The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1855-08-18
Select 1flisffllanp.
Loss of Life In Great Battles.

The Baltimore SIN gives statistics to show
that the waste of human life in the lmsuc-
ccssful attack on the Nlalakofl and Rcdan APP
pears to have been nearly as great as in the
average of the most destructive modern bat
ties. More than five thousand of the assal.
ants We're killed and wounded a vast proper
ton when We consider how small. compare.
lively, the storIning column was. The
French alone admita loss Of thirty-cight hum
,lied men rendered incapable, either by death
or by wounds. There is indeed, one modern
seige which was more bloody than this--not
actually, however, but when the numbers en-
gagged are compared with those who fell
We aludc to the second stige of Badajoz, in
the Pennsular war. The famous Spanish
fortress was invested by Wellington, at tho
head of twenty-five thousand men, and final
ly carried by the storm after one of the most
sanguinary assaults on record. In tn, attack
on the great beach alone, not less than thirty
eight hundred men fell. Yet Badaioz was IL
small place, tho fort not being larger perhaps
than the MaiakoH and its outworkS. Who
ever would realize half the horrors of war
should read Napiers account Of the fall Of
Badajoz.
ha.,neo, Au,t,,ltn, WagIan,, Lcipsic,
Dresden, Borodino, and Waterloo. were
among the most desperately contested battles
Of the first Napoleon. At Marengo the Aus
tralianS lost ten thousand, more than a third
whole force, while the French lost seven
thousand, or about in the same proportion.
\ considerable portion of these were prisoners
however, at the Redan and Malakoif but few
prisoners were taken. At Austcrltz the
French lost twelve thousand, or nearly
sixth of their entire force; but the allies lost
thirty thousand, or more than third. At
Wagram the loss on either side was twenty
five thousand, or about one-sevcnth of those
engaged. At Lei psic the loss was forty
three thousand on the side of the allies, out
of nearly three hundred thousand in the field
and nearly sixty thousand or the part of the
French, out of one hundred and seventy five
thousand. At Dresden, the allies lost twcn-
ty-tive thousand or one-Sixth of the; re
number, while the French lost but twelve
thousand, or onc-tcnth. At Borodino, the
bloodiest battle Of all, fifty thousand, fell on
each side. or a third of those in the battle
At Waterloo the French lost forty thousand
or more than half but a large portion OF
these fell in the route; yet the English lost
nearly twenty thousand, or almost third of
their entire troop
1t is often said, in discussing military af-
fairs, that our American battles have been
too triflng to take into consideration. But
if VIC consider not the number actually killed
and wounded, but the proportion which
those numbers bear to the whole force en-
gagged, we shall find that those actions, thus
scorncd, were as holly contested as even the
first Napolcon's lattles. At Eutaw Springs,
for example, in the revolutionary war, one
third of both armies were left OIL the field
At Chippewa, in the war of 1872, nearly
one-tifth Of the British were disabled. At
Lundy's Lane the loss of the Americans was
about one third, and that Of the British
equal. At New Orleans. where Il G British
attempted on smaller scale. the same rash
experiment which they have just been de-
fcatcd in before the Redan and MalakofI. the
assailants lost two thousand men out of their
army of twelve thousand. From these Stats.
ties 1t appears that battles in the open field
are genera II more bloody, though not al
ways, than assaults on entrenchcd positions.
The reason is that in the former case the
entire army is usually engaged, but in the
latter only the storming column. The loss by
those actually occupied in the attack is al
ways heavier, however, than the average
loss Of an army in the open field 1t would
seem also. that the allies in their latter re-
pulse suffer as severely as the English at New
Orleans-a defeat which has always been
considered one of the most sanguinary on re-
cord.