The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-03-12


ton In 1850, belongs K South Carolina, G
and is a most complete vindication of [
her action In leading the secession move
ment, which the sons and daughters of I
Confederate soldiers can treasure as an (,
adherence to principle on the part of
their ancestry. I
Mr.. Kirkley, the statistician Of the u.
3. war department, states the deaths
from battles during the civil war, as he
terms 1t, at 110,070, of which Z 1858 are
classified as killed in action and 3,012
as having died of wounds. Estimating
from the loss in killed and MORALLY
wounded, the conclusion is drawn that
there were 275,17 meu wounded other
making the total number of killed and
wounded 1886. 245, within q small fraction
OF the total number of effective men in
all the armies of the Confederate States
during the entire four years, 30 that for
each man in the Confederate service
there was a man killed or wounded in
the Federal service. The number Of
"ouhNou Who WOIO tGCdt0u bL tUO CCu- |
eral hospitals during the war was 2i6,. J
712, which embraced nine.tenths Of all
the wounded, according to the Surgeon
Generals estimate. There is no way Of
arriving at the exact number of killed
and wounded, but the hospital records
are substantially accurate, and the losses
in minor engagements for which no Off
| 0tot ratnrnn 90 ,,. 1T
undoubtedly increase the total consider.
ably.
At Gettysburg, which has been termed
the greatest Of historic battles, the Fed
cral loss is stated at 3,O63 killed, 14,402
wounded, and 5,435 captured or missing.
The MORALLY wounded are as usual in
cluded in the 14,402 reported simply as
wounded, but this does not fix the actual
{ loss of life, and Lit. Col. VIM. f. Fox,
| U. s. army. has examined the rolls of
each regiment which fought at Gettys-
burg, and taking name by name he has
ascertained that 5.291 men lost their
lives on that field, and the Second Corps
(Hancock's) sustained a loss Of 1, 23S in
: killed and died Of wounds, or nearly
one-fourth Of the total loss thus ascer.
tanned. 1t was there that this famous
. corps had the hardest fighting in its ex-
p%erience and won it's greatest l~aurels,
. and 1t was there they met and rcpulsed
Pickett's magnificent charge, where the
fighting was deadly in tho extreme. The
per centage Of loss in the first Minnesota
regiment was without an equal in the
2 records of modern warfare. Only 2G2
men from 8 companies were in action OF
: July 2nd, and the total casualties were
215, Of whom Al we're killed and 1GS
wounded, making 50 per cent. The
IS Federal regiment sustaining the greatest
- loss in battle during the entire war was
the Fifth New Hampshire, which lost
- 205 men, killed or mortally wounded in
IL action, from 1861 to 1866.
u The distinction must be drawn be-
@ tween a per centage of loss and the
g greatest loss in any given battle, depend
ent upon the number of men carried into
action. The severest losses arc not al
ways the largest numerically. Take the
~ 26th North Carolina, Pcttigrew's brigade,
70 whose loss at Gettysburg was sc killed
% and 500 wounded, making a total of 5SS,
in addition to 120 reported as missing,
who were lost in Pickctt's charge, nearly
all OF whom must have been killed or
wounded, as they fell into the cncmy's
- hands and were not included in the hos
pital report. The casualties were 70S
out of 800 who were present, and this
- lOqa occurred ponot1u IN tt,o Grot lanbc
~ fight, which is an almost unexampled
record. The per centage of loss in the
- goth North Carolina at Gettysburg was
&c III, which is the third highest per cent
age in the Confederate army.
The First Texas in the battle of An
4. tietam (sharpsburg) carried only 22G
at non into action, and the loss was as
killed and al wounded, which is so 3
" per cent, tho highest per contage on
record. The 21st Georgia at the Second
~ Manassas Aug. 1881, 1862, witt 242
J. mon in action, lost 39 killed and Jag
wounded, or 76 per cent.
10 The Palmetto Sharp Shooters at
n Frazicr's Farm (June 30, 1862 with 375
mon in action, lost 30 killed and 2l5
1t wounded, or 67.7 per cent.
II The Sixth So. Ca. at Seven Pines
(May 81, 1862 with 621 men in action,
lost 80 killed and 1S1 wounded, or SIG
per cent.
The LIST s. @. Rifles (Orr's regimcnt)
at Gaines Mill, with 537 mon in action,
n lost 81 killed and 225 wounded, or $50
s per cent.
B Anderson's So. Ca. brigade afterwards
Jenkins' and thin Bratton's) in the
! "Sevcn Days Around Richmond" with
1 1850 men in action, lost 1856 killed and
. G3S wounded, 13 missing, or go per
cent. This loss occurred in the two
! battles OF Gaines Mill and Frazier
Farm.
Longstrcet's Division (Andorson's.
Pryor's, Wilcox's and Fca.herstone'a
brigades) during the Seven Days Battles,
' lost at Gaines Mill and Frazier's Farm
766 killed, 3.435 wounded and 287 miss
ing; total 4.48S out Of 1881 engaged, or
6O.2 per cent. Nor was his OH uncom-
mon loss, as the official reports often in