"  We  have  had  a  great  many  discomforts,  from
rain  and  snow.  The  regiment  came  first  to  Bitche,
one  of  the  most  terrible  forts  possible,  built  upon
rocks  up  in  the  sky.  We  were  to  take  part  in  block-
ading it,  but  a  new  order  sent  us  on  farther  to  the
fort  of  Lutzelstein,  on  the  mountain,  where  we
remained  two  days  at  the  village  of  Pétersbach,  to
summon  that  little  place  to  surrender.     The  veterans


TUE  BLOCKADE.  247

wlio  lield  it  having  replied  by  cannon,  our  colonel
did  not  judge  it  necessary  to  storm  it,  and,  thank
God  !  we  received  ordei-s  to  go  and  blockade
another  fortress  surrounded  by  good  villages
which  furnish  us  provisions  in  abundance  ;  this  ia
Phalsburg,  a  couple  of  leagues  from  Saverne.  We
relieve,  liere,  the  Austrian  regiment  of  Vogelgesang.
which  has  left  for  Lorraine.
