i watched the patriot a few days ago and it all seemed a bit odd. was the movie accurate as far as the battles were concerned? did they just line up and shoot at each other?

i better idea, would be to take your shot, and run very fast at them with a pike or axe. a simple longbow would have kicked arse in those battles.

why was it done like that?

I always thought "The Patriot" was about the american revolution.

Regardless, wars were indeed fought that way. It was considered the only "respectable" way to do battle, and it was a bit of a necessity, because of the reload time and inaccuracy of muskets. If you want to hit anything you need to have many people firing, and if you want to keep from getting mowed down you need many people constantly firing. Thus, lines of soldiers three or four deep that alternate between firing and reloading.

The revolution was won, more or less, because the americans figured out that they could gain the upper hand by using natural terrain for cover and moving from place to place between shots.

~Zero the Inestimable

well really the only way a nation could do battle with muskets was to line up and use volley fire with the development of rifles thought the tactics didn't catch up, and yes the civil war was a blood bath for just that reason.

what was an effective range for a musket?

The effective range of a musket is less than a hundred yard, but you need to get closer to hit the target.