Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-09-09
DEADLY BOW AND sATTLEAxE.

the rooms.
DEADLY BOW AND eATTLEAxE.
Slaughter Greater Than With Modern
Firearms.
passu with the advance Of civilization,
and the value set upon life has arisen
proportionately with our ability to
appreciate its pleasures. its mutuality
and associations, says the Pail Mall
Gazette. Partly the sentimentalism Of
up-to-date journalism, partly our own
sensibility Of nature, has disposed US
to regard any battle losses over 1000
as terrible" But the strange truth
Is that as we 60 back in the history
of war we shall notice an extraor6i-
nary increase in the proportion Of
losses to the numbers engaged, until
we begin to realize that the longbow
and clothyard shaft of our ancestors
were much more deadly weapons than
the modern magazine rifle, with its
small bullet and high velocity.
Such facts would doubtless have
confounded M. Bloch, whose favorite
contention 1t was that owing to the
deadliness of modern weapons, war
was rapidly becoming impossible. A
closer study of history would have
taught him that the discovery Of gum
powder was in reality a beneficent
invention, which has enabled an armed
struggle to be decided without the
former necessity for prolonged close
quarter fighting and the deadly weap-
ons of the melee.
1t cannot be charged that men are
less courageous nowadays when they
are called upon to face much more
terrifying instruments Of warfare.
But the fact remains that the Lee
Enfield. the Mauser, quick-firing ar
tillery and high-explosive shells are
productive Of nothing like such
slaughter as the longbow. the battle
axe and the sword in the hands of
our fighting ancestors.
II we take battles like Colenso and
Kinchau since the employment Of
magazine rifles and quick firing artil-
lery, and compare them with engage
ments such as Crecy, Poiters or Ag-
incourt, we cannot fail to be impressed
with the astonishing discrepancy In
the casualty lists. In Gen. Buffers
attack on the Beers at the battle Of
Colenso, his men presented as fair
mark for the action Of the modern
firearm as our enemies could have de-
sired. Yet, as result Of several hours
hot fighting, during which many brave
deeds were done by officers and men,
who recklessly exposed themselves to
a storm Of bullets and shell fire, our
losses were not more than LOO men
out Of force Of $4,000 to 10000
while those Of the Beers were prob
ably far less.
Compare such a casualty list with
the slaughter Of Agincourt In 1416,
a battle which lasted for not much
longer than three hours between an
English force Of $4,000 men under
Henry v. and $4,000 French led by
their Constable. 1t was the longboW
and the clothyard shaft which broke
the French army, and was the most
potent agent Of destruction on that
great day in our military annals. O"cr
10000 French were slain outright,
and two or three times that number
were wounded.
With the results Of this three
hours battle 1t Is interesting to con-
trast the sixteen hours struggle In
Kinchau between the Russians and
Japanese, where both sides were arm
ed to the teeth with modern weapons
and the position was taken after sue
cessive assaults in the face Of an ap-
parently murderous fire from heavy
artillery and magazine rifles. At the
end Of this prolonged; contest the
losses of the victors, compelled to ad-
vance through the fire swept zone In
front Of Nanshan, were no more than
1000 men, of whom only 75O were
killed, out Of a total force Of about
$4,000.
How infinitely more terrible again
was the work Of the bow and the
battleaxe at the battle of Crecy in
1896, when our Edward III. and his
son, the Black Prince, routed the
great army Of Philip Of France. The
English army numbered 10000 men,
that of Philip 100000. Again the long
bow proved its terrible effectiveness.
The French were utterly unable to
sustain the heavy fire Of its yard
long projectiles, against which armor
was but an Indifferent protection, and
were routed with the loss of l,2OO
knights, 1,4OO esquires and $4,000
men, of whom no less than 10000
were killed outright. The same casu-
atty lists were noticeable at the battle
of Poitiers, where $4,000 English de-
feated 10000 French: and so terrible
was the execution done by the English
bowmen that 1900 Of their enemy
were slain outright. Both Hastings
and Bannockburn bear additional tes-
timony to the formidable and deadly
character of these old battles. At
the former 10000 men fell on both
sides, while the latter resulted in to-
tai losses Of $4,000. in both cases
heavy percentage of the combatants.
AS we gradually approach our own
time we shall find not only that the