After another relief of German divisions in mid-August, reports of "despondency" among prisoners, an estimate that the British had engaged German divisions which had fought on the Somme, which were worn out after days, yet kept in the line for twenty; news of German peace feelers and mounting domestic unrest, raised Allied optimism again. At the end of August, the Rumanian declaration of war and the sacking of Falkenhayn led to hopes that his replacement by (Field Marshal) Paul von Hindenburg as Chief of the General Staff and General Erich Ludendorff as (First Quartermaster General) would lead to more emphasis on the eastern front, easing the task of the Entente armies in France and Belgium. The advances in early September and the publication of German casualty lists for July (which showed that seven of the twelve German divisions on the Somme opposite the British had lost more than of their infantry) encouraged Haig and Joffre to persist with the offensive. Bavarian units in the area around Guillemont were believed to have maintained high morale but suffered many casualties and had few reserves available.