The author of Beowulf is a mystery, as most poets of the Anglo-Saxon period are. He might have been a court poet, or a monastic poet. Depending on the Christian interpretation of the poem, it could be either.he author of Beowulf is a mystery, as most poets of the Anglo-Saxon period are. He might have been a court poet, or a monastic poet. Depending on the Christian interpretation of the poem, it could be either.
1 An exact count of soldiers who died in combat and from disease during the Civil War is impossible, historians say. 2  Prof Hacker estimates between 650,000 - 850,000 deaths, but believes the most likely number was about 750,000.
The total given by the VA for the Indian Wars (1,000) seems to be a wild guess. Just two major defeats -- Custer's and St. Clair's -- add up to about 900 dead all by themselves. The official number of Americans killed in the Revolutionary War (4,435) is only about 2/3 the numbers usually given by historians. The total of US combat deaths during the Civil War is given as 140,414 -- or some 30,000 higher than most historians would estimate.