I.
Biarritz, September 27, 1866.
My dear Stoffel,
The Emperor has read the report which you sent to the Ministry of War. He waited for it two or three days, and was obliged to send for it. You did well to tell me about it. His Majesty, before receiving it, dictated to me the following questions, in all of which the Emperor is particularly interested:
1. How are the officers of the [German] Landwehr selected and named?
2. Where do they come from?
3. How many of them are there in each battalion of infantry and in each squadron?
4. Where are the horses for the squadrons of the Landwehr obtained?
5. Is the uniform of the Landwehr the same as that of the army? Or in what respects do the uniforms differ?
6. How much does the knapsack of the infantry weigh?
7. How many hospital-men per battalion follow into the battle-field?
8. How are the parks of artillery organized?
9. How are the requisite horses obtained?
The Emperor dictated to me all these questions for you somewhat hurriedly, and I think he will have others connected with them which you will be able to put and decide yourself, principally concerning the organization of the Landwehr. You have doubtless heard that His Majesty is greatly occupied with the question of increasing our military forces by the formation in France of a Landwehr system. All the information which you can send on these points will be welcomed [by the Emperor].
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