Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1863-04-24
IRASBURGH, FRIDAY, APRIL "a, 1868,
"Oh, do not be Discouraged"

III u TCCtUt dItlCl6 uuuCl luto uCdu W.
attempted to correct some vague anC
discouraging notions that have been en-
tertaine1 as to the actual losses by dealt
in the federal army. Equally vague
and discouraging, and at the same time
equally incorrect are the notions thai
prevail somewhat extensively as TO the
relative losses of the two armies. By
many it is confidently believed that the
balance is greatly against us. If that
were so, there would be no occasion for
Encouragement in regard to the final re-
suit. We can lose two men to the rebels
one till the rebels are all dead and then
have as large population left as the whole
of rebellion had to begin with.
But the facts are not so. SO far from
the balance Of losses being against US,
the balance is against the rebels, and
very decidedly too. 1t may be that they
have taken more prisoners than we have,
but that is matter of just no conse.
quence at all in affecting the final result.
1t weakens the union army temporarily,
and renders it necessary to call new re-
cruits into the field to supply the places
of those who are imprisoned or on parole.
If our armies were small, or if there
were scarcity of men to fill the ranks,
a balance against us of ten thousand
prisoners, as Some have affirmed that
there now is, might seriously weaken our
forces. But our armies number at the
least half million of men, and ten
thousand prisoners taken from such ar
mics as those is equivalent to depriving
each company, temporarily, of the serv-
ices of two men. Such a deprivation
would not materially impair the eflicien-
cy of company, neither does the cap
ture of ten thousand men materially i'm
pair the efficiency of the grand army.
|, is the killed and wounded that tell
the story. Dead men not only tell no
tales but fight no battles, and Of this truth
the Southern confederacy ha had a
much sadder experience than the North
ern States. We have an accurate &C
count of the killed and wounded in one
hundred and eighty-one battles and
skirmshes, being the entire number that
had occurred down to the close of the
year 1862. These are compiled from
official sources, and are reliable. In
those battles there we're killed on the
federal side 1914, and on the rebel side
26,506; balance of II 1862 against the
rebels. There were wounded on the
rebel side G0,357, and on the federal
side, 64,658, balance against the feder-
ais of 1901. But in these statistics the
rebel losses during the seven days fight
before Richmond are not included. The
rebel authorities, for wise reasons, no
doubt, have published no official accounts
of those losses but they are known to
have been very severe, and, from the
best evidence that can be procured, they
are computed to have been 10000 killed
and wounded. Add this 20 the other
rebel losses, as just stated, and the bal
ance against the rebels is 20,863.
1t will be noticed that our wounded
exceed the rebel wounded, and the rebel
killed exceed our killed. 1t hes also
been pretty conclusively ascertained that
the mortally wounded rebels greatly ex-
coed our mortally wounded. The rebels
it as their policy to wound
rather than TO kill, because wounded
man is not only disabled himself, but
disables one or two others to remove
him from the field. That is good policy
so far as immediate results are concern
ed. If the fate of the war were to be
decided by a single battle, the wounding
Of third of the men engaged on either
side would settle the question. But the
war is not TO be so decided. The ques- /;
ion is one of endurance. "Who can
pound the longest ?" That being so, the
better policy is that which is adopted by :,
)ur armies-to kill rather than to wound.
rebel once killed or MORALLY wound
ID is disabled not only for the fight then
pending, but for the rest of the war
while a federal soldier wounded may be :,
lble TO go into the ranks again, or, if not ;,
10 that, TO take the place Of some able
bodied man who can. The disparity be- r
ween the federal killed and the rebel
las already told severely upon the rebel
trength, and will do so yet more in time /.
0 come.
but the war goes on so slowly
Sure enough, it is slow movement C
much slower than is at all agreeable to n
ur impotence. But that is necessity ST
# the case. Large bodies move slowly. \
Ind movement so large as that which is
, going on in this country is not to be ii