he whole, this intermixture answered excellently.

But far more important than the action of the volunteers, was the
advantage to the government of Prussia, of learning for the first time,
what was its duty to such a people. The grand dimensions which the
struggle assumed, the imposing military power of Prussia, and the
weight which this State, by the importance of its armies, acquired in
the negotiations for peace, were mainly occasioned by the exalted
feeling which took the world by surprise in the spring months of that
year. Through it the government gained courage, and was able to expand
the power of the country to the immense extent it did. East Prussia,
besides its contingent to the standing army, by its own strength, and
almost without asking the government, raised twenty battalions of
Landwehr and a mounted yeomanry regiment, and nothing but this enormous
development of power could have made the establishment of the Landwehr
possible throughout the whole realm.

At the command of its King the nation willingly and obediently and in a
regular way produced this second army; in the old provinces one hundred
and twenty battalions and ninety squadrons of Landwehr were equipped
and maintained, and this was only a portion of its exertions.

How faithfully had it obeyed the commands of its King!

The Landwehr of the spring of 1813 had little of the military aspect
which it obtained by service and later organisation.[52] The men
consisted of such as had not been drawn into the service of the
standing army, and now would be taken by lot and choice up to forty
years of age. As the youths of education, the first military spirits of
the nation, had most of them either entered the volunteer rifles, or
filled up the gaps of the standing army, the elements of the Landwehr
would probably have been of less military capacity if a certain number
of proprietors had not voluntarily entered the ranks. The solid masses
of the war consisted of common soldiers, mostly country people; the
leaders, of country nobles, officials, old officers on half-pay, and
whoever else was selected as trustworthy by his district, also of young
volunteers: a very motley material for field service, many of the
officers as well as soldiers without any experience in war. The
equipments also were in the beginning very imperfect; they were mostly
provided by the circles. The coatee, long trowsers of grey linen, a
cloth cap with a white tin cross; the weapons