The most interesting answer (in my opinion) for this question is the French Revolutionary Army changed the game as to how battles were fought.

Prior to the revolution, in the late 18th century, pitched battles were still fought much the same way as they had been in the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the century. Yes, there had been changes, with particular pioneers being Frederick the Great and James Wolfe, but the French revolutionaries pretty much threw the rules out of the window, because they had to! I will have to give a little bit of background of the French army prior to this, so please excuse the rambling!

The French army of the Ancien Regime was universally commanded by members of the aristocracy, and often overall command of a regiment was passed from one generation to the next. So, come the Revolution, and the general distrust of the Second Estate, the entire army was overhauled as pretty much the whole of the officer class was seen as potentially traitorous. This disorder is illustrated with the initial sallies against the Austrian forces under the command of the Comte de Rochembeau, who divided his force into several columns, two of which were led by Duc de Biron and Théobald Dillon. In both of these cases, their men panicked at the sight of the Austrian armies with cries of "we have been betrayed", and in Dillon's case, he was shot attempting to rally his men. Things were off to a bad start!

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The one advantage the Revolutionary army did have in its back pocket was their dedication to their cause. And it was their vocal praise of said cause that is often cited as a factor in their successes thereafter. So, once they were being led by men they trusted, and whose Revolutionary morals they could identify with, things began to change.

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Imagine being in the Prussian army, having fought countless battles across Europe up until now. You are marching into France under the command of the Duke of Brunswick because the French have deposed their king. This is not an invasion, your commanders have declared that your objective is the restoration of the monarchy. Generally speaking, you have fought against men such as yourself, professional soldiers or men cowed by discipline to the point of acting as automata on the battlefield, focussed wholly on reloading and firing muskets, staying in formation and obeying orders. You are expecting much of the same.

Then you arrive in France, and the French army is singing. Singing. On a battlefield. Shouting Vive la France as they storm towards you. Ill-equipped (the French army was not required to wear a uniform, only a cockade), poorly armed (much of the weaponry was centralised, meaning often units went into battle without proper munitions), these French patriots are coming at you like banshees. That would definitely throw you off, if not terrify you!

They did not engage in prolonged musketry duels with the invading Germans, why would they? That requires training. They just charged at them, first in column to prevent casualties, then in line. They re-wrote the way battles were fought, on a nationwide level. And it worked.

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There are other factors at play of course, but I generally feel this is the most evocative and interesting of them. I hope this helps answer your question!

Owen Connelly, The Wars of the French Revolution

John A Lynn, Giant of the Grand Siecle: The French Army, 1610-1710

T.C.W. Blanning, The French Revolutionary Wars, 1787-1801

Girondin Mobilization for War, 5th July 1792 http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/424/

The Proclamation of the Duke of Brunswick: https://history.hanover.edu/texts/bruns.html

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