THE EFFECTS OF THE MITRAILLEUR AND CHASSEPOT.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 784, 4 March 1871, Page 3

THE EFFECTS OF THE MITRAILLEUR AND CHASSEPOT.

A Prussian correspondent writes us:—As regards the general character of the wounds, it may be said that those inflicted by the French balls are vastly more dangerous than those of our own. The ball of the needle gun, being long and conical shaped, tends to separate the tissues, and the wound, in consequence, shows a better tendency to heal. The chassepot bullets, being round shaped, tear the tissues, and driven by a great mass of powder they break and crack the bones in their path. The same is the effect of the mitrailleur, and an enormous amount of serious wounds is caused by the French tactics of greeting an enemy with a hailstorm of lead. The spots of ground from which the French fired are at once known by their being covered with cartridges. Our army, composed of Hessian, Saxon and Prussian regiments, lost on the 18th August 20,000 killed aud wounded, and the French are said to have lost 10,000 men, so that this murderous battle involved a loss of 30,000 men. The scene on the battlefield on the following day was most terrible —heaps of dead covering the ground. The corps charged with performing the office of grave-diggers had hard work for three days. Our disposal of medical and sanitary arrangements proved to be very good, for no wounded men remained for any length of time upon the ground without aid.—" Lancet."