Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher Prince of Wahlstatt | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Gebhard von Blücher by Ernst Gebauer | |
| Nickname | Marschall Vorwärts (Marshal Forwards) |
| Born | (1742-12-21)21 December 1742 |
| Died | 12 September 1819(1819-09-12) (aged 76) Krieblowitz,Province of Silesia,Kingdom of Prussia,German Confederation (present-day Krobielowice,Lower Silesia Voivodeship,Poland) |
| Allegiance |  Sweden Prussia |
| Branch |  Prussian Army |
| Years of service | 1758–1815 |
| Rank | Generalfeldmarschall |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross Pour le Mérite Grand Cross of the Iron Cross Order of St. George Military Order of William Military Order of Maria Theresa |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 7 |
| Signature |  |
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (German pronunciation:[ˈɡɛphaʁtˈleːbəʁɛçtfɔnˈblʏçɐ]; 21 December 1742 – 12 September 1819),Graf (count), later elevated toFürst (prince) vonWahlstatt, was aPrussianGeneralfeldmarschall (field marshal). He earned his greatest recognition after leading his army againstNapoleon I at theBattle of Leipzig in 1813 and theBattle of Waterloo in 1815.
Blücher was born inRostock, the son of a retired army captain. His military career began in 1758 as ahussar in theSwedish Army. He was captured by the Prussians in 1760 during thePomeranian Campaign and thereafter joined thePrussian Army, serving as a hussar officer for Prussia during the remainder of theSeven Years' War. In 1773, Blücher was forced to resign byFrederick the Great for insubordination. He worked as a farmer until the death of Frederick in 1786, when Blücher was reinstated and promoted to colonel. For his success in theFrench Revolutionary Wars, Blücher became a major general in 1794. He became a lieutenant general in 1801 and commanded the cavalry corps during theNapoleonic Wars in 1806.
War broke out between Prussia and France again in 1813 and Blücher returned to active service at the age of 71. He became a leading hero of the Germans in the struggle to end foreign domination of their lands. He was appointed full general over the Prussian field forces and clashed with Napoleon at theBattles of Lützen andBautzen. Later he won a critical victory over the French at theBattle of Katzbach. Blücher commanded the Prussian Army ofSilesia at the Battle of Leipzig, where Napoleon was decisively defeated. For his role, Blücher was made a field marshal and given the title of Prince ofWahlstatt. After Napoleon's return in 1815, Blücher took command of the Prussian Army of theLower Rhine and coordinated his force with that of the British and Allied forces under theDuke of Wellington. At theBattle of Ligny, he was severely injured, and the Prussians retreated. After recovering, Blücher resumed command and joined Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo, with the intervention of Blücher's army playing a decisive role in the final allied victory.
Blücher was made an honorary citizen ofBerlin,Hamburg andRostock. Known for his fiery personality, he was nicknamedMarschall Vorwärts ("Marshal Forward") by his soldiers because of his aggressive approach in warfare.[1] Along withPaul von Hindenburg, he was the most highly decorated Prussian-German soldier in history: Blücher and Hindenburg are the only Prussian-German military officers to have been awarded theStar of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross. A statue once stood in the square that bore his name,Blücherplatz, inBreslau (today Wrocław).[2]
Blücher was born on 21 December 1742 inRostock, a Baltic port innorthern Germany, then in theDuchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.[3] His father Christian Friedrich von Blücher (1696–1761), was a retired army captain, and his family belonged to the nobility and had been landowners in northern Germany since at least the 13th century. His mother was Dorothea Maria von Zülow (1702–1769), who also belonged to an old noble family fromMecklenburg.[4]
Gebhard began his military career at the age of 16,[a] when he joined theSwedish Army as ahussar.[5] At the time,Sweden was at war withPrussia in theSeven Years' War. Blücher took part in thePomeranian campaign of 1760, where Prussian hussars captured him in a skirmish. The colonel of the Prussian regiment,Wilhelm Sebastian von Belling (a distant relative), was impressed with the young hussar and had him join his own regiment.[3][6]
