[186] See SPAITS, _Mit Kasaken durch die Mandschurei_. After the author had turned away in disgust from a Chinese execution, he wrote: “And we Europeans will feel just like this in war. We will get to a certain point where the strength of our will and our physical powers will succumb to the weakness of our nerves, and this state we will reach more quickly than did the Russians, who were better off in regard to nerves than members of those armies in which nervousness is carefully fostered.” See also this author’s remarks about _Courage_, _ibid._, p. 206. [187] This complaint of the “void of the battlefield” is not new. A Saxon officer complains of it in his _Vertrauten Briefen_ (Cologne, 1807), and the French officers report on the “void of the battlefield” in the fights around Metz. BONNAL, _L’art nouveau en Tactique_, p. 90. [188] _Revue des deux mondes_, for June, 1902. The effect of danger on the battlefield is indicated by-- 1. Derangement of tactical units; 2. The mixing of men of the different units during the action; and 3. The dissolution of units into disorderly masses. According to the _History of the Kaiser Franz Regiment_ (p. 113) immediately after the battle of =St. Privat=, most of the companies numbered only 30 men, and the whole regiment only 340 men, although, allowing for losses, there should have been 1922 men. The three companies of the 39th Füsilier Regiment which had fought in the =Stiring Wald= at =Spicheren=, numbered only 6 officers and 150 men at the close of the fight in the evening,[189] which means that, allowing for losses, 350 men were missing. After the battle of =Colombey=, when the Füsilier Battalion of the 55th Regiment was assembled, three companies numbered only 120, 60 and 40 men, respectively. This battalion had lost about 300 men.[190] [189] _Gen. St. W._, I, p. 366. [190] _Geschichte des Regiments_, p. 347. The plan of the battle of Colombey given in the General Staff Account (_Gt. St. W._) shows at 7 P. M. 17 companies belonging to 5 different infantry regiments, and to two different infantry brigades, occupying a front of 1200 paces, in the following order: 7. 1. 4. 8. 4. 6. 12. 7. } -------, ----, ----, ----, ----, ----, ----, ----, } Jägers. 55. 15. 15. 53. 15. 15. 15. } { 10. 11. 12. 1. 1. 9.10. 4.3. Cos. { ------------, ----, ----, -----, -----, { 13. 13. 73. 15. 73. Inf. At =Wörth= 17 different regiments were represented on a front of 5700 paces.