The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1878-05-10
oneness Of aim characterize your
course. and God will approve, and man
should not condemn, because your
course Is onward. A. II. MACEY. =
Monroe. La, April -, 1873.
SWORDS sUpERsEDED.
Their u1sclessAess as q Weapon as
shown In the Late Ware.

1t begins to look as II sword and
bayOnet were to be mustered out Of
service and regarded rs no longer dam
gerous. They have been for centuries
almost ideal weapons; they have given
visible picturesqueness TO armies and
lent eloq0ence to the orator and poet.
Now they are themselves the object
of an attack which seems likely tO
cause their withdrawal from, Uthe flcld
Of poised battle" 1t has long t,een
suspected that the bnyonet was n very
harmless sort of brAxghrt, and now
the sword must answer to the sasne
indictment.
The medical staff of Germany, In tts
report Of casualties In the war with
France, chronicles G5, lGO killed and
wounded, and Of these only 2lS were
killed or wounded by tho sabre or
bayonet-and only six Ot these were
killed! OF the cavalry only l3s were
killed or wounded by the sabre, out
of n total loss Of :, ,22:s6. The cavalry
numbered 10 900, and they swept fierce
ly over France for six months, most
Of the time in raids In the rear Of the
cnesny, and In all that time they SUIT
| fere<l only six deaths from the sNbre.
1t Ia not likely thMt they inflicted
more. 'rhNt Is to- say that 10000 cav
airy In both armies swung their ter
ribte sabrCs for half ~ year when the
armies were close together all the
while, and they killed In the aggregate
twelve men.
The record of our war Of the rebellion
Is equally discOunging for the sword
swingers. Out Of 2Hs, i42 wounds re-
corded on the Union side during the
four years contest, there were only
9t6 inflicted by either sabre, sword
or bMNOnet, aud of these only 81
were fatal. In tho Franco German
war less thun one IN :hO Of tile Wounded
suffered from sabre or bnyOnet; aud
! in our own war there. Wns only about
one in 279.
These fNcts have inspired Gen. Benet,
Chief of the United States Ordinance
Burcuu, to write II letter to the Secre-
tary Of War suggesting that II In time
| to bNnish such useless weapons from
tho army. "ln my mind" he writes,
"there exists not II doubt that the days
Oi the sabre and bnyOnet are numbered,
and that the outy question to be- de-
citled IL, whether the time IL not
already ut hand when they should he
lisCartlctl.' Gen. Sherman concur4,
stating TINT 1t IL probably time that
their use, or, rather, their sttsuse, were
discontinued; and Phil Sheridan, the
model cavalrymnn, says: "The cav
nirymNn wants, urst, good hOr'e, n
good Springfield rifle; then Il good
revolving pistol ami II knife" Evi-
IDENTIFY the days of sabre and hnyOnet
are numbered.
They both did good work when they
were young. The sword il n,cnt iOnp.i
more than 300 times In the Bible, and
II has been the uristOcrntic weapon
of nii ages. In the early times, when
men were brutcs and fought foot to
foot, the sword was fur the most eti.s.-
tive arm OF every military service.
The bayonet was invented near Bay
onnc, in France, whence Its name,
about 24O years agO, aud was ut first n
sword whose handle was stuck into
the barrel Of u muskct. 1t superseded
the pike, and was very useful In the.
old days of short. t.rnnge point blank
fighting. 1t is the improved artillery,
the cnrbinc, and the repeating rifle.
that have rendered swords, s,brs.s and
buyonets cunbrOIs and useless. Sclen-
tific precision and various death deal
ing devices have united to releg,ts.
all weapons which imply personal
contact to the old museums, where.
tho spcnrs, shields, hnttIe-iXes, bows
and arrows, and hulheri~ wait for
rusty rcinfOrccmcnts.