This is probably false to some extent because I get this perception mainly from movies and other media, but did soldiers in old wars line up in formations exposing themselves and take turns to fire? If so, why?
Edit: Ty for all the detailed responses guys! I had one more question- wouldn’t it make more sense for them to spread out or take cover while fighting?
In: 2518
As others have said, muskets were actually not as inaccurate as commonly believed. A trained soldier would be expected to hit a man at 150m roughly.
The main reason the age of muskets saw rigid formations was because of the slow rate of fire. I’ve seen 4 shots per minute quoted here, but even that is ambitious: most trained, professional companies would expect 3 per minute, but when under fire from the enemy it could easily drop to 2 per minute.
When you have such a low weight of fire to bear upon the enemy, you have to make it count. Melee was still usually the deciding factor in battle, with a determined charge often resulting in the enemy breaking before even engaging. It was important, therefore, to ensure the enemy was thinned as much as possible from one or two really good volleys to encourage them to break when you fix bayonets and charge. Also, one really big volley can have a huge psychological impact on the enemy as a literal wall of lead rips through the company, versus disparate shots picking them off one or two at a time.
Without radios, and with the carnage and noise of battle, companies had to remain in tightly packed formations to retain control and ensure orders could be heard clearly. Each company often had around 88 men supported by maybe a dozen junior officers and sergeants to maintain control and discipline. They would be positioned on all sides to make sure that the lines were straight, gaps in the ranks were closed and so on (as well as discourage men from running away).
If the integrity of the formation was compromised, it usually resulted in routing. If you and some buddies were separated from your company and lost the smokey haze, alone and surrounded by the enemy with weapons that, at best, would give you one shot each before being nothing more than a spear, your only realistic option is to get the hell out of there.
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