EXCERPTED FROM "THE WAR WITH GERMANY, A STATISTICAL SUMMARY" BY COLONEL LEONARD P. AYERS ( CHIEF OF THE STATISTICAL BRANCH OF THE GENERAL STAFF),

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, 1919.

In the Northern Army during the Civil War the number was about 10. Among the other great nations in this war, between 20 and 25 in each 100 called to the. colors were killed or died. To carry the comparison still further, American losses in this war were relatively one-fifth as large as during the Civil War and less than one-tenth as large as in the ranks of the enemy or among the nations associated with us.

The war was undoubtedly the bloodiest which has ever been fought. One possible competitor might be the Crimean War in which the casualty rate per 100 men was equally heavy. The British forces in the Crimean War lost 22 of every 100 men, the French 31, the Turkish 27, and the Russian 43. More than

four fifths of the losses were, however, deaths from disease, while in the recent war with Germany disease deaths were inconsiderable as compared with battle deaths. The forces engaged in the Crimean war were, moreover, much smaller.

BATTLE DEATHS IN ARMIES ENGAGED IN THE PRESENT WAR, 1914-1918

TOTAL ---- 7, 450, 200

The total battle deaths in the recent war were greater than all the deaths in all wars for more than 100 years previous. From 1793 to 1914 total deaths in war may safely estimated at something under 6,000,000. :Battle deaths alone from 1914 to 1918 totalled about 7,450,000. An estimate of the losses of the principal nations engaged is shown in Table 9. As the final records are not yet wholly complete, these figures are approximate in some cases. Only deaths resulting directly from action are included. The total deaths from all causes is very much larger as some of the armies lost more heavily from diseases and privation than from battle. The table shows that Russia had the heaviest losses, in spite of the fact that she withdrew from the war after the fall of 1917. American losses are third from the bottom of the list. German losses were thirty-two times as great as the losses of the United States, the French twenty-eight times, and the British eighteen times as large.

BATTLE CASUALTIES IN THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

'The number of men reported as missing has been steadily reduced from a total of 22~724, exclusive of prisoners, to the figure 2,913 shown in the table. This reduction has gone on without clearing any case as dead except on evidence establishing beyond doubt the fact of death. Only 22 per cent of those who were originally reported as missing in action have now been returned as dead. The results of clearing up the records of more than 19,000 cases are shown in diagram 52. The largest number have been found in hospitals, while a considerable number have returned to duty after being lost from their units.

The work of the Central Records Office of the American Expeditionary Forces in clearing up the cases of men listed as missing has been more successful than that done in any of the other armies hr in any previous great war. When the records are finally completed there will be very few American soldiers unaccounted for. The missing lists of the other nations still run into the hundreds of thousands.

The total number of lives lost in both Army and Navy from the declaration of war to May 1,1919, is 122,500. Deaths in the Army, including marines attached to it, were 112,432. About two-thirds of these deaths occurred overseas.

SUMMARY

1. Of 100 American soldiers and sailors who served in the war with Germany, two were killed or died of disease during the period of hostilities.

2. The total battle deaths of all nations in this war were greater than all the deaths in all the wars in the previous 100 years.

3.Russian battle deaths were 34 times as heavy as those of the United States, those of Germany 32 times as great, the French 28 times, and the British 18 times as large.

4. The number of American lives lost was 122,500, of which about 10,000 were in the Navy, and the rest in the Army and the marines attached to it.

5. In the American Army the casualty rate in the Infantry was higher than in any other service, and that for officers was higher than for men.

6. For every man killed in battle seven were wounded.

7. Five out of every six men sent to hospitals on account of wounds were cured and returned to duty.

8. In the expeditionary forces battle losses were twice as large as deaths from disease.

9. In this war the death rate from disease was lower, and the death rate from battle was higher than in any other previous American war.

10. Inoculation, clean camps, and safe drinking water, practically eliminated typhoid fever among our troops in this war.

11 Pneumonia killed more soldiers than were killed in battle. Meningitis was the next most serious disease.

12. Of each 100 cases of venereal disease recorded in the United States, 96 were contracted before entering the Army and only 4 afterwards.

13. During the entire war available hospital facilities in the American Expeditionary Forces have been in excess of the needs.