Development of Tactical Geography in the Nineteenth Century.

The geographic patterns of warfare have changed greatly in the past 200 years. The development of the technology of warfare and the influence of technology on tactics in the 19th century resulted in a more extensive geography of tactical warfare. Pre-Napoleonic armies were largely constrained by relatively shortrange weapons and limited command control to be tactically linear. This began to change at about the time of the Napoleonic Wars. By the end of the 19th century, increases in army size, weapons range, rate of fire, and accuracy led to both a lengthening and thickening of linear tactical forms and also an increasing use of terrain features and field entrenchments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]