It’s hard to fathom that someone at some point wouldn’t have thought, “*hmmm, maybe just standing in a big line waiting to get shot isn’t the most optimal tactic*”
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The weapons of the time were inaccurate, even at 100 paces. The problem you have is that you need to hit enemies to win a battle. By grouping together en masse, in a line, you can:
a) bring all your guns to bear on an enemy line
b) fire volleys which are both very effective at killing as many in the enemy line as possible but also psychologically terrifying to the enemy because of the smoke, noise, and the show of discipline your army is demonstrating to the enemy, oh, and you know, lots of the enemies comrades suddenly disappearing in a red mist next to them.
c) by firing volleys, your front rank can reload while your second rank behind them can advance, put their muskets over the shoulders of their reloading comrades and shoot. Sometimes a line may have three lines, where the second line steps to one side to allow the third line to shoot. By the time your third line has shot, your first line is reloaded and can fire. Firing revolving volleys is a devastating tactic to stop the enemy line from even reaching yours. It also has an advantage in the fact that if your first line is hit badly, you can still fire multiple volleys.
The line however is not invincible and can be countered with:
a) a cavalry charge – risky but effective. The line will either be smashed to pieces, cut apart and savaged or forced to form square with fixed bayonets. Suddenly, your line is now firing at horseman corralling your troops into an easy to hit target for artillery and musket fire who are also *not firing back at the enemy line.* A unit in square cannot move and also cannot retreat without breaking ranks. Getting your enemy to fix themselves to a point on the battlefield is a great tactic to pin certain units and then focus your volley fire on other weaker units that may break and run giving you a numbers advantage.
b) the column. Napoleon famously used skirmishers to harass and cause casualties in well disciplined lines of enemy soldiers. He would deploy the skirmishers for long enough to cause the line to waver and then send a column of troops at them. Now, a column has it’s drawbacks. The first lines in the column are often doomed to die or be wounded however the ranks are simply replaced by the men behind. A column can move quickly and everyone moves in the same direction, and troop discipline is generally better as they cannot see the carnage Infront until they are in it. The force of the men behind presses the men in front onwards. When the column meets the line, however, the tables are turned. The column will break through the line easily as it is only two to three ranks deep. Once the line is broken the column can wheel around the back of the line and kill the enemy troops from behind.
c) artillery fire. concentrating your artillery at the enemies lines is a great way to punch holes in it to make it easier for your columns and cavalry to be more effective. Napoleon loved artillery and would pound the ever loving crap out of enemy formations before he attacked *sometimes.*
Having fixed formations on the battlefield also allowed officers and generals to see what was going on. If you can see your big formation of men from half a mile away marching as ordered then you know you can concentrate on something else happening. Being able to see clear units of troops is a huge advantage in a battle. You can also see when they are being engaged or retreating too as it will be a big mass of men running or walking backwards.
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