Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-22
WAR PRISONERS
AFTER BATTLE
The Great Danger Experienced By Men
Who Have Been "to the 'FRONT.'
For Their Country.

When E%ngland's war in South Africa
which happily is now rapidly drawing to
a close began even the most sanguine
persons were prepared for captures on
the debit as we'll as on the credit side of
Britain's account. Looking back from
the recent Roodeval ambuscade to the
more disastrous one near Nicholson's
Neck, it cannot be said that their fears
We're groundless; yet in actual battle the
lumber of English soldiers taken prison.
ers has not by any means been formida-
BILE indeed, when compared with most
battles it is trifling.
In the great battle of Custozza, fought
in 1856 between 10000 Austrians and near
~ 100000 Italians, both the losers and the
Victors, curiously enough made a big bag
in captives. The Austrians, who still re-
gard this fight as the most brilliant in
their history, had several hundreds Of
their men on one of the TANKS
and taken prisoners: but they retaliated
literally by capturing no less than 4,315
Italians.
In the sanguinary Franco-Prussian
campaign practically every battle was
fruitful in prisoners. while the French
men who threw down their arms in the
s~tupendous ~surrenders at Metz and Sc
dan would have taxed london itself to
provide them with house-rooom
At Sadowa, where the Germans,
thanks largely to their then deadly nee
dle-gun, scored a great victory over the
Austrians, no less than II, 900 unwounded
Austrians We're sent north under Prus-
sian escort.
The long-drawn struggle at DuppelLa
dark page in Danish history-eventually
saw the Germans and the Austrians then
IN a IL " $40 IVA nv-n,,n \ No ,cn Al owls
oners, in addition to scores of guns. M
The Spaniards. at the laundering battle
Of Ayacucho. which virtually annihiiated
their power in South America, lost, in
addition to the day, the flower OF theii'
magniticently equipped army. The rival
forces were almost equal in numbers. but
the victors were woefully short of ev-
erything except splendid leadership and
determination, and as a sequel they took
off the field with them as captives 4S4
Spanish officers and 5000 of the rank and
file.
In the first Plevna battle the Turks
were left masters of the field and also
Of over 1000 Russians, but the latter
were all either seriously wounded or
dead. In the second and more SAN
guipary fight around the same town
the undulating ground fronting the
Turkish redoubts was StreWn with 2.40O
Russian dead. which We're only recover
ed under a flag of truce. -,
The eventful battle of Austerlitz was
extremely prolific in prisoners. Here the
magnificent prescience and strategy Of
Napoleon made mere play of an enemy
80, 600 stronger than himself, no less
than 10000 prisoners falling into the
hands of the victorious French on that
day.
In the wars that England have waged
against her enemies it has long been that
country's boast that the prisoners of wal
on her side of the ledger dwarf into in
significance those on the enemy. In the
Peninsular wars it was little short of
miraculous how English generals repeat
eddy baked immensely superior forces
of their prey-as witness Sir John
Moore's glorious retreat on Corunna. On
the other and Great Britain was tenn
ing with French prisoners. The Crimean
campaign yielded to the Russians a sur
prisingly small number of British cap
tives, nor did England capture as many
of the enemy as she might.
The Zulus, chivalrous foes as they were
never took prisoners alive, for. at Insan-
dhlwana no less than so officers alone
were butchered.
In the recent war with Spain the
prisoners taken by America We're so nu-
merous that there was scarcely room in
the forts stationed along our coast for
the enemy'S soldiers.