Killed to Wounded Ratio
Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 4:43 am
I wonder if the ratio of killed to wounded in these battles reflects what was going on back then.
For anachronistic reasons I would expect something like one killed to four wounded, and I've seen results that looked like one killed to two wounded or even approaching one to one.
I realize that in the early days gunpowder wounds were ultimately more lethal because the medicine of the time was not that good at treating wounds that weren't inflicted by the arme blanche. Getting run through the arm with a sword, lance, or arrow was not as problematic as getting shot by a handgun. The first might conceivably result in a flesh wound, but the second could shatter bone and leave a very dirty wound that would probably kill you from the infection.
Can you get a rough idea of what the breakdown should be from period sources, and do the casualties reflect that ratio ?
For anachronistic reasons I would expect something like one killed to four wounded, and I've seen results that looked like one killed to two wounded or even approaching one to one.
I realize that in the early days gunpowder wounds were ultimately more lethal because the medicine of the time was not that good at treating wounds that weren't inflicted by the arme blanche. Getting run through the arm with a sword, lance, or arrow was not as problematic as getting shot by a handgun. The first might conceivably result in a flesh wound, but the second could shatter bone and leave a very dirty wound that would probably kill you from the infection.
Can you get a rough idea of what the breakdown should be from period sources, and do the casualties reflect that ratio ?