Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-09
A TON OF SHOT.
Every Bullet Has Not It's Billet in
These Days.

These Days.
From the London Mall
The popular idea that modern warfare is
more deadly and bloody than fighting was
in the past is not supported by available
facts With armor-plated ships, twelve
mile cannon Maxim guns firing 1000 shots
a minute, and magazine rifles with a range
of three miles, war now is undoubtedly
scientific. but to parody a well-known
PHI ase, lit is not buggy"
In the days of hand-to-hand fighting,
when missiles were employed but little and
the col test was decided by sword play. the
vanquished were generally almost annihi
lated and the victors suffered enormously.
At Cannae 10000 Romans out of 80 900 were
killed; at Hastings the victorious Normans
lost 10000 out of 10000; al Crecy 10000
Frenchmen out of Ivv.Ooo were killed. with
out reckoning the wounded; while at Ban
nockburn 10000 men fought and 3S,UV0
were killed.
But the mortality in the CIimean war was
very slight when the number Of shots fired
are remembered. 1t is estimated that the
British troops fired 10, coo 900 shots and
killed 21,OO0 Russians, or 100 shots for
every death. The French fired - 900 UOlf
shots and killed 81 900 Russians, or $50
shots for every death, while the Russians
fired 1900 900 shots and killed 4S 900 of the
allies, or every cloth shot was successful.
In the Italian campaign of 1859 rifles
were used on both sides, and the number of
casualties at Magenta and Solferno was
9 per 900 combatants.
The Franco russian war of 1901 was
the first in which breech-oading rifles We're
used, and, strange a s ii may seem, their in
PRODUCTION only corroborated the foregoing
facts that scientific war is less deadly than
natural
Thus the invention of gunpowder reduced
the proportion of killed and wounded
among the troops engaged from about one
third to between one-fourth and one-fifth-
from $50 per 900 to between 80 and 200
per loo. And the adoption of breech-
loading rifles diminished it to about one
ninth OH per 1,O0O), though that is greater
than the mortality in the Franco-Prussian
war. Military authorities now hold that
rapld1ty of fire is more essential to success
than range and precision; marksma nShip,
indeed, counts for little in battle and mod
ern arms are certainly less deadly than
ancient The old proverb that every bullet
has its billet has given place to the mill
tary maxim that it takes a ton of shot to
kill man. This applies equally to artillery
and rife fire.
War does not increase the mortality
among soldiers so greatly one would ex-
pect. In South Africa in 1879 "a Ter COO
British soldiers died or were killed while
in Egypt in 1888 the death rate in battle
averaged a trifie over l per 1000. In
twelve years of small wars 1896 British
soldiers were killed out of 90 $50 engaged a
shade over 1.5 per cent. The returns for the
American civil war were got out with great
care, and they showed that the total deaths
during the five years were 166 ,623, and
averaged 30 per LOCO of the force engaged.
In the Franco-German war the mortality
was 30 per ! 600 of the troops engaged dur
ing the seven months. Official statistics
show that 116.Sl2 German so.4lers were
wounded. OF these 90, 500 recovered, IL .023
died in hospital and 6,223 on the field of
battle. 1t appears that a soldiers lower
limbs are most frequently wounded.
Few men are killed outright nowadays,
and that the wounded generally recover,
whereas in the days of the sword and lance
men Were killed outright or finished off af-
ter the battle was won. In fact, there
would be more slaughter in a battle be-
tween the Ancient Britons and the Romans.
armed respectively with stone axes and
short swords, than between two modern
armies equipped with magazine rifles.
Smokeless powder and powerful artillery;
the question would be settled just as salts
factorily and with less expense, for it costs
Il, 400 to Stay a man in modern warfare.