[AlexanderHowl]

Well, that is why you have rows of massed fire (muskets are not that useful for solo operations). The Spanish showed during the 16th century the utility of combining muskets with pikes and swords. The tercio of 1,000 musketeers supported by 1,000 pikemen and 1,000 swordsmen were nigh invulnerable at their time. Of course, smallswords were rarely used on the battlefield because of their minimal damage and light weight (rapiers and sabres are battlefield weapons, smallswords are courtly weapons).