This large amount of disease and mortality in the army arises not from
the battle-field, but belongs to the camp, the tent, the barrack, the
cantonment; and it is as certain, though not so great, in time of peace,
when no harm is inflicted by the instruments of destruction, as in time
of war. The battle, which is the world's terror, is comparatively
harmless. The official histories of the deadly struggles of armies show
that they are not so wasteful of life as is generally supposed. Mr.
William Barwick Hodge examined the records and despatches in the
War-Office in London, and from these and other sources prepared an
exceedingly valuable and instructive paper on "The Mortality arising
from Military Operations," which was read before the London Statistical
Society, and printed in the nineteenth volume of the Society's journal.
Some of the tables will be as interesting to Americans as to Englishmen.
On the following page is a tabular view, taken from this work, of the
casualties in nineteen battles fought by the British armies with those
of other nations.
TABLE 1.--NINETEEN LAND-BATTLES.
BRITISH
Casualties
Killed in battle
Officers ---------------
and men Per 1000
Date. Battles. engaged Number engaged
------------------------ -------------------- ------ ---- ----
1801, March 21, . . . . . Alexandria . . . . . 14,000 243 17.3
1806, July 4, . . . . . . Maida . . . . . . . 5,675 45 7.9
1808, August 21, . . . . Vimiciro . . . . . . 19,200 135 7.
1809, January 16, . . . . Corunna . . . . . . 16,700 158 9.4
" July 28, . . . . . Talavera . . . . . . 22,100 801 3.6
1810, September . . . . . Busaco . . . . . . . 27,800 106 3.9
1811, March 5, . . . . . Barrosa . . . . . . 5,230 202 38.6
" May 5, . . . . . . Fuentes de Onore . . 22,900 170 7.4
" " 16, . . . . . . Albuera . . . . . . 9,000 882 98.
1812, July 22, . . . . . Salamanca . . . . . 30,500 388 12.7
1813, June 21, . . . . . Vittoria . . . . . . 42,000 501 11.9
" July 25 to August 2 Pyrenees . . . . . . 30,000 559 18.6
" November 10, . . . Nivelle . . . . . . 47,600 277 5.7
1814, February 27, . . . Orthés . . . . . . . 27,000 210 7.7
" April 10, . . . . . Toulouse . . . . . . 26,800 312 11.6
1815, January 8, . . . . New Orleans . . . . 6,000 386 64.3
" June 16-18, . . . . Waterloo . . . . . . 49,900 2,126 42.6
1854, September 20, . . . Alma . . . . . . . . 26,800 353 13.1
" November 5, . . . . Inkerman . . . . . . 9,000 632 70.2
------- ----- ----
438,205 8,486 19.3
Estimated deaths among the wounded . . . . . . 4,894
Estimated casualties among the missing . . . . 1,137
-----
Total 14,517 33.1