Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-06-13

Ihe questloner will not dispute the
old man; in fact, usually believes him:
for was he not there, and surely he
ought to know.
And the story of the soldier is gen
orally true, so far as it goes, but the
differences are invariably wrong. So
few are aware of the many causes
which deplete a regiment that these
missing men are considered as for the
most part dead. A better way for the
veteran to reply would be to state. that
IN round numbers his regiment lost 100
men killed, 200 by disease, 400 by dis
charge for sickness or wounds. 100 bv
desertlon, that 100 were absent in hos
pltal OF on furlough, and SO only 100
renamed as present at the muster out.
OF course, there are many regiments
whose brilliant records would require
a different statement, but as regards
three-fourths Of the troops in the late
war 1t would fairly approximate the
truth.
OF the two thousand regiments or
more IN the Union army, there were
only %fortv-tive in which the number of
those killed and died of wounds ex-
ceeded two hundred. (This estimate
does not include heavy artillery organ
izations.)
Such statements must not be re-
garded as derogatory or belittling. for
the simple facts are such as need no
exaGgeration, and the truth only need
to be told to furnish heroic records un-
rlvaled in military history.
There is fO~rtnnato1y ono nv, @,ro,4I..
source OF information as to the num-
Der OF men in a regiment who were
killed in action, and hal is the regi-
mental muster-out rolls, one copy of
each O which is on file in the War
Department at Washington. These
rolls, together with other information
obtained by twenty years of close
official investigation, are reliable means
for ascertaining the relative losses of
every regiment and battery in the
Northern army.
The maximum losses possess the
greatest interest, and so invite atten-
ton first. The greatest loss in battle
OF any Il regiment in the late war
tell to the lot OF the First Maine Heavy
Artillery, in which 423 were killed or
oled OF wounds, ont of 2,2O2 men en-
rolled. just here it should be stated
and remembered that, while an in
tantry regiment consists Of 1000 men,
with 30 line officers, the heavy artillery
organization has 1,SOO men, with 60
line officers. there being twelve COM
panles OF 80 men each, with a captain
ana tour %lleutenants to each company.
ll!e mention here Of 2,2O2 men as en-
rolled indicates that about 400 recruits
were reselved during its term Of SER
wee. The heavy artillery regiments
saw no active service while on duty in
thai line. They left their Notifications
near Washington, and took the field
IN 1864. being armed with rifles, and
pelng drilled and unanswered the
same as infantry, the only difference
beng IN larger organization. In their
assault on Petersburg, June IS, 1864,
1hey lost 632 killed and wounded in
less than twenty minutes, out of about
9oo engaged. This regiment sus-
tanned not only the greatest numeri-
cal loss but its percentage of
Killed as based upon its enrolment is
also among the highest-2,2O2 enrolled;
423 killed, or died Of wounds-19.2 per
cent. This matter of percentage is an
important factor in the subject of reg
mental loss, especially so as claims to
gallant conduct are very apt to be
passed upon the size of the casualty
list. In many regiments the losses are