The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-06-30
LOSSES IN BATTLE
WAat the Next Great War May Have In
store for the Contestants


war may have In store for US, says
the London Saturday Review. Where
muskets we fora erly used we are in
future 10 tnd Maxims and magazine
rifles, and men are be slain wholesale
scientifically Just as fields reaped
rapidly and cleanly wadays by
machin ~, in place OF by the slower
process OF individual exertion. The
tale OF what has Just been done by
the Maxim guns in south Africa has
especially drawn our attention 70 the
new methods OF killing.
Bravery aud self-sacrifce were al
together unayailing in the face OF the
relentless destroyers, and we must
thank the skill OF the mechanic as
the military virtues OF our men
bravely As they DO themselves
the result The mind, dwell ing on
such exDer cnces, naturally leaps TO
the conclusion that when vast armies,
both fully equipped by modern
science, meet on the field OF battle
the loss OF life will attain dime sions
absolutely appa ling. The nerves OF
soldiers Will be strong indeed If, after
all that has been said and written on
the sub ect they can enter the next
campaign without those uneasy fore
bOdings that are the sure preparation
for panic and saster.
Fol it is not what does happen, or
even what has happened, so much as
what may happen that makes cow
ards OF Us all. AS Il nervous rider
once said OF rse: 'It is not
what he has done, but what he
might do that | fear" The history
OF war has recorded how men who
had ST od up firmly against the
charges or fire OF foe that they
could see, even in spite Of terrible
losses, have recoiled. panic ST icken
like flock OF sheep when a-per-
haps wholly imagInary-crv of "A
mine!" was raised in the path Of their
assault. The heart shudders at the
notion OF who'e ranks OF companies
swept away In few seconds by a
sudden blast Of fire and this, and
nothing else, is what the Cassandras
OF the day foreshadowed in the st:ug-
giles OF the future
YOU Kill as how you kill them that
makes the difference: above all, the
spacs OF time in which the hits are
Dbtaine is important. 1t is per
fectly conceivable that TO ce which
had lost 90 per cent OF its strength
might continue TO hold a position
which under other circumstances IL
would have been evacuated when but
10 per cent. OF its strength had
been laid low. Human nature is such
that troops 60 not retire because
the n ranks have grown too weak Tor
the task in hand. What shakes their
nerve Is the fear OF the loss they may
sustain IL they remain where they
are or push forward in their advance.
A sort OF instructive calculation is
ia fact, going on in the minds OF men
IN action which makes one side or
the otner suddenly come TO the con
,lusiOn that IL can no longer hold its |
ground. And the unconscious calcu-
alton Is apt TO work out its conclu-
'ions most dangerously and most ir-
when the losses on which |
Z is mainly based occur in very
short time, so as to appeal powerfully
less them. And the shorter the
period the more overpowerlng be-
,OmeS the conviction VIII ch takes
possession OF the soldiers mind
1t is for this reason that Skobeloff's
thief Of the staff, Prince kOuropat.
Kin, has told us that experience had
shown him that a battalion which
lai lost 90 men in a fight spread
)ver ten hours may more confidently
De relied on to stand firm than one
which has lost fifty men in five min
ties. The sum OF the physical
strength OF the latter body remains
greater than that OF the former, but
he sum OF its moral force is for the
,ime being less The leader who un-
lerstands men, and Is quick to OBJ
erve the signs OF generalization,
will, il he seizes the timely moment
md falls on that battalion, gain a
'ictory. Ii, however, he hesitates
md lets the golden moments slip the
balance in his opponents minds may
20 restored, and the moral effect OF
lis II @, which is the determining
dement, in lighting, will be wasted.
Men will, lin TACT, grow callous and
TO almost any danger as
ong As their nerves are given inter-
ais OF rest TO re over themselves,
q long as the strain is not put upon
hem too suddenly and does not in
rease too rapidly Instances 70 sup
'ort this statement might easily be
dduced from military history.
The detachments Of some Of the
russian guns during the siege OF Sc
'astopol suffered so terribly under
ur fire that they were renewed as
ften as thrice daily. and yet their
re showed no perceptible slackening.
milar he,oism was exhibited in our
renches too, and losses which in the
ggregate were immense failed To
errify, because they grew gradually
nd were in some measure forgotten.
sow. the characte istic which most
istinguishes the ire OF modern
,c nj ]