"All these troops will be placed under my command, a distinction which cannot be over-estimated from a military and political point of view. General Todleben is appointed as my second-in-command, with Prince Imeritinski as Chief of my Staff: they are both pleased at being under my command, the latter, indeed, had before applied for the post, whilst the former told me that he was happy to serve under a German Prince, and especially under a Hohenzollern. I replied that I felt complimented at having the celebrated defender of Sebastopol at my side, and that I regarded him as my military preceptor from whom I had much to learn. We are already excellent friends, and understand each other perfectly. I told him candidly what I thought about the attack of September 11th and the course to be pursued now, and had the satisfaction of hearing from him that my proposals were absolutely correct then, and are so still." A curious incident is related in his next letter: "Yesterday evening at nine o'clock (October 8), as I was at work with General Todleben and Prince Imeritinski, the aide-de-camp on duty rushed into the room to report that an alarm had been given along the whole line: large watch-fires were seen and guns were heard in the distance! The two squadrons of my escort saddled at once, and aides-de-camp and orderlies galloped up from all sides. I did not allow myself to be disquieted, and declared at once that it was a false alarm, for the night was so dark, the weather so terrible, and the roads so impassable from the downpour of rain, that it was impossible for the enemy to adopt the offensive. Several officers, who had been sent out, soon returned with the news that the Rifle Brigade of the Guard had lost their way, and had called for guides. Count Woronzow, the Chief of Staff of the Guard, at once rode to meet the troops; but small detachments of the Brigade wandered about the whole night, and did not assemble until this morning, stiff with cold and wet. The fires, which had appeared so large in the mist, were only those of our own bivouacs.... I am now rather more comfortably furnished; since the last few days I have managed to obtain windows and doors, straw mats on the floor, and had the roof repaired, so that the rain no longer falls into my bedroom.... "The weather has been terrible for the last eight days, and the troops have suffered much in consequence: their boots simply rot on their feet in the melting snow: many have lost limbs through frost-bite, and the hospital tents are not sufficient to receive all the sick--more than 2000 men in the Army of the West!