The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-01-27
Percentage of Losses in European
and American Battles.

SNeNA~os
We are in the habit Of speaking Of the
unprecedented and unparalleled slaugh-
ter Of the battles Of this rebellion, as IL
the world had never witnessed such de-
struciion of human life before. The N.
Y. Times, however, publishes some strsis-
tics, which, if correct, and we suppose
that they are, prove this belief TO be a
great mistake. According TO the Times,
eur battles have as yet exhibited little Of
the desperation of European battles 1t
says;
At Shiloh, our force averaged about
53,000-being 10000 on the FIRST day,
and 1900 on the second. Gen. Grant,
in his official report gives the approxi-
mate number of killed and wounded as
5000, which makes about nine and a half
per cent.
AT Antietam, onr force was about 100,-
600. Gen. Mcclellan reported the killed
andawounded.ss 2453 of the former, and
11,222 of the latter, making 1854,
which it abont thirteen aud half per cent.
At Fredericksburg, at least $4,000
crossed the river. OF these, according to
Gen. Burnside's supplementary report,
1852 were killed, and "between six and
seven thousand wounded" making an
aggregate, we will say, of 5000 winch is
ten Uer cent
At Murfreesboro we hak about $4,000
men engaged, and according TO the tele-
graphic report of Gen. Rosecrans, lost in
killed and wounded about 5000, which is
ten per cent
! How now do those ratios compare with
some of the sharply contested small bat.
ties? At Wilson's creek, under General
Lyon, of our 300 engaged, we had 223
| killed aud 72l wouuded-an aggregate
of 94I, which is over tlgenty ,iue per cent
| At Williamsburg, out of about 10000
engaged, our killed and wounded amount
| ed to 1866, which is nearly ai1etesn per
! cent. At Fair Oaks, out of about $4,000
actually engaged, our.losses in killed and
wounded were 4,517, which is about
tl0eaty-fpe per cent. AT Corinth, out of
some II, 900 engaged, our loss in killed
and wounded was ., 127, whichs nearly
tlce,ty per cent.
How with the battles OF Mexico? At
Buena Vista We, lost in killed and wound.
ed, 723 out of 4,600or nearly sirteen per
cent, At Molino deI,Rey, 6S7 out of 3,447,
or nearly tcedy-dyee per cent At Cheru-
busco, 1000 out Of 1900 or orT thirteen
per cent At Chepultepcc, S6G out of $500,
or nearly thirteen per cent.
How with the great battles in Europe?
At Bautzen the loss in killed and wound
ed on both sides was about SeVenteen per
cent. at Leipsic, at atWagram, and at Aus
terlilz, each about eighteen at Lutzen
about nineteen: at Friedland and at Mar
engo, each about t,0eaty-aae at Jeua
about t,Centy-sir; at Waterloo about hirty
at Aspern Gnclunding Essling) about
thirty IRE at Eilau and BorodinO, each
about thirty-sir. In the Crimea, owing tC
the peculiar character of the operations, &
mere siege, there was no first class bat
tie fought-none in which even forty
thousand men, on the part Of the Allies
We're actually engaged. In the brie
Italian campaign Of Louis Napoleon
there were tWo-Magenta and Sollerino
in the former of which, according Il
French accounts the Allies had %, ,00l
and Austrians 10000 engaged; in tn
latter the Allies had $4,000 and tn
Austrians 10000. The loss Of the AL
lies in killed and wounded at Magent
was about ten per cent and at Solferinc
according TO the French Monitelr, p, ,00C
which is about fourteen per cent. Blu
the Moniteltr, as is its wont, falsi6ed. l
has been shown from hospital figure
and other indisputable data-in the hos
pitals Of Rrescia alone, according TO oin
cial returns, there were 81, 304 wounde'
French and Sardinians--that the rea
loss of the Allies on that memorable day
in killed and wounded was $1,000
which would be a ratio of over D.i,ty pc
cent.
The contrast between most Of tn
great battle we have enumerated, in for
mer wars, and those Of the present, il
destructiveness, is the more striking, il
view of the fact that both our soldier
and the rebels have riAed cannon an,
small farms of precision" which have
peculiarly deadly effect, while Bona
parte fought with weapons of the oil
style, as did Scott and Taylar in Mexico