It is reported that a variety of revolting acts have been committed by the bands of franctireurs that are now being formed. Their uniform is such that they can hardly be recognised as soldiers, and the badges by which they are distinguished can be easily laid aside. One of these young fellows lies in a ditch near a wood, apparently sunning himself, while a troop of cavalry rides by. When they have passed he takes a rifle which has been concealed in a bush, fires at them and runs into the wood. Knowing the way he again appears a little further on as a harmless peasant. I am inclined to think that these are not defenders of their country but rather assassins who should be strung up without ceremony whenever they are caught. Count Seckendorf, of the Crown Prince’s staff, was the Chief’s guest at dinner. The Augustenburger (Frederick VIII. of Schleswig-Holstein), who has joined the Bavarians, was spoken of, and not to his advantage.... (The opinions expressed were practically identical with those given in a letter which I received a few months later from a patriotic friend, Herr Noeldeke, who lived in Kiel at that time as a professor. He wrote: “We all know that he was not born for heroic deeds. He cannot help that. If he waits persistently for his inheritance to be restored to him by some miraculous means, that is a family trait. But he might at least have made an effort to appear heroic. Instead of loafing around with the army he might have led a company or a battalion of the soldiers whom at one time he was nearly calling his own,--or for my part he might have led Bavarians. In all probability the result would not have been very remarkable, but at any rate he would have shown his good will.”) Reference was made to the rumour that the Bavarian battalions did not appear particularly anxious to advance at the battle of Wörth (or was it Weissenburg?), and that Major von Freiberg called upon them to show themselves equal to “those gallant Prussians.” Seckendorf, if I am not mistaken, confirmed this report. On the other hand, he denied that the Crown Prince had ordered treacherous French peasants to be shot. He had, on the contrary, acted with great leniency and forbearance, especially towards unmannerly French officers. Count Bohlen, who is always ready with amusing anecdotes and flashes of fun, said: “On the 18th von Breintz’s battery was subjected to such a heavy fire that in a short time nearly all his horses and most of his men lay dead or wounded. As he was mustering the survivors, the captain remarked, ‘A very fine fight, is it not?’” The Chief said: “Last night I asked the sentry at the door how he was off for food, and I found that the man had had nothing to eat for twenty-four hours. I went to the kitchen and brought him a good chunk of bread, at which he seemed highly pleased.”