The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-07-24
The Lossss at Solfer1nO-RhO arc the HardeS,
Fighters IN tho Worlds

If the number of killed and wounded left upon
the field of battle he any test of the desperate
nature of the fighting done, and il we are to be-
lieve the official returns both of the Austrans
ard French of those put hors de combat at Sol
ferino, they would lead us to suppose that it
was not OF so very terrible character as that
which has marked other engagements in history.
With the exception of perhaps two or three dee
perate charges, the battles of Magenta sni Sol
ferino have been rather an encounter of tactics
and question of manGuvripg than measure
of courage and strength. The aim of the COM
manders on both sides has been to concentrate
superior on inferior masses-two battalions on
the enemys one; failing in this, to draw of, and
march, and countermarch, for new combination.
Taking the rival bulletins, we find both sides
reporting themselves met by superior numbers"
The Austrians retreat because tho French have
superior numbers, and the French do not follow
because of the superior numbers of the Austrians
By and by, there will rise up some utterly unset
entifc, and, from the strategic point of view,
utterly thick. headed officer, who won't stop to
think of combinations and superior numbers but
in Bowery phrase, will ego in and win," after
the manner of the Great Napoleon. Then, aud
not till then, will a reputation for hard fighting
be made out Of this war.
Up to this time, we repeat, the war has been
a grand parade of masses of troops and its re-
suits have been mainly reached by superior strar
tegy on one side and bad combinations on the
other. There has been no real measure OF
strength. The battle of Solferino, in which
100000 men, in round numbers, were engaged,
and which lasted fourteen hours, shows, after
wounded-and the number of these, after ALL
would seem to be the best test of the valor and
fighting capabilities of belligerents. According
to the official returns, the loss of the Austrians
in this fight was 1905 killed, and 9O35 wound
ed; Of the French and Sardinians, 1925 killed
and wounded; total loss on both sides Of
1855, or only about seven per cent Of the nun
bers engaged.
Now let us see how this compares with the
style Of fighting done over here. At Bunker
Hill there were engaged total of $500 men
| English regulars and Yankee 6rmers-of which
1903, or 43 per cent, were left on the field.
At Chippewa there were 1000 Americans
and :, 100 English; the killed and wounded were
S4S, or Il per cent At Buena Vista the Ameri-
can force was 1925, the Mexican $4,000; the
American killed and wounded was TAG, or IL
per cent; the Mexican, upwards of 2,OOO or
about 10 per cent, and the fighting lasted two
days. At Molino del Rey the American force
was 3,447 regulars, the Mexican about 10000
men. The combat lasted an hour, and the
American loss was 7s7 killed and wounded, or
upwards Of % per cent. The Mexican loss in
killed, wounded and prisoners was something
over $1,000 or about SO per cent. The American
army entered the valley Of Mexico about $500
strong, and in the two actions of Moline del Rey
and Chaputepec it lost 1852 men, or "a per cent
out Of its entire numbers.
There is no more common cant than that about
the pusillanimity of the Mexican soldiers, their
cowardice, &c, &c. In point of fact, however
| they are good soldiers; better far than the ave-
| rage Of the French and Austrian armies, if the
valor with which they contest the field is to be
measured by the standard of the loss they inflict
and suffer- Soldiers who run away don't geuer-
| ally figure among the killed and wounded.
Everything of this kind is, of course relative:
| yet great parade of hundreds of thousands of
men, with ritled cannon and what not, new, and
therefore startling, but not necessarily danger
| Gus, inventions, do not make great battle
| Had the two armies at Solferino fought with the
valor and obstinacy of the English and Ameri-
| cans at Chippewa, their aggregate losses would
have been more than four times as great as re-
| ported, or $4,000 men, instead of 10000 Had
| they fought as did our regulars at Molino del
Rey, it would have been 1900, or nearly five
times as great as it was. In this view, then,
either the Americans, Mexicans and English are
better soldiers than the French, Austrians and
SardiniaDs, or else the official bulletins of the
latter are grossly inaccurate and deceptive.
The fact is, the mass of both the Austrian and
French soldiery are in no sensible degree better
than the Mexican soldiers, except, perhaps, in be-
| ing better armed and oAicered The Zouaves,
Turcos and Imperial Guard on the one side, and
the Tyrolean Jagers on the other, have done
| pretty much all the real bloody work and fight
ing in this campaign, and they are the only corps
which could be depended on, with any chance
| OF success, in contest with an'euual number of
American regulars. We could safely leave the
| general rank and file 10 the volunteers and fire
| companies.
1t is true that Lombardy has been pretty
nearly cleared of the Austrians, and in
very short time; but the latter have not
suffered any material loss in their numerical
strength nor in their ability TO continue the con-
test under leader capable Of inspiring them
with confidence. The French have succeeded
rather by the lack Of unity of command and pur
pose among their opponents and the strategy o
Louis Napoleon, than by the superior valor oftheir
troops. This is obvious enough to distant and
disinterested observers, and it may well be that
| in concluding an armistice Louis Napoleon pre-