The Monte Vista journal., 1900-01-13
BATTLES OF HISTORY
WHICH MAKE THE PRESENT
ONES APPEAR TAME.
L0rA Msthssas Description sf the
Aoddsr River AFFAIR Ridiculous When
Cenparsd with Real Battlss-soms
Civil War Fatalities.


the London war ONCE of the engage
ment at Moddsr river. South Africa,
threw the English people into conster-
nation by describing 1t as the bloodlest
battle OF the century. When the de-
tails were received 1t was found that
the British loss was 73 killed, 372
wounded and II missing-a total of 49,
in An army Of 1000 rSen. The Beers
suffered ~ much with force Of IL 900
In defensive position. so, all told, the
losses were less than 1000 men. This
loss makes the Modder river affair an
ahatr OF outposts compared to a real
battle Of this century. At New Or
leans. where the contending forces were
less than those engaged in this African
encounter, 2.l00 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 fortifica-
tions. At spottsylvania and the VIII
derness. In Virginia. 57.S35. At Gettys-
burg b3.ls6 were killed and wounded.
At Stone River 36.57S men were sacri-
need. At Chickamauga the sacrifice
was as much as at Stone river. At
Fittsburg Landing. Tenn, $4,000 rep
resents the loss. At Charlottesville.
so,ooo; at Antietam, 26.0OO. Turning
TO the old world we nnd 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 18th of May. 1911. when
20.oo0 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. came to the rescue and won
the day for the allied armies. In four
hours Of fighting $4,000 men were
slsin-s.000 Of the French and 1000 OF
the allies. The battle Of Aspern, May
70. 1909. took place at the village of
that name on the Danube. Both the
Austrian and the French armies were
100000 strong. The Austrians lost 81
ofncers and 400 privates killed and
5000 wounded. while the French un-
der Napoleon suffered 4 loss Of SC, 900.
At Austerlitz. Dec. .. 1905. the
French had $4,000 men In the plain,
while $1,000 Russians and Austrians
were strongly posted In the heights.
The French gained the heights at ter
rible cost. the Russians and Austrians
aseing across . body Of frosen water.
The cannons were turned to play on
the ice with the result that thousan ads
were drowned In the lake. The French
loss was $4,000 and that Of the allies
was 5000. Bautxen. May 20 and al,
1913. was won by the French, who had
An army Of 1901 900. against %. 900 Rus
sian and Prussian troops. Each side
lost 1900 men. At Borodino. a vii
lase In Russia. Napoleon fought one
OF the bloodiest battles In bis march to
Moscow. Sept. Z. 1912. The two op-
posing sides were nearly equally
strong. the French having l33.00o and
$50 cannon. while the Russians num-
bered $4,000 and had $40 pieces of ar
ullery. The Russians had 5000 men
killed and $1,000 wounded. The French
lost $4,000 killed and had $4,000
wounded-a total Of s5. 900 Casualties.
Dresden was the scene Of 4 frightful
battle. Aug. 2s and %. 1918. The
French lost 10000 men. while the al
lied armies sustained = loss Of 80. 900
killed. wounded and taken prisoners.
Al Eylau. In Prussia. Feb. .. 1907, the
Preach had S0.0 900 troops and the Rus
SLAMS 5000. The armies fought in an
open Geld. close together. where artil-
lery and rife Ore was frightfully dis
astrous. The total loss was 90 900 men.
each side sustaining an equal loss. Oct.
Is. II and Is. 1919. were terrible days
At Leipsig. The armies Of Napoleon
lost 10000 men and those Of the al
lies 5000. The losses at the siege OF
6sbastopol. although II lasted some
time. were terrible. The English lost
10000 men: the French 5000: the
Turks. 1000: the sardinians. 1000: the
Russians. sO. .0O0-a total Of l33. 900. In
the battle Of Waterloo Napoleon lost
$1,000 and the allies ci.oO0 men. Crave
lotts. the decisive battle Of the Franco
Prussian var. resulted In loss OF 30.-
900 men to the FTsnch and 20. 900 to the
Germans. Al Ligny the French lost
5000 and the Prussians 1900. Jena.
Oct. II. 1905. resulted In the Pruasians
losing 10000 men and the French
7.too. Al the battle OF Sedan. Sept. !.
lS7e. The Germans lost 5000 killed and
vouadsd. while the French lossss were
l7.eoe. July .. 1876. was The date Of
the great battle Of Koniggrats. or. -
II 10 oftsa called. 6sdowa. The Prus-
siaAs. nunbsrins 33i 100. defeated the
Austrisns. who had . numerical
strength Of 20s. 900. The Prussiaas lost
le.ooe. while the Austriaas suffered Tie
terrible lon Of 40 OO0.