The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-08-25
Chances in Battle.
THE IMMENSE NUMBER OF SHOTS AND THE
SNAIL NUMBER OF VICTIMS.

In the DAYS of the old-fashioned musket, or
"Brown Bess," as it was popularity nicknamed,
the chances of mans being hit by bullet
were slight. 1t has been estimated that IN
Wellington's campaigns in Spain it took eight
hundred bullets to kill one man, but much OF
this waste of lead and powder was due to care:
lessness and ignorance on the part OF the men;
some fred so high that the balls went over the
heads of the enemy, others so low that they
went into the ground. Even in our own recent
war with greatly improved firearms, the num-
| Der of killed and wounded was very small COM
pared with the immense number of shots tired.
Mr.. Francis Galton, in his recent work on
Hereditary Genius, presents some curious cal
culations as to mans chance of being struck
by bullets in battle. One man differs from
another in height and in width, therefore the
chance of the one as compared with that OF the
other varies as the sectional area of his body;
that is to say, as his height multiplied into his
average breadth. But this is not the whole
truth, and MIR. Galton admits it; for large men
are more likely to be hit, not merely on account
of the greater area of their bodies, but also on
account of their being more conspicuous from
their size, and therefore, being more Likely to
be singled out as mark. The principle OF
natural selection" on the part of the enemy's
Galton endeavors to correct his estimate OF
chances by taking the weight of the man into
account. It is not easy to perceive the force OF
this mode of reasoning, but the result OF 1t ls
that the chance of mans being accidentally
shot in battle is as the square root OF the pro-
duct of his height multiplied into his weight.
Thus. supposing man to be two hundred and
twenty-five pounds in weight, and six feet two
and half inches high, he will escape from
chance shots for only two years, while man
of one hundred and twelve pounds weight and
five feet six inches high, would escape for
three. The total relative chances against being
shot in battle of two men Of these respective
heights and weights are as three to two III favor
of the smaller man, in respect to accidental
shots, and in a decidedly more favorable pro-
portion in respect to direct aim, the latter
chance being compounded of the wofollowing:
first. a better hope Of not being aimed at, and,
secondly, a hope, very little less than three to
two. of not being hit when made the object OF
an aim.
Had Nelson been large man, instead OF
mere feather weight, it is probable that ne
would not have survived SO long the extraordl-
nary dangers he encountered. In the course
of five years he took part in q hundred and
twenty actions at sea, including the battles OF
Cape st. Vincent and the Nile, and IN them he
lost an eye He was ultimately killed at
Trafalgar latter escaping death at Copenhagen
by one of many shots aimed directly at him by
a rifeman in the maintop of the French ship
with which his own was closely engaged but
it should at the same time be added that on
this occasion he greatly increased the chances
against him by pacing the quarter deck in full
uniform. with all his medals and orders
fastened on his breast. When the famous
Marshal Soult visited England, story appeared
in the newspapers to the effect that some Eng
lish veteran had declared the hero must bear a
charmed lifc for that he 1.-THE SOLDIER had cov-
cred him with his rifle upwards of thirty times,
and vet never hit him. 1t is not at all surprl-
sing that the uneducated believe some men to
bear charmed lives, when we remember Napo-
leon at the bridge of Lodi and again at Arcola,
where it is set down in history, the Austrian
artillery swept off everybody but himself within
a circle where he was standing, yet ne led the
way across the bridge unharmed-though the
grape ratified in perfect hail st storm around
him. The same may be said of Wellington, at
Waterloo, where, it is reported, that every man
On his staff was either killed or wounded, and
he had for while to do their work until Others
could be brought up from the other end of the
line, he escaping all the time untouched
Many more instances of such exemptions from
the havoc going on all around can be found in
history, but these are two remarkable cases,
familiar to most people. 1t will be found that
the majority of officers of the higher grades
survive not only one but many battles. Mr..
Galton estimates this majority at sixty per
cent, but his figures do not bear out his theory.
He has selected list of thirty-two of the most
eminent commanders; but of these only seven
died on the field of battle, which would make
the proportion seventy-eight per cent. The
| ,noef fnrmidoh enemies an army hSS are
camp-fever, privation, over-fatigue, and too
great exposure to heat, cold and damp, and
the carefessness of the men. These kill three
times as many men as the bullet does; and yet
the bullet kills its thousands, Notwithstanding
the large chances in favor of the escape of each
individual soldier.
INTERNAL REVENUE TAXEs.-By the Act of
/ CONGRESS annrnved July II 1870 the taxes on