Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

• 1. A Hussar's First Capture

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  Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher was born on the 16th of December 1742 in Rostock. He entered military service at age sixteen as a hussar in the Swedish Army during the Seven Years' War. Prussian forces captured him in 1760 while he fought in the Pomeranian Campaign. A colonel named Wilhelm Sebastian von Belling saw potential in the young prisoner and invited him to join his own regiment. This marked the beginning of Blücher's long career within the Prussian military system.

• 2. Farming After Disgrace

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  Frederick the Great forced Blücher out of the army in 1773 after a letter of resignation. The monarch replied with harsh words telling the captain to go to the devil. Blücher spent the next thirteen years working as a farmer until Frederick died in 1786. During this period, he gained financial independence and joined the Freemasons. His return to active duty came only after the death of the king who had previously banished him from court.

• 3. The Return To Command

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  Blücher rejoined the Prussian Army in 1787 following the death of Frederick the Great. He led cavalry actions against French forces in 1793 and 1794. A victory at Kirrweiler on the 28th of May 1794 earned him promotion to major general. By 1801, he held the rank of lieutenant general. He commanded the cavalry corps during the disastrous campaign of 1806 against Napoleon.

• 4. Energy At Leipzig

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  War broke out again between Prussia and France in 1813 when Blücher was seventy-one years old. He commanded the Army of Silesia with forty thousand Prussians and fifty thousand Russians under his command. His unrelenting energy became his most conspicuous military quality during the autumn campaign. He defeated Marshal MacDonald at the Katzbach battle and later won over Marshal Marmont at Möckern. This path led directly to the decisive defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig.

• 5. Injury And Recovery

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  At the Battle of Ligny on the 16th of June 1815, Blücher lay trapped under his dead horse for several hours. Cavalry repeatedly rode over him until his aide-de-camp Count Nostitz threw a greatcoat over the commander to hide his identity. After bathing his wounds in rhubarb and garlic and drinking schnapps, he rejoined his army. He convinced his chief of staff to send two corps to join Wellington at Waterloo despite severe pain from his injuries.

• 6. The Bull That Charges

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  Napoleon described Blücher as a bull that looks all around with rolling eyes before charging when it sees danger. The French emperor called him an old rascal who always got back up after a sound defeat. Soldiers nicknamed him Marschall Vorwärts or Marshal Forward because of this aggressive approach. Contemporary accounts describe his controlled aggression and commitment to defeating the enemy army regardless of odds.

• 7. Statues And Ships

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  After Blücher died on the 12th of September 1819, statues were erected in Berlin, Breslau, Rostock, and Kaub. George Stephenson named a locomotive after him while three German navy ships carried his name. One ship sank at the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915 and another near Oslo during the invasion of Norway in 1940. His mausoleum was broken into by Soviet soldiers in 1945 who reportedly used his skull as a football.