Blücher took part in the later battles of the Seven Years' War, and as a hussar officer, gained much experience in light cavalry work. In peace, however, his ardent spirit led him into excesses of all kinds, such as themock execution of a priest suspected of supportingPolish uprisings in 1772. As a result, he was passed over for promotion tomajor. Blücher submitted a rude letter of resignation in 1773, whichFrederick the Great replied to with "Captain Blücher can take himself to the devil" (1773).[3]
Blücher settled down to farming. Within 15 years, he had acquired financial independence and had become aFreemason. During Frederick the Great's lifetime, Blücher could not return to the army. However, the monarch died in 1786, and the following year, Blücher was reinstated as a major in his old regiment, the Red Hussars. He took part in the expedition to theNetherlands in 1787, and the next year was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1789, he received Prussia's highestmilitary order, thePour le Mérite, and in 1794, he became colonel of the Red Hussars. In 1793 and 1794, Blücher distinguished himself in cavalry actions against the French, and for his victory atKirrweiler on 28 May 1794, he was promoted to major general. In 1801, he was made a lieutenant general.[3]
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Blücher was one of the leaders of the war party in Prussia in 1805, and he served as a cavalry general in the disastrous campaign of 1806. At the doubleBattle of Jena-Auerstedt, Blücher fought atAuerstedt, repeatedly leading the charges of the Prussian cavalry, but without success. During the retreat of the broken armies, he commanded the rearguard composed ofFrederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe's corps.[3] With thecapitulation of the main body after theBattle of Prenzlau on 28 October,[3] he found his march toward the north-east blocked.[7] He led the remnant of his corps away to the north-west.[3] Reinforcing his numbers with a division previously commanded byKarl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Blücher and his newchief of staff,Gerhard von Scharnhorst, reorganised his forces into two small corps totaling 21,000 men and 44 cannons.[8] Nevertheless, he was defeated by two French corps at theBattle of Lübeck[3] on 6 November. The next day, trapped against theDanish frontier by 40,000 French troops, he was compelled to surrender with less than 10,000 soldiers atRatekau.[9] Blücher insisted that clauses be written in the capitulation document that he had had to surrender due to lack of provisions and ammunition,[3] and that his soldiers should be honoured by a French formation along the street. He was allowed to keep his sabre and to move freely, bound only by hisword of honour.[10] He was soon exchanged for future MarshalClaude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno, and was actively employed in Pomerania, atBerlin, and atKönigsberg until the conclusion of the war.[3]
After the war, Blücher was looked upon as the natural leader of the Patriot Party, with which he was in close touch during the period of Napoleonic domination, but his hopes of an alliance withAustria in the war of 1809 were disappointed. In this year, he was made general of cavalry. In 1812, he expressed himself so openly on the alliance of Russia with France that he was recalled from his military governorship of Pomerania and virtually banished from the court.[3]
Following the start of theWar of Liberation in the spring of 1813, Blücher was again placed in high command, and he was present atLützen andBautzen. During thesummer truce, he worked on the organisation of the Prussian forces; when the war was resumed, he became commander-in-chief of the Army of Silesia, withAugust von Gneisenau andKarl von Müffling as his principal staff officers and 40,000 Prussians and 50,000 Russians under his command during theautumn campaign. The most conspicuous military quality displayed by Blücher was his unrelenting energy.[3]
The irresolution and divergence of interests usual inSixth Coalition armies found in him a restless opponent. Knowing that if he could not induce others to co-operate, he was prepared to attempt the task at hand by himself, which often caused other generals to follow his lead. He defeatedMarshal MacDonald at theKatzbach, and by his victory overMarshal Marmont atMöckern led the way to the decisive defeat ofNapoleon atthe Battle of the Nations at Leipzig. Blücher's own army stormed Leipzig on the evening of the last day of the battle.[3] This was the fourth battle between Napoleon and Blücher, and the first that Blücher had won.[citation needed]
On the day of Möckern (16 October 1813), Blücher was made a field marshal. He later earned the nickname "Marshal Forwards" due to his tireless energy.[11] And after the victory, he pursued the French with his accustomed energy. In the winter of 1813–1814, Blücher, with his chief staff officers, was mainly instrumental in inducing the Coalition sovereigns to carry the war into France itself.[3]
