The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-02-19

I has not been a conflict between armies
| equally equipped until the present. In
| the battles between Russia and Turkey
| the Turks had inferior weapons. Being
| fanatical fighters, like the dervishes in
| the Sudan, they were slaughtered by
the breechloaders and dynamite shells
of the foe.
To go back still farther for examples
of the execution of weapons in warfare.
IL is interesting to look at the records
OF battles in the seventeenth century.
In seven great battles OF that era, when
the masses carried muskets and pixies.
the average OF casualties was 26 per
cent. so that each man stood but about
| three chances in four OF escape. The
casualties in the bloodiest battles run
as high as 35 per cent. In this class be-
longs the battle OF Lutzen, which
proved a victory for the Swedes, but
their leader. Gustavus Adolphus, was
killed. and one of his regiments lay
upon the ground in the order In which
the men had stood while fighting. In
the middle OF the eighteenth century
the bayonet attached to the musket su-
perseded the pike. There were % great
battles fought with smoothbore mus
kets and bayonets from Fontenoy In
1745 TO Waterloo in 1915. The average OF
casualties for this period OF smoothbore
musket and bayonet fightlng was about
20 per cent.
The following Is battles OF the muz-
zle loading, bayonet period represent
the martial nations OF .he world:
/. Eilau. 1907. Loss, % per cent.
2. Bunker Hill. l775. Loss. "a per cent
3. Stone River Murfreesboro), 1852. Loss, 2sh
per cent
T. Msrengo. 1900. Loss. % per cent.
8. Chickamausa. 1863 Loss, q per cent.
o. Antietam, 1892. Loss 2l per cent.
:. Lepsic. 1913. Loss, q per cent.
S. Gettysburg 1868. Loss, 90 per cent.
o. Shiloh. 1862 Loss, 20 per cent.
10. Lundy's Lane, 1871. Loss, 10 per cent.
II. Mars-la-Tour, 1870 Loss, is per cent.
II. Waterloo, 1915. Loss, II per cent.
i3. Woerth. 1870 Loss. IL per cent.
H. solferno, 1889. Loss, l2 per cent.
l5 Sadowa. 1856 Ioss. i2 per cent.
The loss in killed and wounded at
the battle OF Eilau is placed at 40 600 by
conservative estimates. In the figures
, OF Gettysburg given I'm the table. which
are official, the total Is little short OF
10000. The first battle belongs TO the
smoothbore and the second 20 the rifle
barrel era. and the figures show that as
weapons improve casualties grow less
in percentages. The average was 20 per
cent i'm the days Of the musket and pike,
20 per cent with the smoothbore and
bayonet. about a similar loss with the
rifle barrel and bayonet, and in the
Franco Prussian war. fought with the
breeohloading rife. the casualties fell
below 16 per cent.
I'm 1881 Chile invaded Peru under dis
advantages as great as those under
which the United States army labored
In Cuba or that OF the British in at
tacking the Beers i'm their Businesses in
South Africa. The invading army was
no greater than that OF the defensive
army. vet having breechloaders and
modern cannon and machine guns.
Chile won at all points and In the de-
cisive battle of Mirahores actually won
a great victory while attacking with an
inferior force
As matter OF fact the up 60 date
weapons have not been fully tested In
the South African war. The Beers have
the Mauser rifles In great numbers. and
Also the Mannlcher, a new and savage
weapon. The British carry the Lee En-
field, believed TO be. in the Ions run, the