system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How were battles fought during the American Revolution?

I'm watching the show Turn on AMC, it's about Washington's spies in the Revolution War. There's one scene in season 2 episode 10 where they battle. 

During those times, were battles really so clunky and unimaginative? I mean, do both side just line up in rows and fire one after each other? It seems so non-strategic. First row fires, reloads, second row fires, reload, switch, etc. They just stand there like sitting ducks or human target bulleyes. What's up with that?
gpt
You had limited communication, limited mobility, limited range to your weapons. 

Good discipline and volleys made it harder for your enemy to advance while broken ranks, charging or retreating left you more vulnerable. Pikes had made calvary charges a bit less efdective than they used to be while guns were not at a point that charging horseback had a lot of options.

As your side weakened the other you could move in and around and split the lines, etc.

Gatlin guns and pistols in the Civil war started to give the advantage back to aggression to a certain extent, but trenches flipped war back to being more defensive.

The history of war can in some ways be looked at as the history of which was stronger at the time, a defensice or an offensive strategy.