Statistical Summary of the War with Germany

From "Statistical Summary of the War with Germany" prepared by Colonel Leonard P. Ayres, authorized by the War Department, is extracted the following which, of course, is of interest to our readers Among each 100 Americans five took up arms in defense of the country.

During the Civil War ten out of every 100 inhabitants of the Northern States served as soldiers or sailors. In that struggle 2,400,000 men served in the Northern army and the navy.

Between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, when the armistice went into effect, 4,800,000 men constituted our land and naval forces. Yet a force proportional to that put forth by the North during the Civil War would have produced nearly 10,000,000 American fighting men. The British sent to France in their first year of the war more men than did the United States in the first twelve months. On the other hand, it took England three years to reach a strength of 2,000,000 men in France, while the United States was able to place that number across the seas in one-half that time.

The organization of an immense army as that of the United States, its equipment and transportation across the ocean has never been equaled in the history of the world.

Two out of every three American soldiers who reached France took part in battle. The number that reached France was 2,084,000 and out of these 1,300,000 were engaged at the front.

American divisions were in battle for 200 days and engaged in thirteen major operations from the middle of August until the armistice. The American divisions held during the greater part of the time a front longer than that held by the British in October. The American divisions held 101 miles of line, or twenty-three per cent of the entire western front.

In the battle of Saint Milhiel 550,000 Americans were engaged, as compared with 100,000 on the North side in the battle of Gettysburg. The artillery fired more than 1,000,000 shells in four hours, which is the most intense concentration of artillery fire recorded in the history of the world.

The Meuse-Argonne battle lasted forty-seven days, during which 1,200,000 American troops were engaged.

"During the period of hostilities two out of every 100 American soldiers were killed or died of disease. The total battle death of all nations in this war was greater than the total of all the deaths of all the wars in the previous 100 years.

For every man killed in battle seven were wounded. Five out of every six men sent to hospitals on account of wounds were cured and returned to duty.

In the expeditionary forces battle deaths were twice as many as death from disease.

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 marines attached to it.

The war cost of America was $21,850,000,000, or approximately $1,000,000 an hour. The greatest number of men sent overseas in a single month was 306,000 and the largest returned home in a single month at the time of the report was 333,000.

The supplies shipped from the United States to France was 7,500,000 tons in nineteen months.

The registration of men for the draft was 24,234,021 and of these 2,810,296 were inducted into service. The largest number inducted into the service in a single month was 400,000.

In the matter of expenditure in wars, it is interesting to note some comparisons between the cost of former American wars and that with Germany. It has never been possible to estimate exactly the cost of any war in money. The Mexican war is supposed to have cost $173,358,000 and the Civil War about $6,000,000,000.

It will be noted that the cost of the Civil War was about the same as the amount of the Fourth Liberty Loan in the present war. In the Fourth Liberty Loan the city of New York alone subscribed $1,482,078,
650 more than eight times the cost of the Mexican War, and all the Federal Reserve districts except that of Dallas, Texas, subscribed as much, and some of them several times more to the Fourth Liberty Loan than the cost of the Mexican War. The Chicago district subscribed $969,209,000, the Cleveland district $702,059,800, the Boston district $632,221,850, and the Philadelphia district $598,763,650.

These figures indicate the tremendous strides, in the matter of accumulation of wealth which have been made in the United States. 

 Harrison County| AHGP Missouri

Source: History of Harrison County, Missouri, by Geo. W. Wanamaker, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, 1921