The history of volley fire dates back before guns to use by archers, at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, for instance. One example of this is the Mongol Army. Another is the Persian invasion force of King Xerxes, whose arrows were said to block the sun. In the eighteenth century, the British would use volley fire to make up for the inaccuracy and limited range (100 yards) of their musket, the Brown Bess. Armies approached one another in linear formations. British soldiers would fire volleys in the general direction of the enemy, by ranks. The command they were given was to level weapons, rather than to aim. The shooters might be formed in three ranks, with the front rank firing simultaneously, then the second rank, offset, then the third, after which the first rank was ready to fire again.