They set off on the 11th of April, and while the spring was budding alike
in the outside world and in young breasts, a new flower of friendship
expanded in the hearts of these three champions of the same sacred cause;
for Langethal and Middendorf found their Froebel. This was in Dresden,
and the league formed there was never to be dissolved. They kept their
eyes fixed steadfastly on the ideals of youth, until in old age the sight
of all three failed. Part of the blessings which were promised to the
nation when they set forth to battle they were permitted to see seven
lustra later, in 1848, but they did not live to experience the
realization of their fairest youthful dream, the union of Germany.

I must deny myself the pleasure of describing the battles and the marches
of the Lutzow corps, which extended to Aachen and Oudenarde; but will
mention here that Langethal rose to the rank of sergeant, and had to
perform the duties of a first lieutenant; and that, towards the end of
the campaign, Middendorf was sent with Lieutenant Reil to induce Blucher
to receive the corps in his vanguard. The old commander gratified their
wish; they had proved their fitness for the post when they won the
victory at the Gohrde, where two thousand Frenchmen were killed and as
many more taken prisoners. The sight of the battlefield had seemed
unendurable to the gentle nature of Middendorf he had formed a poetical
idea of the campaign as an expedition against the hereditary foe. Now
that he had confronted the bloodstained face of war with all its horrors,
he fell into a state of melancholy from which he could scarcely rouse
himself.

After this battle the three friends were quartered in Castle Gohrde, and
there enjoyed a delightful season of rest after months of severe
hardships. Their corps had been used as the extreme vanguard against
Davoust's force, which was thrice their superior in numbers, and in