According to the memoirs of Ion Balaceanu, who was the Romanian ambassador in Vienna at that time, before Romania's entry in the Independence war, he was asked to persuade Gen. Doda to accept to command the Romanian army. Doda was an Austrian general of Romanian origin who has commanded the rearguard of the Austrian army after the defeat at Sadowa. Doda has accepted the offer initially and Franz Josef also agreed to let him resign from the Austrian army.

However, before finally accepting the offer, Doda asked if he will get the chance to lead his Romanian troops against the Russians. Balaceanu replied that Romania and Russia were allies at the time and he cannot promise anything for the future. As a result, the general rejected the offer and "nothing could make him change his mind".

Does anybody know more about this episode? It sounds too ridiculous to be true but I cannot see any reason why Balaceanu would have invented it.