I first came across "contusions" in the English-language book "Sabres of Paradise" by Lesley Blanche, about the 19th-century Caucasian wars, in which the author thought that the large number of "contusions" in Russian casualty returns was due to being pummeled by rocks and boulders during fighting in mountainous terrain. After seeing similar large numbers of "contusions" for ALL Russian wars, not just in the Caucasus, I realize Blanche was mistaken.

Mark C.