The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1900-04-05
BATTLES OF HISTORY
WHICH MAKE THE PRESENT
ONES APPEAR TAME.
cord Methuen's Description of the
Modder River Affair Ridiculous When
Compared with Real BattIes-some
Civil War Fatalities.


"
Lord Methuen, in sending word to
the London war Office of the engage
ment at Modder river, South Africa,
threw the English people into conster-
nation by describing it as the bloodiest
battle of the century. When the de-
tails We're received it was found that
the British loss was 70 killed, 372
wounded and IL missing total of 452
IN an army of 1000 men. The Beers
suffered as much with a force of IL. 900
IN a defensive position so, all told, the
losses were less than 1000 men. This
loss makes the Modder river affair an
anal of o~ut1osts compared % a. real
battle OF this century. At New Or
leans, where the contending forces were
less than those engaged in this African
encounter, 200 men were killed and
wounded. At Cold Harbor, Va, 5000
FEDERAL troops were killed and wound
ed IN an assault lasting twenty min
,utes upon the Confederate fortiica-
tions. At Spottsylyania. and the Will
derness, in Virginia, 5 1885. At Gettys-
burg 53,186 were killed and wounded.
At Stone River 36,578 men were sacri-
feed AT Chickamauga the sacrifice
was as much as at Stone river. At
Plttsburg Landing, Tenn, 5000 rep
resents the loss. AT Charlottesville,
$4,000; at Antietam, $4,000. Turning
to the old world, we find bloody en-
counters that make the end of the
century fighting very tame affairs. The
battle of Albuera, Spain, was the most
terrible of the peninsula war. 1t oc-
Cured on the 10Th of May, 1911, when
10000 French under Soult advanced
on the heights held by the English and
Spanish under Beresford. In the face
of heavy artillery, the French succeed
ed in carrying the heights occupied by
the Spaniards. Then the English at
tempted to force them back, but were
several times repulsed. The fusiliers,
however, anne to the rescue and won
the day for the allied armies. In four
hours of fighting $4,000 men were
slain-8,00O of the French and 1000 of
the allies. The battle of Aspern, May
20, 1909, took place at the village of.
that name on the Danube. Both the
and the French armies were
100000 strong. The Austrians lost 81
officers and 1920 privates killed and
$4,000 wounded, while the French I'M
der Napoleon suffered a loss of 80, 1000.
At Austerlitz, Dec. 2, 1905, the
French had s 0 1000 men in the plain,
while 10000 Russians and Austrians
were strongly posted in the heights.
The French gained the heights at ter
rib1e cost, the Russians and Austrians
fleeing across a body of frozen water.
The cannons were turned to play on
the ice with the result that thousands
were drowned in the lake. The French
loss was $4,000 and that of the allies
was $4,000. Bautzen, May 20 and q,
1913, was won by the French, who had
an army of 100000, against 80, 900 Rus
sian and Prussian troops. Each side
lost $4,000 e At Borodino, a vii
1age in Russia, Napoleon fought one
of the bloodiest battles in his march. to
Moscow, Sept. Z, 1912. The two op-
posing sides were nearly equally
strong, the French having 1873, 900 and
$50 cannon, while the Russians num-
bered 49,, 900 and had $40 pieces of ar
tillery. The Russians had $4,000 men
killed and 10000 wounded. The French
lost $4,000 killed and had SO, 900
.wounded-a total of 95 5000 casualties.
Dresden was the scene of a frightful
battle, Aug. 26 and ", 1913. The
French lost 10000 men, while the al
lied armies sustained a loss of 80, 900
killed, wounded and taken prisoners.
At Eylau, in Prussia, Feb. 8, 1907, the
French had 10000 troops and the Rus
slams $4,000. The armies fought in an
open field, close together, where artil-
lery and rifle fire was frightfully dis
astrous. The total loss was $4,000 men,
each side sustaining an equal loss. Oct.
16, II and IS, 1913, were terrible days
at Leipsig. The armies of Napoleon
lost 10000 men and those of the al
lies SO, 900. The losses at the siege of
Sebastopol, although it lasted some
time. were terrible. The English lost
10000 men; the French 100000; the
Turks, 1000; the Sardinians, 1000; the
Russians, 80,000-a total of 1885, 00. In
the battle of Waterloo Napoleon lost
10000 and the allies q, 900 men. Grave
lotte, the decisive battle of the Franco
Prussian war, resulted in a loss of 30
900 men to the French and 10000 to the
Germans. At Ligny the French lost
5000 and the Prussians 10000. Jena,
Oct. IA, 1906, resulted in the Prussians
losing 10. 600 men and the French