Barbaric Bounty Systems for Napoleonic Bandits

[Didz]

Whilst, doing some impromptu research into Austrian Light Infantry I came across this extract from a British paper of the period on a website.

Some Frei Corps had a dubious reputation in the eyes of other nations; for example the British Weekly Dispatch of 27 September 1801: '. . . the improvements the Archduke is introducing into the Austrian army give great satisfaction. He has disbanded the corps of Red Mantles, a regiment of chasseurs. These men, besides being bad soldiers, disgraced the Austrian army by frequent robberies and assassinations. At the commencement of the war they received a florin for the head of every Frenchman they brought into the advanced posts; but it was found that these banditti used to cut off the heads of unfortunate peasants whom they met with in the fields, in order to obtain the promised reward'!

http://uniform-evolution.0catch.com/austria10c.html

I was quite shocked by this, not because, it was reporting the murder of innocent civilians by soldiers in service of the Austrian Empire, but because 'by implication' it states that the Austrian government had instituted (or condoned) a bounty system based upon the de-capitation of French soldiers.

I've never heard of such a system being used in mainland europe before, and it seems terribly barbaric and out of place. I know the British paid a bounty to native american's for French scalps (although I think the orignal intention was that they would pay for the wigs, but as most French stopped wearing them it sort of evolved into actual hair ), but I never imagined something like this was being used to motivate and monitor the Frie Korps.

Presumably, it would not have encouraged the Frie Korps to take many prisoners, or be honourable about the wounded. If they were willing to murder innocent civilians for a florin I doubt they would have much reservation about murdering a French soldier.

Has anyone got any corroborative evidence of this bounty system being used, or is it just a bit of British exageration, also does anyone know if the Prussian motivated their Frie Korps in a similar fashion?

P.S. If anyone like me was wondering who the 'Red Mantles' were, apparently it was the nick-name given to the Wurmser Friekorps which was raised in 1793 from Balkan refugee's and disbanded along with the rest of the Austrian Light Infantry in 1801.

Slavonic corps formed in 1793; two btns. of infantry, four squadrons of Hussars. Commandants, Oberstleutnant Baron Johann Knesevich, 1797 Graf Paul Esterhazy, 1798 Graf Carl Westenrode, 1800 Oberst Ignaz Kengyel. Red cap, blue coat faced red, blue Turkish breeches laced white, red waistcoat laced white, low shoes, Albanian long musket, sabre, pair of pistols and Turkish knife stuck in black waistbelt. Calfskin knapsack with black straps.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...n-GBGB234GB235