artillery Regiment provided the detachments for the battalion guns which the dragoons and horse grenadiers also had. However, the detachments of only I officer, 5 cannoneers, 10 fusiliers per infantry regiment and 2 cannoneers, 4 fusiliers per cavalry regiment imply "additional gunners". The French gave each battalion a 4 pounder, "a la Suedoise", in 1757 with a sergeant, a corporal, an "anspessade", 3 cannoneers and 14 "sous cannoneers" in charge of it. Commentators imply that these were infantrymen but as their title suggest they must, at least, have been trained as artillerymen even if they wore infantry uniforms.