TheBattle of Brienne and theBattle of La Rothière were the chief incidents of the first stage of the celebrated1814 campaign in north-east France, and they were quickly followed by victories of Napoleon over Blücher atChampaubert,Vauchamps, andMontmirail. The courage of the Prussian leader was undiminished, though, and his victory against the vastly outnumbered French, atLaon (9 and 10 March) practically decided the fate of the campaign.[3] However, his health had been severely affected by the strains of the previous two months, and he now suffered a breakdown, during which he lost his sight and suffered a delusion that a Frenchman had impregnated him with an elephant.[12] Dominic Lieven wrote that the breakdown, "revealed the fragility of the coalition armies' command structure and just how much the Army of Silesia had depended on Blücher's drive, courage, and charisma.... The result was that for more than a week after the battle of Laon, the Army of Silesia... played no useful role in the war".[13]
After this, Blücher infused some of his energy into the operations of thePrince Schwarzenberg'sArmy of Bohemia, and at last this army and the Army of Silesia marched in one body directly towards Paris. Thevictory of Montmartre, the entry of the allies into the French capital, and the overthrow of theFirst Empire were the direct consequences.[3]
Blücher was in favour of punishing the city of Paris severely for the sufferings of Prussia at the hands of the French armies, but the allied commanders intervened. According to theDuke of Wellington, one of Blücher's plans involved blowing up theJena Bridge near theChamp de Mars:[3]
About blowing up the bridge of Jena there were two parties in the Prussian Army — Gneisenau and Muffling against, but Blücher violently for it. In spite of all I could do, he did make the attempt, even while I believe my sentinel was standing at one end of the bridge. But the Prussians had no experience of blowing up bridges. We, who had blown up so many in Spain, could have done it in five minutes. The Prussians made a hole in one of the pillars, but their powder blew out instead of up, and I believe hurt some of their own people.[14]
In gratitude for his victories in 1814, KingFrederick William III of Prussia created BlücherPrince (Fürst) of Wahlstatt (in Silesia on the Katzbach battlefield).[3][b] The king also awarded him estates near Krieblowitz (nowKrobielowice, Poland) in Lower Silesia and a grand mansion at 2,Pariser Platz in Berlin (which in 1930 became theEmbassy of the United States, Berlin).[citation needed] Soon afterward, Blücherpaid a visit to England, where he was received with royal honours and cheered enthusiastically everywhere he went.[3]
WhenOxford University granted him an honorary doctorate (doctor of laws), he is supposed to have joked that if he was made a doctor, they should at least make Gneisenau anapothecary; "...for if I wrote the prescription, he made the pills."
After the war,Frederick William III gave Blücher properties in the area of Neustadt (nowPrudnik). In November of the same year, Blücher leasedKunzendorf,Mühlsdorf,Wackenau andAchthuben to a local farmer, Hübner, in exchange for 2,000thalers, rolls of linen cloth and yarn. His wife also moved to Kunzendorf. While living in the area of Neustadt, he financed the families of the fallen soldiers, gave a few liters of beer to the local parish priest every day, and paid a doctor from Neustadt to treat the poor. Thanks to his efforts, a health resort called "Blücher's Spring" was established in Kunzendorf (it was destroyed together with the castle as a result of the battles of the Neustadt in 1945).[15]
After the war, Blücher retired to Silesia. However, the return of Napoleon fromElba and his entry into Paris at the start of theHundred Days, called him back to service. He was put in command of theArmy of the Lower Rhine, with Gneisenau serving again as his chief of staff. At the outset of theWaterloo Campaign of 1815, the Prussians sustained a serious defeat atLigny (16 June), in the course of which the old field marshal lay trapped under his dead horse for several hours and was repeatedly ridden over by cavalry, his life saved only by the devotion of hisaide-de-camp CountNostitz, who threw a greatcoat over his commander to obscure Blücher's rank and identity from the passing French. As Blücher was unable to resume command for some hours, Gneisenau took command, drew off the defeated army, and rallied it.[3] In spite of Gneisenau's distrust of Wellington, he obeyed Blücher's last orders to direct the army's retreat towardsWavre, rather thanLiège, to keep alive the possibility of joining the Prussian and Wellington's Anglo-allied armies together.[16]
