The Northern Pacific farmer., 1884-02-07
AnnihilatiOn of Armies:

Than ''annihilation" there is no more
favorite word with the critics of manmu-
vres and sham-fghts. In notice of "a
mimic battle near Portsm outh in the
London Times Of the day write t!Tse these
guns of the feet would have annihilated
Col. Thompson's advance on the left
along the sea.shore." In truth it is as
hard thing to f'annlhilate" body of
troops as it Is to kill scandal. In a lit
eral sense there is scarcely record of
such a catastrophe; if used in a fgur-
ative sense to signify loss so great as to
put the force suffering it hors de combat
there is amazing testimony to the guam
tity of "annihilation" good troops have
accepted without any such hapless re-
suit. Here are TOUR instances taken al
most at random. The confederates, out
Of 68,00O men engaged at
Gettysburge, lost Is, Goo, but Meade held
his hand from interfering with their Or
derly retreat. Of that battle the climax
was the assault of ,.Pickett's division,
"the flower of Virginia" against Webb's
front on the left of Cemetery Hill. Be-
fore the heroic Armitage called for the
''cold steel" and carried Gibbons bat
terry with rush, the division had met
with variety of experience during its
mile-and-a-haH advance over the
smooth ground up to the crest. "When
it first came into sight it had been piled
with solid shot; then halfway across it
had been vigorously shelled, and the
double canisters had been reserved for
it's nearer approach. An enilading fire
blazed forth against. it with deadly ef-
fect.n This is the evidence of an eye
witness on the opposite side, who adds,
"but it came on magnifcently." Yes, it
came on to cold steel and dubbed mus
kets, and, after&a desperate struggle 1t
went back foiled, to the
accompaniments which had marked its
advance. But heavy as were its losses,
it was not "annihilated." Picketts di-
vision survived to be once and again
thorn in the federal side before the final
day of fate came to it at Appotomax
Courthouse. At Mars la-tour Alvens-
leben's two infantry divisions, number
ing certainly not over $4,000 men (for
they had already lost heavily a. the
Spicheren Berg sacrificed within q few
Of 1900 during the long summer hours
while they stood unsupported athwart
the course of the French army retreat
ing from Metz. But so farwere they
from being annlnllated that, 4S hours Ia.
ter they made their presence acutely
felt on the afternoon: Of Gravelotte. In
the July attack on Pleynas of the e, 600
men with whom Krudoener and Schah.
hovskoy went in they took out under
q 900. One regiment of the latter's
command lost 725 killed and
1,2OO wound led about seventy-fve per
cent. Of it's whole number -yet the Rus
sian retirement was not disorderly; and
next day the troops were in resolute CO.
hesion awaiting what might befall them.
tn the September attack ON Plevna, Of
"a, 600 Russo -Roumanian infantry en-
gagged, the losses reached is LOCO. Sko-
belief commanded l8, 600 men, atiid atthe
end Of his two days .ds ssperate fighting
not ZOO of these were left standing.
But there was no anniililat either,
literally or eonyenti ntionally, IL one NAV
suse the term. The survivors who had
fought on the 11th and I2thsof Septem-
5bar were ready at he word TO- 10 ia
Eaaain On the 13th; and how they mafched
"a across the Balkans ateIs 81 one 81 the
smaryele of- -mod dern military HISTORY
Archibald orbes q the Re-
lyi6N sss'