The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-09-11
JAPAN,S GREAT BATTLE.

The full statement of casualties in the battle 0
I,ao Yang is not yet at hand, but from the partia
reports made for the several days of the continues
action it is evident that in killed alone the numbe
will exceed the total casualties in any action at arm
since the invention of gunpowder, says the Call
The greatest modern battles were fought IN on
civil war In those actions it was pluck against pluc
and grit against grit. The largest number engaged
In one action was at Fredericksburg, where th
Union army had $4,000 men and the Confederate
1858, total of 1853 The Confederate loss wa
1894 killed, 9606 wounded and 1869 missing; the
Union loss COS killed, 4116 wounded and 653 miss
ing, making grand total of casualties of 1906
The next great battle, measured by the number Of
men in collision and the casualties was Gettysburg
the decisive battle of the war; There the Union army
numbered 81 361 and the Confederate 5,26S, total
of 172,629. Though the number of men in action
was less than at Fredericksburg the casualties
much greater The Federal army lost 3072 killed
14497 wounded, 5434 missing, the Confederate army
loss was 1892 killed, 12709 wounded and $50 miss
ing This was grand total of 40, ,354, of which the
killed in both armies numbered 5664 1t was great
and stubborny fought action, in which every form
Of offense was used artillery, rife, bayonet charge
and cavalry charge and desperate courage was dis
played by both Sides Yet looking back upon it the
number killed on the field was surprisingly small.
Since then, however there has been great I'M
provement in arms. The army rifle has a larger
range, and the fired ammunition and explosives are
all different Not only in small arms has there been
a substitution Of more efficient weapons, but the ar
tllery is of greater range and rapid fire. These
things alone account somewhat for the greater de-
struction in the battles fought in the current war in
eastern Asia.
In the action at Liao Yang it is believed that a
half million of men have faced each other The
Russians have labored under the disadvantage of
having no reserves. Kuropatkn' policy of choosing
his ground for stand and gathering upon it his Ell
tire force, has brought his entire army under Jap
anese fire. so that there could be no reserve main
tanned, out of danger to come into action and re-
lieve the troops jaded by long fighting. The Jap
anese geenrals in this respect outclassed him. They
repeat Napoleonic tactics by having immense re-
serves rested and fresh, ready for duty while the
jaded recruit These tactics permit that incessant
assault which gives the enemy no rest
The outside world will have to wait for the re.
ports Of the several commanders before knowing just
what has happened in that awful battle Both armies
exclude war correspondents from any close view Of
the fighting. On the japanese side the newspaper
men were permitted to snuff the battle afar off, at
the comfortable distance Of eight miles It is evi-
dent that none got any nearer the Russian side so
that reports from that source are mostly the result
Of imagination. 1t is the first modern war; modern
in the sense of the rise of the newspaper, in which
the belligerents have succeeded in completely muz-
zling the correspondents. In the Russo Turkish
war Forbes, the great English war correspondent,
had the right Of way in both armies He sat alone
with the in his field tent and was able to write
vividly, as an observer in touch with events Now
the newspaper men, except for what local color they
get write up the war just as well at their home
desks &
The japanese officers have been very soldier-lke
in their reports which are believed to be accurate,
and lack the dramatic elements entirely The Rus
slams are the same, though they employ pardonabe
euphemism when they call retreat "a change of
position.
From the reports given out by both sides it is
evident that the total killed will equal all the cas-
ualties of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg combined
or number but little short Of the whole Confederate
force at Gettysburg. While no man can foresee the
effect upon the worlds political and commercial
geography it is with no desire to underestimate the