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The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/D4NSOME on 2023-08-18 08:53:13+00:00.

Lets look at the battle of Waterloo, for example. The deployment of troops began around 6AM and the fighting finished only at dusk. During all those hours, what would the reserve units (those that would only see action later in the day) do? Would they stand in column or line? Would they kneel? Or setup a temporary camp and sit down?