The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1873-05-09


'''S'Lnn .nn, ,n1,~ 'C@ , ~. r,.s,sT ~
Ur Ma. Gmop. du,;no two entire
nonths He had roceived the title of
AI.n.bupter and the Pari,ian, made him
their ..pec;al hero In him was TO b,
s.sn IL. ,,ua ,xns If 4 Fnaze .;-e,,- cne
az that olass of men an valuablo To mr..
u;.. o,era,;ng !, tho country for bar.
n,.ipv the enemy. killing men. making
opportupiti.s and preparing the way for
a grand dash upon outposts In the
daily report. of operations the name Of
Hoa wa. constantly recurring, and the
most skeptical were at last forced to be.
lieye things concerning him almost in.
credible. Had he not. up 10 the 10th Of
November. already slain with his own
hands more than thirty Prussianss
Either alone. or accompanied by only
few follower, he was continually ira
yersing the country, fighting in true par.
tisan style. killing the enemys yidettes
and supri.ing the outpos,s Al one time
he drove the Prussians from the Isle des
Louns, at another time he captured
Neuilly. lie was king of all that coun.
try from Noeent to Ville.Eyrard, along
the right bank of the Marne. For the
perfornauce of 50 many remarkable
I'll. he had received The Crsss Of the
Iey;on Of Honor Reporter. of the
press interviewed him. newspaper, pub
lihel deaiIs Of his life his photograph
vas all over the city. and never before
in Psri. did people talk 50 much about
sor,i.s urpri-es franc.tireurs and guer.
,lloro..
Me,nwhile the seize wa. dragging
olonv ia slow length. Il was now Janu.
arv and all heart, were closed against
hone peopl. no LONGER expected apv.
,bins hut had news They knew HoT
had snddenly di.anpesred at Cbampipny
.n5 overvho1v WAS a.kiny "Nybat ha,
hocome of U1T,p A journalist hunted
him n, and informed himself Of hi,
whereabouts. and. in communicating Is
the public what he knew Of Hon. made
some astounding revelations. The ia.
mons sergeant wns only a spy. his real
q
lieuteuant in the Bavarian Chasseurs
His vauntcd fame and exploits explained
themselves only too well. By virtue Of
his fame IA freely trayersed the whole
line of o6r army. visited his comrades
divulpod both our instructions and our
nlans and then would return to our lines
loaded with easily-captured spoils, hel.
NETS. or guns, which served well the
purpose Of deceiying us as TO his true
character. In vain would some of those
who had marchcl with Hoff in his expe-
ditions protest his innocence; in vain did
they explain the conditions of his service
and recite the details of his life No
body would now believe anything good
of him. Besides all this. the counterfeit
Sergeant yas not long in meeting with
his merited punishment; for the franc.
tireur. Of the Seine, in a little expedi.
ton. had surprised, recognized, and shot
him without the benefit of a trial, and
thew could even point out the place Of
execution on the other bank Of the Seine.
This removed all doubts ON the subject.
With the same enthusiasm the Parisian
population had heretofore WED with each
other in exaltinq their hero. when now
they heard the story of his audacious
character. with the same degree of self.
accusation they were astonished at their
own folly,. in having taken into their
hearts a Prussian spy. They even
strongly limited that the Government
had something 10 do with this mysteri-
Gus character, and more than one person
exclaimed, In the then usual freedom of
speech, "We are betrayed
Nov ihs fact was, Hoff was still alive.
The p56r' fellow was entirely innocent,
and had done his duty 10 the very letter.