The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-04-27
Americas Hard Fighting Record.

surprising that the verdict Of foreign
military students is constantly chang
Ing and drawing closer to true esti-
mate OF the facts. A fresh review Of
the last stage Of the war, from Gettys-
ourg to Appomattox, has just appeared
In England from the pen of Captain
Battine of the kings hussars. In writ
Ing of the most critical phase Of the
contest in America Captain Battine has
IN mind the recent great military
events, and he. holds that the world
may still turn to American battlefelds
Tor examples of the highest military
ehclency and martial valor. He says:
The history of the American civil war
stlll remains the most important theme
Tor the student and the statesman be-
cause 1t was Waged between adversaries
OF the highest intelligence and courage,
who fought by land and sea over an enor-
nous area with every device within the
reach OF human ingenuity and who had to
create every organization needed for the
purpose after the struggle had begun
Justice has hardly been done to the armies
which arose time and again from sangui-
noralizing than any repulse in the field
because they were caused by political
and military incapacity in high places, to
redeem which the soldiers freely shed
their blood, as it seemed, in vain. If the
heroic endurance of the southern people
and the fiery valor of the southern armies
thrill us today with wonder and admira-
ton, the stubborn tenacity and courage
which succeeded in preserving intact the
heritage of the American nation and
which triumphed over foes so formidable
are not less worthy Of praise and imlta-
ton. The Americans still hold the worlds
record for hard fighting.
The valor Of the southern soldiers
has long been extolled at home as we'll
as abroad, and, at one time the eulo-
gists seemed to- forget that ;valor In
any army presupposes equal valor. in
the foe. Lee met his match and Stone-
wall Jackson found his counterpart in
the opposing lines or the war would
have ended in 1862 with the Confedera-
cy triumphant. >.,>
The fighting records Of the combat
ants in that great war do not rest
upon mere speculation They were
written in blood, and the books are
open to the worlds inspection. And
every elite regiment, every elite brig
ade and elite division and elite corps
on either side must and can without
loss Of prestige stand comparison with
an elite equivalent in the ranks Of the
foe. The north had more regiments in
the field than did the south, but the
ratio of hard fighting regiments was
the same. There were seventy north
ern regiments which lost from SO to 80
per cent Of their strength in single en-
gagements and ffty-three southern
regiments in the same class.
Figures showing losses in actual bat
tie are eloquent witnesses of the valor
Of individual organizations. The high
est brigade loss recorded in the Confed-
crate army was that of Gregg's South
Carolina brigade, which is credited
with /, 279 killed in battle. In the north
ern army the Vermont brigade takes
highest place, with loss of 1,172 kill
ed and the Iron brigade is a close Sec
ond, with 1,132 deaths on the battle
field: AS the northern regiments were
regularly recruited, the losses fell upon
greater numerical strength than was
the case in the south, where recruits
were scarce. The famous ::Kentucky
Orphan brigade Of the south, being
made up Of eXpatriates from the land
Of fighters, was never recruited and
literally fought itself to 'frazzle,'
as the southerners expressed it.
Gregg's brigade had the banner regi-
ment in the south for loss in battle
during the whole Wharf.-The First South
Carolina It's record was 2S1 killed,
and the banner regiment Of the north,
the Fifth New Hampshire, went, a
notch higher, with a=loss Of 295 dead i
on the field Of honor
!. And when it came to losses in single
engagements Balaklaya and all the old
world records were outdone both by
"Yank" and johnnie In. a single
charge at Gettysburg the First Mime
sofa emerged with "a loss of 80 per
cent killed and: wounded, while the
First Texas (Confederate)y at. Antietam
lost 80 % per cent. In the highest
numerical loss sustained in a single
engagement the fighters Of the north
and south also showed their common
lineage and equal valor. At Gettys-
burg the Twenty-sixth North Carolina
went into action July 1 with S2O men
and lost $50 killed and wounded. At
Cold Harbor the First Maine heavy
artillery charged an intrenched line
with 1872 rank and file and lost $50
killed and wounded in the space Of
seven minutes. Both of these regi-
ments continued fighting in the same
campaigns until the end of the war.
1t is a singular fact that over the
whole field and throughout the war