Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-08-26
Chances Ia Battle.

In the days of the ole. fashioned musket,
or Brown Bess," as it was popularity
nicknamed, the chances of mans being
hit by bullet were slight IL mas peen
estimated that in Wellington's campaign
in Spain it took eight hundred bullets TO
kill one man, but much of this waste OF
lead and powder was due to carelessness
and ignorance on the part of the men
some fred SO high that the balls went
over the heads of the enemy, others 30
low that they went into the ground.
Even in our own recent war, with greatly
imnroved firearms the number of killed
and wounded was very small compared
with the immense number OF shots nreo.
MIR. Francis Gallon, in his recent work
on hereditary genius, presents some GU
| rious calculations as 10 a man cnance Vi
being struck by b'1l!ets IN q oa1tie; One
man differs from another in heighS ana
| in width, therefore, the chance OF the one
! as compared with that of the other varies
| as the sectional area of his body-tnat is
| to saw, as his height multiplied into ms
| average breadth. But this is no0 tne
whole truth, and Mr. Galton admits it; Tor
| large men are more likely to be hit, not
merely on account Of the greater area Oh
| their bodies, but also on account OF tneh
being more conspicuous from their axe,
and, therefore, being more hkely 10 pc
| singled out as mark. Inc prlnclpie ol
| "natural selection" on the part OF tne
onemv's bullets. here comes into opera
tion. and Mr.. Galton endeavors to correct
his estimate of chances by taking the
| weight of the man fnso account. IL lsnoL
easy to perceiye the force of this mode OF
reasoning, but the result Of it is, that the
chance of a mans being accidentally
shot in battle is as the square
root of the product OF his helgnI
multiplied into his weight. Thus, Sup
posing man to be 225 pounds in weight,
afd six feet two and half 1nenes
| high, he will escape from chance snots
for onlv two wears, while man of liz
pounds weight, and five feet six inches
high, would escape for three. The %otal
relative chances against being shot IN bat
tie of two, men of these respective heights
and weights are as three to one In 1aVor
of the saaIler man, in respect to accl-
denial shots and in decidedly more
favorable proportion in respect to crect
aim, the latter chance being compounoeu
OF the tTo following: Frst, peICeI
hope of not being aimed at, ana, seoOnu-
ly, hope, very little less than tnEse W
two of not being hit whec MADE sne op'
1ect of an aim. .a.s
Had Nelson been large man, instead
of q mere feather weight, it is proSaD
that he would not have survived so long
q the extraordinary dangers he encountered.
In the course of five years he took part
in hundred and twenty actions at sea,
ipcIuding The battles of Cape ct. Vincent
and the Nile, and in them he lost an arm
and an eye He was ultimately killed al
Trafalgar latter escaping death at Copen-
hagen) by one of many shots ainneu "a
, rectly at him by rifieman IN the nain-
. top Of the French ship with when NE
own was closely engaged but ~ shouiu
occasion. he greatly increased the chances
, AGAINST him. by pacing the quarter deck
in f1II uniform, with all his medals anu OF
, ders fastened on his breast. When tne
. lannon's Marshal Soult visited England,
story appeared in the newspapers 10 'ne
effect that some English veteran hao oS
clared the hero must bear charmed lie,
for he ithe soIdier) had covered h1m WIN
his rifle upwards Of thirty times, and yst
; never hit him 1t Is not at all surprls'
! ing that the uneducated believe some men
to bear charmed lives, when We LSheni, lS
her Napoleon at the bridge OF Lool' anu
again at Arcola, where, IL Is seI .. 40 80
off every body but himself, yet he led the
! way across the bridge unharmed-though
the grape ratified in a perfect hall STORM
:, around him The same may De salu Oh
! wellington at Waterloo, where II is re-
y ported that every man OF his staH was was
either killed or wounded, and he hau lor !
while to do their work until others conio
! be brought up from the other end O Inc
!. line, he escaping all the while untouched:
u MANY more instances OF such exoepuons
0 from the havoc going on all around can DC
o found in history, but these are two re-
= markable1 cases, familiar to most people
Q Q It will be found that the majority OF ON,
a GERS of the higher 6 ades, survive l nol
e onIy one but many battles. Mr.. Galton
e. estimates this majority at per cent, bu'
i his figures do not bear ont his theory
a he has selected a-iist of thirtytwo OF the
Y most eminent commanders; but OF these
ol onlv seven died on the battle teld, which
!, would make the proportion 7S per cent
4 The most formidable enemies an army hsi
J. J. are camp fever, priyation, over-t4tig11e9
- and too great exposure to heat and cold
70 and damp, and the csrelessnessso OF the
men. 1These kiIt three timesa as many a.
y the bullet does and'yet the,bnlletkiils III
thousands, O. notwithstanding. The large
y chances in favor OF the escape of any IN
I, I, diyidual soldier.--F hll lGdetphEd Ledger'