From the outset Prince Charles endeavoured to mould the spirit of his officers on that to which he had been accustomed in Prussia. Shortly after his accession, he received a round robin from the officers of the army, desiring that those officers who had taken part in the Revolution of February 23, 1866, should be dismissed from the army. Prince Charles received the deputation in the Palace and addressed them as follows:
"I have accepted your address, first, because I respect the feeling which has dictated this step; and secondly, that I might have an occasion of informing you of my views upon military honour and the duties of a soldier.
"An address is apt to assume the appearance of moral pressure, such as no soldier can be permitted to exercise over the supreme head of the army.
"The soldier's oath demands absolute obedience. Neither the acts of the head of the army, nor the motives which lead to them, admit of criticism; politics must have no influence on the soldier, whose sole duty it is to defend with his last breath his Sovereign and his country against every enemy.
"I am fully convinced that you share my views, and recognise that your action is from every military standpoint inadmissible. It is on that account that I desire you to trust to my military judgment, and to leave to me to act in all that concerns the army according to my own conviction and sense of duty.
"At the same time, I repeat, I appreciate the honourable feeling on which this address is based; but I also again urge that I demand at all times devotion and unreserved obedience from each one of you.
"I have been and am still a soldier by inclination; and it is for that reason, as well as on account of the importance to the country of a well-disciplined army, that one of my most cherished aims will be to secure for it the position to which it has every right to aspire. I shall endeavour to become well acquainted with the army and its leaders, that I may be able to decide according to merit and justice, by utterly rejecting all party or personal interest.
"Reckon confidently on this promise, and remember that I have come to create a future, and not to rely upon the precedents of a past which I ignore, and of which I would even prefer to remain ignorant."