Evening star., 1884-01-12
AnnihilatiOn of Armies.


Than ''annihilation" there is no more favor,te
word with the critics Of manGuvres and sham
fights. In notice Of mimic battle near Ports
mouth in the London Times of the day write
these lines occurs this observation: ''The guns
of the fleet would have annihated Col Thomp-
sons advance on the left along the seashore."
In truth it Is as hard thing to "annihilate" a
BODY of troops as it is to kill scandal In
literal sense there is scarcely record of such a
catastrophe; if used in a figurative sense to sir
Nifty loss so great as to put the force suffering
1t hOrs du combat, there Is amazing tes
timony to the quantity of ''annihilation'
good troops have accepted without anv
such hap!ess result. Here are four
Instances taken almost at random The confed
crates, out OF $4,000 men engaged at Gettvs-
burg. lost II 0O0 but Mead held his hand from
Interfering with their orderly retreat OF that
battle the climax was the assault of Pickett's
dlVl sion, THE flower of Virginia. against
Nebos front on thelett of Cemetery Hill Before
the heroic Armta@e called for the 'cold steel'
and carried Gibbons battery with a rush. the
division had met with a variety of experiences
during its mi!e-and-a-half advance over the
smooth ground up to the crest. ''When it first
came into sight 1t had been piled with solid shot;
then halfway across it had been vigorously
sheHed. and the double canisters had been
reserved for its nearer approach An en-
niadIng fire tore through its ranks: the
musketry baZed forth against it with deadly
effect. This is the evidence of an eve witness
on the opposite side, who adds, "but it came on
magniiicentiy." Yes, it came on to cold steel
and dubbed muskets, and after desperate
struggle it went back foiled to the accompan-
ments which had marked its advance. But.
heaVy as were its losses il was not '.annihi-
lated. Picketts division survived to be once
and agaln thorn in the federal side before the
final day of fate came to it at Appomattox
court house. AT Mars-la-Tour, Alvensleben's
two infantry divisions, numbering certainly not
over 1900 men, Cfor they had already lost
heavily at the Spicheren Berg) sacrificed
within few of 1900 during the long sum
mer hours while they stood unsuppOrted
athwart the course OF the French army
retreating from Metz. But so far were
they from being annihilated that forty-eiuht
hours later they made their presence acuteIy
feit on the afternoon of GravelOtte In the ,Julv
attack on Plevna of the $4,000 men with whom
hrudener and SchahOvskoy went i'm, they took
out under Il 600. One regiment Of the latter's
command lost 123 killed and 200 wounded
about 30 per cent OF its whole number-yet the
Eus5lan retirement was not dsorderly: and next
DAY the troops were in resolute cohesion await
ing what might befal them. In the September
attack on Plevna. of "A, 200 Russo Romanian in
lantry engaged, the losses reached $1,000. Sko-
ueieh commanded 5000 men, and ut the end of
his two days desperate fighting not 10 600 of
these were left standing. But there was no an
limitation, either literally or conyentionally If
one may use the term. The survivors who had
tonight on the 1lth and 18th of September were
ready al The word to 90 in again on the 18th:
and how they marched across the Balkans later
i3 one OF the maryels of modern military history