Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

248 GREEK VERSUS MODERN LOSSES.thousand men, seventeen per cent. ; in battalions of five hundredmen, twenty-two per cent. This makes no account ofwounds whatever, even mortal ones.only to very stubbornly fought battles.These percentages applyThe average battle,even if severe, falls far short of these losses.Among the Greeks only the losses of the victors can fairlybe counted. The vanquished were invariably massacred.Should we count both, the Greek losses in killed would bemany times those of our battles. But, in an occasional battleof ancient days, the losses in killed, quite apart from the massacrefollowing defeat, were far higher than anything shownin modern warfare. At Megalopolis the Macedonian victorslost nine per cent, in killed, twice the loss at Waterloo, twoand a half times that at Gettysburg. In the average Greekbattle, the killed were usually fewer than inmodern actions.Hand-weapons were less deadly than musket-balls ; and themen wore armor and carried shields, which were a reasonablygood protection against spears, arrows and stones.wounded were numerous.TheIn Alexander's combats they averageten or twelve to one of killed, often twenty. Nowadays,about seven to one is the ratio. On the basis of killed alone,Alexander's battles were not so deadly as ours ; on the basisof killed and wounded, they were not far from the same.If we take a general casualty-list composed of the killedand wounded in celebrated battles, we shall find thatNapoleon, in nine battles, lost, in each, about 22 per cent.Frederick, in eight battles, lost, in each, about .... 18^ per cent.The Confederates, in eleven battles, lost, in each, about . 14 per cent.The Unionists, in eleven battles, lost, in each, about . . 13 per cent.The Germans, in eight battles, lost, in each, about . . .11^ per cent.The English, in four battles, lost, in each, about .... 10per cent.The Austrians, in nine battles, lost, in each, about ... 10 per cent.The French, in nine battles, lost, in each, about .... 9 per cent.These figures are a good gauge to measure by.