The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-05-17

All told ths Union army lost 124 Off
GERS killed and 654 officers wounded.
Of these the single division Of Han
cock, which charged the stone wall and
embarked roadway on the high ground
back of the town, lost 81 officers killed
and 1876 wounded, or more than one
fifth Of the army's total loss in officers:
One of Hancock's brigades, composed
of six regiments, alone lost II officers
killed and Al wounded. Humphreys
division Of eight regiments lost y off,
GERS killed and 81 wounded. Hancock
carried into action at Fredericksburg
4, 494 men and officers, all volunteers,
less than one-third the force Shafter
sent againt the Spaniards at Santiago.
In his attack upon the Union forti-
fed lines at Fair Oaks Longstreet's
Confederate division lost 81 officers
killed and 209 wounded. A consider
able number Of the wounded subse-
quently died.
The foregoing citations and compari-
sons deal only with assaults on fortified
lines of earthworks, similar to those
| which confronted the Americans at
Santiago. But the losses in the open
field fighting during the civil war were
equally destructive in many instances.
In fact, the American civil war was
about the most destructive Of human
life Of all the wars Of history, probably
accient, of which there is no definite
record, as well as modern. The per-
centage Of loss in battle in our civil
war was greater than in any other war Of
which history gives anything like relia-
bic figures.
At Shiloh the Union division Of Mo
Clernand lost IS offers killed and SO
| wounded; that Of Hurlburt IS officers
| killed 20 wounded, and that Of Sher-
| man 16 killed and 6 wounded. Total,
50 killed, 191 wounded. These three
divisions carried into action about TO-
900 men, not much exceeding Skaters
army. None Of the Confederate official
reports of Shiloh gives separate figures
showing the losses Of officers, but they
we're equal to the Union losses no doubt,
as they were en the offensive through
out the first days battle. Shiloh was
two days battle.
Gen. Ewelrs Confederate division Of
less than 5000 men and officers lost at
Antietam in one days battle "a officers
killed and 10 wounded. The five
brigades Of Drayton, Walker, Cobb,
| KershaW and Woford, numbering per-
haps as many men as Shafter had at
| Santiago, lost at Antietam 81 officers
killed and 100 wounded. These are all
the official figures of the Confederate
commanders. On the Union side Sedg-
wick's division lost % officers killed and
80 wounded; Richardson's division l9
| officers killed, among them Richard
| son himself, and 46 wounded, and
French's division, 21 officers killed and
so wounded. Total in the three diVi-
sions, 63 killed, 1856 wounded. There
| was large percentage Of wounded Of
fcers who subsequently died Of their
wounds. These three divisions approx
mated in strength to that Of Gen. Shat
ter's army at Santiago. Dana's brigade
lost 10 officers killed and 42 wounded.
At the battle Of Stones River, or
Murfreesboro, the four Union divisions
of Sheridan, Palmer, Wood and JEFF G.
Davis carried into action 19, l35 men.
They lost 81 officers killed and 22l
wounded. The other Union diUsons
lost about in the same proportion. On
the Confederate side Cheatham's di7i-
sion of 5, ,544 men lost % officers killed
and 120 wounded. Withers's division
of 1874 men lost 80 officers killed and
| 1852 wounded. In this bloody battle
the entire Confederate loss Of officers
was l09 killed and 667 wounded. The
total Union loss in officers was 100
killed and 405 wounded.
At Gettysburg the Ulion lst corps
(of approximately 10000 men, in the
battle Of the 1st Of July, mainly fought
Independent Of other commands, al
though Two divisions Of the llth corps
participated for short while after noon,
lost 5, 500 men. OF these, ~ officers
were killed and 262 wounded. Its first
division, under Wadeworth, lost l9 Of
fcers killed and SO wounded. The
Iron Brigade of this division lost 13 Of
fcers killed and 81 wounded. The
heaviest regimertal loss on the Union
side in officers during the whole war
occurred here. The Oath Michigan, Of
the Iron Brigade, lost 8 officers killed
and l3 wounded, several Of whom after.
ward died. Gibbons division Of Han
cocks corps lost 25 officers killed and
lO5 wounded; Humphreys division Of
Sickles's corps had % officers killed and
14O wounded. In his independent bat
tie Of the Peach Orchard and vicinity,
on the %, Sickles lost out Of the Sd
corps of -, 900 men, 80 officers killed
and 251 wounded. There are very few
definite returns of Confederate losses Of
officers at Gettysburg, but they were
probably much heavier than those OF
the Federals. The official report of
Rodes's division Of 5000 men, approx
mately, shows that he lost 80 officers
killed and 137 wounded. Besides,
there we're 20 officers missing, some Of
whom are known to have been killed
and wounded. Daniels brigade lost Is
officers killed and 4S wounded; lver-
sons brigade, y killed and 33 wound.
ed Hays's Louisiana brigade, 8 killed
and % wounded. The 26th North Car
olina volunteers lost over 20 officers
killed and wounded and over 600 en-
listed men, the heaviest regimental
loss of the entire war.
It IS unnecessary to carry these COM
parsons further. There has been no
design to select isolated cases to make
bloody showing. Other battles show
even more extraordinary losses than