and the poorer the troops. According to past experience, the casualties among officers are especially heavy in the early stages of a war.[1]
The relative losses of officers and men in the battles named are
given, in round figures, in the following table:
At Weiszenburg (Vth Army Corps) 1 officer for every 14 men;
" Wörth (Vth Army Corps) 1 " " " 20 " ;
" Wörth (XIth Army Corps) 1 " " " 15 " ;
" Vionville (IIIrd Army Corps) 1 " " " 21 " ;
" Vionville (Xth Army Corps) 1 " " " 24 " ;
" Gravelotte (Guard Corps) 1 " " " 22.5 " ;
" Gravelotte (XIIth Army Corps) 1 " " " 20 " ;
" Colenso 1 " " " 15 " ;
" Magersfontain 1 " " " 11.8 " ;
Colonel Hessert[2] writes the following in regard to the losses among the officers of the 25th Division on August 18th, 1870: "Eight of the 16 field officers and 6 of the 14 adjutants present with the regiments and battalions were either wounded or killed. Almost all of these officers were mounted. Seventeen of the 40 company commanders—almost all of them dismounted—and 43 of the 151 company officers were placed out of action. This would be a loss of 50% in field officers, 42% in adjutants, 37% in company commanders, and 29% in company officers."
On this day the Rifle Battalion of the Guard lost 100% of its officers and 44% of its men—19 officers and 431 men, in about three-quarters of an hour.
On Sept. 11th, 1877, at Plevna, the Ugla Regiment lost 20 of its officers, i.e., 40%; the Jaroslaw Regiment, 25 officers, i.e., 64%; the total loss of the first named regiment amounted to 42%, that of the last named to 49%. Of the 15 company commanders of the Vladimir Regiment, 14 were placed out of action.
After the assault on the Tuminling Pass on Oct. 12th, 1905, the East Siberian Rifle Regiment had only 2 officers with its firing line, and after the battle of Sandepu only 5. These examples are not isolated ones. After the battle on the Yalu, the 11th Rifle Regiment had present for duty only one field officer, and the 12th only 3 captains. On March 7th, 1905, the Yoshihoka Regiment (3rd Japanese Division) had present for duty only 3 lieutenants; one battalion was commanded by a first sergeant and one company by a private.
