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re: What would be the worst war to fight in in history?

Posted on 1/19/20 at 7:40 am to
Posted by Dr Phibes
Member since Jan 2020
9 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 7:40 am to
quote:

More people died of rifles in the civil war.

More men died of disease than wounds.

quote:

Pneumonia, typhoid, diarrhea/dysentery, and malaria were the predominant illnesses. Altogether, two-thirds of the approximately 660,000 deaths of soldiers were caused by uncontrolled infectious diseases, and epidemics played a major role in halting several major campaigns.


Infectious diseases during the Civil War: the triumph of the "Third Army"
Posted by tide06
Member since Oct 2011
11249 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 8:24 am to
quote:

Pre gunpowder battles could be brutal but I don’t think they were generally as bad as WWI. The battles were smaller scale and with proper armor the chances of surviving were pretty good. Of course some battles like Cannae were complete bloodbaths but I don’t know how to compare being slaughtered in Cannae versus charging a machine gun at Somm


Again, would rather not be involved in any wars period.

Looking at comparing these wars though I do think one factor to be considered is the continual war aspect of post revolutionary war combat and how the engagements seem to continue to go longer and longer until recently.

Bunker Hill and Monmouth, two major engagements in the Revolutionary War lasted a day each. Gettysburg lasted three and was considered apocalyptic.

Verdun ran from February to December. Entire seasons came and went in the conditions you outlined earlier without major changes to troop positions. I dont know how you would function after that type of prolonged contact even if you survived unscathed which was unlikely.
This post was edited on 1/19/20 at 8:27 am
Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt
Here
Member since Jan 2011
66763 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 8:24 am to
WWI easily with verdun in WWI probably being the worst of the worst.
Posted by Porter Osborne Jr
Member since Sep 2012
40081 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 8:33 am to
Of those you listed it would be WW1. But anything in the middle ages or before would absolutely suck.
Posted by OleWar
Troy H. Middleton Library
Member since Mar 2008
5828 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 8:45 am to
It is one thing to fight and die, it is another to be captured and have this shite done to you.

Battle of Kleidion

quote:

Basil divided the prisoners into groups of 100 men, blinded 99 men in each group and left one man in each with one eye so that he could lead the others home;


Third Servile War

quote:

While most of the rebel slaves were killed on the battlefield, some 6,000 survivors were captured by the legions of Crassus. All 6,000 were crucified along the Appian Way from Rome to Capua
Posted by FightinTigersDammit
Louisiana North
Member since Mar 2006
34826 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 8:55 am to
The Crimean war was quite a clusterfrick.
Posted by Martini
Near Athens
Member since Mar 2005
48861 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 9:05 am to
quote:

Johnny Got his Gun by Dalton Trumbo


Haven’t read that. I’ll do so. Thanks. Happy New Year you as well.

ETA just bought the audiobook.
This post was edited on 1/19/20 at 9:18 am
Posted by Tiger1242
Member since Jul 2011
31973 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 9:13 am to
Ancient warfare, literally have to trample and stab someone to death, or get trampled/stabbed to death
Posted by Tiger1242
Member since Jul 2011
31973 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 9:17 am to
quote:



Third Servile War

quote:
While most of the rebel slaves were killed on the battlefield, some 6,000 survivors were captured by the legions of Crassus. All 6,000 were crucified along the Appian Way from Rome to Capua



They were dead when crucified for the most part btw. But yes being on the losing side to a Roman army or any scientist army would be the worst for sure.

How about being a Roman soldier, surrounded with no hope of escape, sitting around for hours waiting for Hannibals troops to kill you at the battle of Cannae or Trebbia
Posted by athenslife101
Member since Feb 2013
18605 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 10:01 am to
You know what I meant. Battlefield casualties. I don’t think it was till the 20th century that the leading causes of war weren’t disease
Posted by keks tadpole
Yellow Leaf Creek
Member since Feb 2017
7586 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 10:04 am to
19th century navel combat
Posted by stateofplay
Member since Sep 2018
1504 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 10:06 am to
Vietnam.

You already know you aint winning soon as you hit the ground cause you aint invading the North...politics keeps it off limits...

And they just keep sending men cause of that. You never conquer the enemy.
This post was edited on 1/19/20 at 10:08 am
Posted by athenslife101
Member since Feb 2013
18605 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 10:08 am to
Are you sure you don’t mean 17th or 18th century naval combat? Curious why you are saying 19th century
Posted by RollTide1987
Augusta, GA
Member since Nov 2009
65147 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 10:15 am to
World War I is definitely not a conflict I would have wanted any part of. Life in the trenches was straight arse and when the battles got underway, the combat was just brutal. Machine guns, barbed wire, constant artillery fire, poison gas. I can't imagine what that must have been like. Combine that with the mud, the rats, and the other elements and what you come up with is probably the shittiest of shite.

Then you have battles like Verdun, waged mostly to bleed the French Army dry and force their capitulation. Actually capturing Verdun was never an objective of the German Army. They merely wanted to draw as many French into the Verdun sector so they could kill as many as possible. A real-life meat grinder.

Just a terrible, terrible conflict. As far as U.S. history goes when it comes to the First World War, the bloodiest battle in American history remains the Battle of the Argonne Forest. Waged in 1918, we lost over 26,000 men killed and nearly 96,000 wounded in that battle.

Posted by biglego
Ask your mom where I been
Member since Nov 2007
76541 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 11:02 am to
There was a battle I read about a few years ago...can’t recall the name and don’t feel like googling. It involved the British in Afghanistan dealing with guerilla fighters and ambushes and cold. Sounded hellish.
Posted by LSUfan20005
Member since Sep 2012
8820 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 11:04 am to
Can you imagine Dark Ages infantry? A mass of humanity, likely can’t tell friend from foe, many dieing from trampling.
Posted by PiscesTiger
Concrete, WA
Member since Feb 2004
53696 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 11:05 am to
quote:

WW2 Eastern Front: It was brutal. Fighting in sub zero temperatures and urban cities, dictators of the countries had no regard for human life. You would be killed if you retreated, but also killed if you were captured. Tons of people got killed in this theater, way way more than any other theater in WW2.


/
Posted by Rammin TX
DFW Texas
Member since Oct 2018
1736 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 11:17 am to
Posted by RogerTheShrubber
Juneau, AK
Member since Jan 2009
261538 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 11:32 am to
Probably some medieval battles. I'd rather be shot than beat with a sword.

WWI trench warfare is probably the worst from a psychological pov. Weeks or months of sheer trench boredom punctuated by heavy artllary, while you're captive in a trench, then charging across open ground to get gunned down or bayoneted.
Posted by GreatLakesTiger24
One State Solution
Member since May 2012
55840 posts
Posted on 1/19/20 at 11:39 am to
Stone Age
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