The Saint Paul globe., 1897-07-06
LOSSES IN MODERN BATTLES.
Less Slaughter Than In the Days Be-
fore the Invention of Improved
Ordnanca

Compare the slaughter in Napoleon's cam
palgns with the worst within living memory
with gettysburg and Antietam in the Amer
lean civil war; with Koniggratz in the Austro-
Prussian war; with Sedan and Metz, in the
Franco = German war; says Chambers
Journal. At Jena, in the year 1906, the
Prussian loss was q ,000 out of a total of
l05,0 coo, and the French 19,000 out of a total
of S0,O00-that is to say, 10000 casualties out
OF $4,000 engaged, or, roughly speaking. one
In five. At Eylau in 1907. the Russians lost
% 600 men out of 73,COO; the French 30 600
out of S5,OO0-that is for both sides the ap-
palling proportion of l to g. At Wagram in
1909. the Austrian loss % 600 out of 100,-
600; the French 23,O00 out of the same num-
Der. At Aspern, where Napoleon suffered his
first defeat on May q and % 1909 the
carnage was still greater, for the French
lost 35, GOO men out of 70.000-one- half their
number-and the Austrians 20 600 out of 80
600. But even this awful butchery pales be-
fore that Of BorOdino in the Moscow cam
paign, for on that field the French left so OO0
dead and wounded out of 132 600 engaged, and
the Russians $4,000 cut of the same number
$500 men slain or mutilated out of $4,000.
Now, the oniy battle in the latter half of
the nineteenth century which can compare
with Borodino in slaughter is that of Konig-
gratz, or Sadowa, in 1865, which ended the
Austro-Prussian war Out of 100000 men en-
gagged. 900 were killed or wounded-4O coo
AustTians and 10000 Prussians-one in eight
only, as against one in three.
The most sanguinary battle in the Amer
lean civil war was that of Antietam Creek.
II, 1852 when, after repeated repulses the
tederals compelled the Confederates to retreat
Out of 1U0, 900 men engaged. 26, 469 were left
on the fied-the federal loss being II 469
and that of the Confederates 14,000: and that,
remember, was before the of breech-
leaders. At Gettysburg, the combined losses
were $4,000, but the number of men engaged
nearly double, and the proportion there
fore. not quite great as at Antietam.
Take, again, Leipzig and Waterloo, and com
pare them with Sadowa and Sedan. At
Leipzig the French lost 0G0 men out of
1G0 0C0, and the allies 42,000 out of 5000
1902 0G0 out of a total of 348 000-more than
double the ratio of Sadowa. Then at Water
loo the losses of the allies amounted to % 976
out of S3,C00 and those Of the French to
upward of 30, coo out of 7S. .000-in other words
one man out of every three that fought that
day was either killed wounded. Now, at
Sedan. under the awful crushing fire OF the
German guns, the French lost 80, GOO out of
$50, GOO before they surrendered-a far smaller
proportion than at Waterloo-while the Ger
mans stated their losses at 1922 killed and
5909 wounded out of the 250,0O0 brought into
action.
These facts and figures seem to- us to prove
conclusively that war is longer muir
derous as it was. The alteration in tactics
and in the formation of troops attacking
has counteracted the superior precision and
range Of modern firearms. The shell, though
its moral effect is greater is not so de-
structive the round shot, grape and can
vancing in line or column. The magazine
rifle, intellectually superior in accuracy and
penetrating power to the old Brown Bess is
not deadly in It's effect, for when it fails
to kill outright, the wounds il infiicts with
its tiny projectile are not nearly so ugly and
let which smashed where the other glances
off