Evening star., 1898-10-15

Ihese hndlngS are made up in Foxs 5 book
Of official 'Regimcntal Losses and are sur
prising. In the 45 regiments enumerated
having total enrolment of S546 men, ii
appears that 10,225 of them were killed out
right in battle or died soon after of their
wounds. while only 1852 men succumbed to
disease during the service of these COM
mands, which in most cases was throughout
the war. Thus more than one-quarter of
the whole of these selected commands lost
their lives. But l will turn over the ques-
| ton of percentages to the lovers of the ex-
act science and simply confine myself TO
some general observations upon the salient
features of the exhibit.
Modified by Locality.
It is generally agreed and made evident
by the foregoing table that the health of
the northern troops during the rebellion
was considerably modified by locality
1t is obvious that those commands
| which constantly remained in one de-
partment army and measurably upon
one narrow thcater of action, as in the
Army of the Potomac. suffered least from
| disease. although they made heavy losses
in action. This is Illustrated in the case
of the I'd Wisconsin Infantry. The per-
centage of killed in this regiment is official
ly stated to have been the greatest in all
the more than 1000 regiments which served
from first to last in the Union armies. AS
will be above, it had 23S men killed out
of a total enrolment of only 1903 men
Col Fox truly remarks in his great statis-
tcal work that this loss in the ID
Wisconsin indicates the extreme limit of
danger to which human life is exposed in
a war similar in duration and activity to
the American civil war Yet the total loss
in this far northern regiment from disease
was only 11-comparatively light. II served
constantly in Virginia, where it became ac-
climated. This is probably the true expla-
nation of its comparative immunity from
disease. The losses from disease of the 9TH
er two Wisconsin regiments serving in the
same brigade. the 9th and 9TH, it will be
n, S-ssI
The same may be said of the S1St and SD
Pennsylvania and the 9th and 57th Massa-
chusetts, all of which remained constantly
in the Army of the Potomac. Their deaths
from disease were noticeably light An ex-
animation of the records of like details re-
lating to regiments rot .nc1ud q In the above
tables discloses a similar state of facts
Yet it must be noted that another fighting
regiment. the 36th Illinois, whose death
list from disease was also very light COM
paratively, was constantly on the move be-
ginning its splendid career in Arkansas and
afterward taking part in great events in
Kentucky. Tennessee and Georgia.
From Special Causes.
On the other hand. my theory in regard
to this matter is emphasized by the fact
that some Of the heaviest losses from dis
ease occurred in the 45th and 55th Penn
sylvania and the Sth Michigan, regiments
which campaigned everywhere, first in
South Carolina, then in Virginia afterward
in Kentucky and east Tennessee then in
Mississippi and again eventually in Vir-
ginia. Perhaps there were special causes
not discernible in the official records which
ran the death rate from disease up to such
a high figure in the 18th United States In
fantry, which served throughout in the
Army of the Cumberland, although that
army covered a wide field of operations
during its existence. The death list from
disease of the 9th Illinois. distinguished
regiment. always with the Army of the
Tennessee, may be assisnabIe to some
cause unknown. But where one regiment
in an army shows great death rate from
disease while other regiments Of the same