After bathing his wounds in a liniment ofrhubarb andgarlic, and fortified by a liberal internal dose ofschnapps, Blücher rejoined his army. Gneisenau feared that the British had reneged on their earlier agreements and favoured a withdrawal, but Blücher convinced him to send two corps to join Wellington atWaterloo.[17][18] He then led his army on a tortuous march along muddy paths, arriving on the field of Waterloo in the late afternoon. In spite of his age, the pain of his wounds, and the effort it must have taken for him to remain on horseback,Bernard Cornwell states that several soldiers attested to Blücher's high spirits and his determination to defeat Napoleon:
"Forwards!" he was quoted as saying. "I hear you say it's impossible, but it has to be done! I have given my promise to Wellington, and you surely don't want me to break it? Push yourselves, my children, and we'll have victory!" It is impossible not to like Blücher. He was 74 years [sic][c] old, still in pain and discomfort from his adventures at Ligny, still stinking of schnapps and of rhubarb liniment, yet he is all enthusiasm and energy. If Napoleon's demeanour that day was one of sullen disdain for an enemy he underestimated, and Wellington's a cold, calculating calmness that hid concern, then Blücher is all passion.[19]
With the battle hanging in the balance, Blücher's army intervened with decisive and crushing effect, his vanguard drawing off Napoleon's badly needed reserves, and his main body being instrumental in crushing French resistance. Wellington's army was able to overcome theMiddle Guard, while Blücher's troops, in their final assault on Plancenoit, managed to push theOld Guard back, which retreated in good order unlike the rest of the fleeing French army.[20] This victory led the way to a decisive victory through therelentless pursuit of the French by the Prussians.[21] The two Coalition armiesentered Paris on 7 July.[3]
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Blücher remained in the French capital for a few months, but his age and infirmities compelled him to retire to his Silesian residence at Krieblowitz.[3] At the invitation of the British government, he made another state visit to England, to be formally thanked for his army and his role in the Waterloo Campaign. When his carriage stopped onBlackheath Hill, overlooking London, he is said to have exclaimed, "What a city to sack!"[22] He died at Krieblowitz on 12 September 1819, aged 76.[3] After his death, an imposing mausoleum was built for his remains.
When Krieblowitz was conquered by the Red Army in 1945, Soviet soldiers broke into the Blücher mausoleum and scattered the remains. Soviet troops reportedly used his skull as a football. After 1989, some of his remains were taken by a Polish priest and interred in the catacomb of the church inSośnica (German: Schosnitz), three km from the now Polish Krobielowice.[23]
Napoleon characterised him as a very brave soldier with no talent as a general, but he admired his attitude, which he described as a bull that looks all around him with rolling eyes and, when he sees danger, charges. Napoleon thought of him as stubborn and untiring, knowing no fear. He called him an old rascal who was always able to get up on his feet again and be ready for the next battle as, following a sound defeat, Blücher had, almost instantly, returned to attack him vigorously again.[24]
It was to be said later among the Prussian military that Blücher established "a Prussian way of war" that had abiding influence:
The key to this way of war was Blücher’s concept of victory. Like Napoleon, he placed tremendous emphasis on the decisive battle and achieving a decisive victory as quickly as possible at any cost. Also like Napoleon, he measured victory and defeat only in terms of battlefield results. Deviating very little from the Corsican’s art of war, the objective of Blücher’s Prussian way of war was to make contact with the enemy as quickly as possible, concentrate all forces, deliver the decisive blow, and end the war.[25]
More generally, Blücher was a courageous and popular general who "had much to be proud of: energy, controlled aggression and a commitment to defeating the enemy army."[26]
His campaign journal covering the years 1793 to 1794 was published in 1796:
A second edition of this diary, together with some of Blücher's letters, was published in 1914:
His collected writings and letters (together with those ofYorck and Gneisenau) appeared in 1932:
