Column (formation)

The column formation allows the unit rapid movement and a very effective charge (due to weight of numbers), and it can quickly form square to resist cavalry attacks, but by its nature only a fraction of its muskets are able to open fire.

Later, during the Napoleonic Wars, French units would approach in column formation and deploy into line when close to the enemy.

"[4][5] The military historian James R. Arnold argues that all armies of the period used column formations at times on the battlefield; the military historian Sir Charles Oman is credited with developing the theory that the French practically always attacked in heavy columns, and it is only now that this theory has been questioned by more recent experts.

[9] When attacking, the Chinese would form their assault units into deep columns of platoons or squads, and drove such formations into the weak points of the enemy's defenses.

[9] The rationale for such a tactic was that repeated assaults conducted by squad- or platoon-sized skirmish parties would eventually penetrate enemy lines through sheer attrition.