It wasn’t actually more efficient. Having all of you’re guys in a huge box makes it easier to hit than having you’re infantry spread out. It was mostly a morale thing, having other soldiers within arms range made you reconsider running away. While being engaged with huge volleys by these squares made you very much consider if you should run anyway.
Having many guys with pointy sticks (muskets with bayonets in this case) was still the best way to defend against cavalry.
Having one big blob of people with pointy sticks also enabled charges to rout the enemy and stoped them from doing it to you.
You have to line up musket troops to give them orders too. There’s no radio and you have to shout over the noise and smoke.
Remember, these are black powder guns. They’re loud. If your troops are right next to each other you can more easily direct them to fire, advance, or retreat. Advancing or retreating quickly can take advantage of enemy weaknesses and break up the opposing army. If your guys are spread out, you can’t tell them anything.
It wasn’t actually more efficient. Having all of you’re guys in a huge box makes it easier to hit than having you’re infantry spread out. It was mostly a morale thing, having other soldiers within arms range made you reconsider running away. While being engaged with huge volleys by these squares made you very much consider if you should run anyway.
Having many guys with pointy sticks (muskets with bayonets in this case) was still the best way to defend against cavalry.
Having one big blob of people with pointy sticks also enabled charges to rout the enemy and stoped them from doing it to you.
You have to line up musket troops to give them orders too. There’s no radio and you have to shout over the noise and smoke.
Remember, these are black powder guns. They’re loud. If your troops are right next to each other you can more easily direct them to fire, advance, or retreat. Advancing or retreating quickly can take advantage of enemy weaknesses and break up the opposing army. If your guys are spread out, you can’t tell them anything.