Line Infantryman

The Line Infantryman of the Industrial Age carried the rifled percussion musket — a weapon whose spiral-grooved barrel imparted spin to the Minié ball projectile, more than doubling effective range over smoothbore predecessors. The percussion cap replaced the flintlock's unreliable priming charge, firing reliably even in rain. At Waterloo, at Gettysburg, across the Crimea, massed lines of these soldiers exchanged devastating volleys, with casualties rising sharply as ranges extended. Drill sergeants hammered fire discipline into men who fired by company or battalion volley command, maintaining cohesive walls of lead. In open terrain he dominates medium to long range with superior accuracy and rate of fire. Dense urban terrain and melee conditions reduce his effectiveness sharply; he requires space and formation cohesion to perform at his best.