New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-09-04

aIeI 70 the numbers Of japanese and Russians
one has TO turn back 10 the days Of Alaric the
Goth Atilla the Hun, Xerxes the Persian or
Genghis Khan the MongoI. These, however, led
unframed and undisciplined nations rather than
armies. While the army with which Napoleon
started for Moscow. numbering over four hun
dred thousand men. exceeded in total that of
either combating force at Liao-Yang. no battle
Of the Napoleonic era rtvalIed the present strug-
gle. The Franco Pruseian War offers no rival.
while Gettysburg Chickamauga. and even the
desperate battles in the Wilderness. from the
Raptdan 70 Petersburg. IN the Civl War. seem
iuconsiderabIe in comparison.
TWO conflicts in the nineteenth century. how
ever. both in the magnitude OF the contest and
In their actual physical surroundings, suggest
the struggle IN 1Ianchuria. one was the battle
Of Letpsc. where Napoleon endured his Arst
great defeat and the grande a-nee its first rout
Il was waEed for a week about the old city Of
Leipsic I'm Saxony. Russians. Swedes Prus-
slams. Austr.ans and numberIess contingents OF
smaller States overwhelmed the French in the
battle which IS stiU known as the Combat Of
the Nations" In the several battles Of Leipsic
10000 French and over $50 600 allies were en-
gagged The battles We're fought for several days
On several fields. from October IS 10 IS. 1913.
In the end the French were driven through tho
city, thousands were captured, more were
drowned in the untimely destruction Of a bridge
across the Elhe. and the total French loss IN
killed wounded and captured exceeded 5000.
while the allies lost more than $1,000. The re-
suits Of the battle, while not Immediately con-
elusive. since Napoleon managed to extricate
the wreck OF his army and retreat 10 France.
practically marked the end OF his empire.
The other example of warfare about a city
situated like Liao-Yang was the struggle about
Metz in 1871 when the French under Bazaine.
were forced back into the city by thanking
movement similar TO that practised by the Jap
anese Marshal Bazaine was driven back from
the road to Paris and finally captured. IN
Gravelotte, the deciding battle Of this campaign,
the Prussians overwhelmed the French by force
OF numbers, the forces engaged in this fight
comparing favoraby with those engaged in
Manchuria- The French numbered nearly 150,-
OOO. while the Prussians exceeded 100000. The
French loss amounted TO 1900. the Prussians
to more than 21.0OO.
As direct consequence Of this fight Bazaine /
was penned up in Metz. IS many experts have
expected Kuropatkin would be in Liao-Yang |
and two months later surrendered over 10000 /
men. the entire regular army OF France. togeth-
with a vast number of cannon and huge sup I
plies. The battle Of Sedan which ended SINH !
IarIy, not dissimilar IN geographical cOndi- /
TONS and the French army. under Marshal /
MacMahon. with Napoleon III by his side, /
surrounded and captured after bloody battle |
lasting a single day. Here Won Moltke and the /
Prussian army succeeded IN driving the french /
into the valley Of the Meuse. surrounded on /
three sides by heights occupied by Germans, and /
on the fourth by the Belgian frontier. The /
numbers engaged here were smaller than at I
Metz.
The Civil War presents few instances Of huge /
numbers meeting in battle. AT Gettysburg less (
than $4,000 were engaged both sides, while
In the battles of the Wilderness where fought /
the largest number of men in the war, the Con- /
federates numbered only $4,000. while Grant had I
10000 a total less than half the number be- /
lieved TO have fought at Lao Yang. The rebel
loss exceeded 10000 and that of the Union
forces was over $4,000. Unlike the other bat
ties mentioned, it was drawn fight both forces
leaving the field soon after to fight at spottsyl-
vania, Sherman. IN his march TO the sea, had
little more than 10000 men with him
In the Napoleonic era, although the armies
were larger than those OF the previous century.
and far greater than in the Civil War, the num-
bers were comparatively small At AusterIiez,
the most famous OF the earlier victories OF Ma
poleon the French had only 10000 while the
Russian and Austrian force did not exceed
So 600 $4,000 Of whom were killed wounded
captured in the struggle. The French lost less
than a quarter of this number AT Wagram
Napoleon had 10000, his aNisd opponents only
10000 and although the French prevailed the