(October 5, 2017 at 1:32 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Excellent example although far more efficient with those breech-loaders.
Amazing to consider that as late as WWI infantry tactics still had not evolved past the "line up shoulder to shoulder and advance" school of thought.
It was actually worse than that. The order was "level, fire!", not "aim, fire!" because aiming a smoothbore musket was useless. When Pickett's Division charged the stone wall and the Angle at Gettysburg they found out what rifled guns that were being aimed could do to a formation. The Union troops had Henry repeating rifles (lever action) and it word was "you could load on Sunday and shoot all week."
