“I want again to breathe your free Air. I expect it will mend my Constitution and confirm my principles. I have indeed as good an Atmosphere at home as the Climate will allow: but have nothing to brag of as to the State and Liberty of my Country. . . . So I [leave you] to pity me and pray for Liberty of Conscience [to revive among us.]”
James Madison to William Bradford of Pennsylvania, January 24, 1774
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Battle of Verdun, February-December 1916
The battle of Verdun was fought over a period of ten months between German and French forces on the eastern French border. Verdun had been a fortress town since the Roman empire, but the French had stripped it of its guns and manpower for use elsewhere on the Western front. The Germans sought the opportunity to draw the French army into Verdun in a massive attack that would kill so many French soldiers, that France would have to surrender and their alliance with Britain would collapse.
This video summarizes the battle well. Verdun was one of the costliest battles in human history. Consider for comparison these battles with their casualties:
Waterloo, June 18, 1815--55,000 killed/wounded/taken prisoner
Saratoga, September 19/October 7,1777--6700 killed/wounded/taken prisoner
Antietam, September 17, 1862--23,000 killed/wounded/missing
Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863--55,000 killed/wounded/missing
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