How come soldiers in old wars like the American Civil War did “line” battles? Would it be better if that have taken cover?

Question

Title. I’m really confused about this thing. While I can see how it can improve accuracy and all that, isn’t it better to take cover?

In: Other

Answer 1

Another factor is the weapons, specifically muzzle loaders with ramrods. You can’t reload them effectively in the prone position, and certainly not to achieve the rate of fire of around 20bseconds per shot.Then the inherent inaccuracies of the weapons and battlefield smoke meant you had to be fairly close to the, something like 50 yards or less for Napoleonic War muskets, there would be little cover conveniently in the right places.