The battles of the world : $b or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military eventsBorthwick, J. Douglas (John Douglas)
History
The battles of the world : $b or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military events
Borthwick, J. Douglas (John Douglas)
Battles; Military history
LOSSES IN GREAT BATTLES.--The _Military Gazette_ of Vienna makes
the following comparisons of the forces engaged in the battle
of Solferino and in former great battles:--“At that battle there
were more than 300,000 soldiers in the field, and the losses must
have amounted to at least from 30,000 to 37,000. At the battle
of Leipsic, which lasted for three days, the 330,000 allies had
against them 260,000 French; the latter lost 30,000 prisoners
and 45,000 killed and wounded, and the former 48,000 killed and
wounded. After Leipsic, the most sanguinary battle was that of
Moscow, on the 7th of September, 1812. The Russians had 130,000 men
and 600 pieces of cannon, the French 134,000 men and 587 cannon;
the former lost 58,000 and the latter 50,000; the losses were,
therefore, 40 per cent. At Bautzen, on the 21st of May, 1813, there
were 110,000 Russians and Prussians opposed to 150,000 French; the
latter lost 20,000 men and the allies 15,000, and not a single
cannon. At Wagram, on the 5th and 6th of July, 1809, we had 137,000
men, and Napoleon 170,000; we lost 20,000 men and the enemy 22,000.
At Esling we were 70,000 against 85,000; we had 20,000 killed and
wounded, the enemy 13,000 killed; but he left in our hands 33,000
prisoners, and was obliged to send 30,000 to Vienna to have their
wounds attended to, so that out of the 160,000 men engaged about
one-half were put _hors de combat_. At Austerlitz there were 70,000
French, as many Russians, and 13,000 Austrians; the losses were
21,000 Russians, with 160 pieces of cannon, 5,800 Austrians, and
10,000 French. At Jena there were 142,000 French against 150,000
Prussians. At Waterloo there were 170,000 men, of whom 70,000 were
French, who lost 25,000 men and 250 cannon, whilst the Allies lost
31,000 men.”
The following statistics of Mr. Haussener will complete the account
of the losses in Great Battles:
“The wars which have been waged from 1815 to 1864, have caused
the death of 2,762,000 men, of whom 2,148,000 were Europeans, and
614,000 from other quarters of the globe, which gives an average
of 43,800 per annum. The figures do not include the deaths caused
by epidemics resulting from war. The most sanguinary hostilities
of that period are these:--The Eastern war of 1856, in which
508,600 men fell in the following proportions: 256,000 Russians,
98,900 Turks, 107,000 French, 45,000 English, and 2600 Italians.
The Caucusus (1829-60) 330,000 men lost their lives. The revolt in
India (1857-59) cost 196,000 lives. The Russo-Turkish war (1820-29)
193,000. The Polish insurrection (1831) 190,000. The whole of
the French campaigns in Africa (1830-59) 147,000. The Hungarian
insurrection 142,000. The Italian war 129,870, of whom 96,874
died on the field or from their wounds; and 33,000 from various
diseases. The total number of lives lost in Europe during the
wars from 1793 to 1815 amounted to 5,530,000, which gives for the
twenty-three years an average of 240,434 deaths per year.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account