The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1897-08-26
MODERN LOSSES IN BATTLE.
War No Longer So Murderous as 1t Wa,
I'm Napoleon's Time.

War No Longer So Murderous as 1t Was
I'm NapoIeon's Time.
Compare the slaughter in Napoleon
campaigns with the worst within liv-
ing memory Gettysburg and
Antietam in the American civil war;
with Koniggr.tz, in the Austro-Prus-
sian war; with Sedan and Metz,
in NE Franco German war. At Jena,
in 1906, the Prussian loss was 81 900
out of a total of 105, 900, and the
French $4,000 out of total of 10000
that is to say, 40, 600 casualties out
of 1876, go engaged, or, roughly speak
ing, one in five. At Eylau, in 1907,
the Russians lost $4,000 men out of
$4,000; the French $1,000 out of 49,
000-that is, for both sides, the APP
palling proportion of one in threel
At Wagram, in 1909, the Austrian loss
was 25, 600 out Of 100, 900; the French
%, 900 out of the same number At
Aspern, where Napoleon suffered his
first defeat on May 81 and %, 1909,
the carnage was still greater, for the
French lost 35, 600 out of 70, 000-one-
half of their number-and the Aus
trians 10000 out of $4,000. But even
this awful butchery pales before that
of Borodino in the Moscow campaign,
for on that field the French left So
600 dead and wounded out of 1876, 900
engaged, and the Russians As, 900 out
of the same number-95, 900 men slain
or mutilated out of 264, 900!
Now, the only battle in the latter
half of the nineteenth century which
can compare with Borodino in slaugh-
ter is that of Koniggratz, or Sadowa,
in 1866, which ended the Austro-Prus-
sian war. Out of 400, 900 men en-
gagged, $4,000 were killed or wounded,
100000 Austrians and 10, 900 Prussians
one in eight only, as against one In
three.
The most sanguinary battle in the
American civil war was that of Ante
tam Creek, fought between Nc
Clellan and Lee on September II,
1862. Out of 400, 600 men engaged,
26, 469 were left on the feld-the Fed
eral loss being -, 469, and that of the
Confederates IA, 600; and that, remem-
Der, was before the era of breechload-
ers. At Gettysburg the combined losses
were 1000; but the number OF men
engaged was nearly double, and the
proportion, therefore, was not quite
so great as at Antietam.
Take, again, Leipzig and Waterloo,
and contrast them with Sadowa and
Sedan. At Leipzig the French lost
60, 900 men out of 100, 900 and the
Allies AZ, 900 out of 2SS, 000-102, 600
out of total of 34S, 000-more than
double the rate of Sadowa. Then at
Waterloo the losses of the Allies
amounted to 1876 out of SO, 900, and
those of the French to upward of 30,
600 out of 73,O00-in other words,
one man out of every three that
fought that day was either killed or
wounded. Now, at Sedan, under the
awful crushing fire of the German
guns, the French lost 80, 900 out OF
$50, 900 before they surrendered-a
far smaller proportion than at Water
loo; while the Germans stated their
losses at g, OPP killed and 5, 900 wound
ed, out of the 100000 brought into
action. ..-.--
These facts and figures seem to
us to prove conclusively that war is
no longer so murderous as it was. The
alteration in tactics and in the forma-
ton of troops attacking has counter
acted the superior precision and range
of modern firearms. The shell, though
its moral effect is greater, is not so de-
structive as the round shot, grape and
canister of the old days playing upon
troops advancing in line or column.
The magazine rifle, intellectually supe-
rior in accuracy and penetrating power
to the Old Brown Bess, is not so deadly
in its effects; for, when it fails to kill
outright, the wounds it infiicts with
its tiny proiectile are not nearly so
ugly and Gripping as those of the old
spherical bullet, whichs mashed where
the other glances off.-Chambers S
Journal.