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Blücher was married twice: in 1773 to Karoline Amalie von Mehling (1756–1791) and, after her death, in 1795 toKatharine Amalie von Colomb (1772–1850), sister of GeneralPeter von Colomb. While this second marriage was without issue, by his first marriage Blücher had seven children, of whom two sons and a daughter survived infancy:
The marshal's grandson, Count Gebhard Bernhard von Blücher (1799–1875), was createdPrince Blücher of Wahlstatt (Serene Highness) in theKingdom of Prussia on 18 October 1861, a hereditary title inprimogeniture, the other members of his branch bearing the titlecount orcountess.[31] In 1832, he bought Raduň Castle in theOpava District and in 1847 the lands at Wahlstatt,Legnickie Pole, all of which remained in the family until theflight and expulsion of Germans from Poland and Czechoslovakia in 1945, which forced the family into exile in their mansionHavilland Hall inGuernsey, acquired by the 4th prince and his English wife,Evelyn, Princess Blücher. Later the family moved toEurasburg, Bavaria. The present head of the House ofBlücher von Wahlstatt is Nicolaus, 8th Prince Blücher of Wahlstatt (born 1932), the heir apparent is his son, hereditary count Lukas (born 1956).[32][33]
He received the following orders and decorations:[34]
Kingdom of Prussia:
Austrian Empire:Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa,1813[38]
Denmark:Knight of the Elephant,4 July 1815[39]
Kingdom of Hanover:Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order,1816[40]
Electorate of Hesse:Grand Cross of the Golden Lion,11 December 1815[41]
Netherlands:Grand Cross of the Military William Order,8 July 1815[42]
Spain:Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III,3 July 1811[43]
Sweden:Knight of the Seraphim,28 April 1814[44]
United Kingdom:Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath (military),18 August 1815[45]
Württemberg:Grand Cross of the Military Merit Order,1814[46]
Russian Empire:
The Rhineland town ofKaub has a museum dedicated to Blücher, commemorating in particular his crossing the Rhine with the Prussian and Russian armies, on New Year's night 1813–1814, in pursuit of the French.
After Blücher's death, statues were erected to his memory atBerlin,Breslau,Rostock, andKaub (where his troops crossed the Rhine in pursuit of Napoleon's forces in 1813).
Blücher is honoured with a bust in theWalhalla temple nearRegensburg.
In gratitude for Blücher's service,George Stephenson, the pioneering British locomotive engineer, nameda locomotive after him. The small mining village a few miles from Stephenson's birthplace in Wylam also bears the name Blucher in honour of him.
TheBlucher was named after him, after the original ship was captured by the British and the new owners named it for him.
Three ships of the German navy have been named in honour of Blücher. The first to be so named was thecorvetteSMS Blücher, built atKiel's Norddeutsche Schiffbau AG (later renamed theKrupp-Germaniawerft) and launched 20 March 1877. Taken out of service after aboiler explosion in 1907, she ended her days as a coal freighter inVigo, Spain.
On 11 April 1908, thePanzerkreuzerSMSBlücher was launched from the Imperial Shipyard in Kiel. This ship was sunk on 24 January 1915 in theFirst World War at theBattle of Dogger Bank.
The Second World War German heavy cruiserBlücher was completed in September 1939, and pronounced ready for service on 5 April 1940 after completing a series of sea trials and training exercises. The vessel was sunk four days later nearOslo during theinvasion of Norway.
Blücher was played by German actorOtto Gebühr in the 1929 filmWaterloo. In 1932, he was the subject of the biographical filmMarshal Forwards, in which he was played byPaul Wegener. It was part of a group ofPrussian films released during the era.
He was portrayed by Soviet actorSergo Zakariadze in the 1970 Soviet-Italian filmWaterloo.
Blücher also has a boarding house named after him atBerkshire basedWellington College. The Blucher, as it is known, is a boys' house renowned for sporting and academic prowess.
A popularGerman saying,ran wie Blücher gehen ("to charge like Blücher"), meaning that someone is taking very direct and aggressive action, in war or otherwise, refers to Blücher. The full German saying, now obsolete, relates to theBattle of the Katzbach in 1813: "ran wie Blücher an der Katzbach gehen" ("to advance like Blücher at Katzbach"), describing vigorous, forceful behaviour.[48]
Vasily Blyukher's last name was given to his family by a landlord in honour of Gebhard.
NearTwickenham Stadium is the Prince Blucher pub.[49]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Blücher, Gebhard Leberecht von".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 90.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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