Misplaced Pages

#221778

71-634: The Six Days Campaign was fought from 10 February to 15 February during which time Napoleon inflicted four defeats on Blücher's Army of Silesia in the Battle of Champaubert , the Battle of Montmirail , the Battle of Château-Thierry , and the Battle of Vauchamps . Napoleon's 30,000-man army managed to inflict 17,750 casualties on Blücher's force of 50,000–56,000. The advance of the Army of Bohemia under Prince Schwarzenberg toward Paris compelled Napoleon to abandon his pursuit of Blücher's army, which, though badly beaten,

142-463: A French army under his command would be difficult and time-consuming; or he could copy the Russians and leave Paris to his enemies (as they had left Moscow to him two years earlier). He decided to move eastward to Saint-Dizier , rally what garrisons he could find, and raise the whole country against the invaders and attack their lines of communications. A letter containing an outline of his plan of action

213-521: A French formation along the street. He was allowed to keep his sabre and to move freely, bound only by his word of honour . He was soon exchanged for future Marshal Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno , and was actively employed in Pomerania, at Berlin , and at Königsberg until the conclusion of the war. After the war, Blücher was looked upon as the natural leader of the Patriot Party, with which he

284-566: A few miles from Stephenson's birthplace in Wylam also bears the name Blucher in honour of him. The Blucher 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 the corvette SMS  Blücher , built at Kiel 's Norddeutsche Schiffbau AG (later renamed

355-593: A major general in 1794. He became a lieutenant general in 1801 and commanded the cavalry corps during the Napoleonic 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

426-562: 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

497-471: 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. It

568-421: Is impossible not to like Blücher. He was 74 years ( [ sic ]) 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. With

639-512: Is supposed to have joked that if he was made a doctor, they should at least make Gneisenau an apothecary ; "...for if I wrote the prescription, he made the pills." After the war, Frederick William III gave Blücher properties in the area of Neustadt (now Prudnik ). In November of the same year, Blücher leased Kunzendorf , Mühlsdorf , Wackenau and Achthuben to a local farmer, Hübner, in exchange for 2,000 thalers , rolls of linen cloth and yarn. His wife also moved to Kunzendorf. While living in

710-534: Is taking very direct and aggressive action, in war or otherwise, refers to Blücher. The full German saying, now obsolete, relates to the Battle of the Katzbach in 1813: " ran wie Blücher an der Katzbach gehen " ("to advance like Blücher at Katzbach"), describing vigorous, forceful behaviour. Vasily Blyukher 's last name was given to his family by a landlord in honour of Gebhard. Montmirail, Marne Montmirail ( French pronunciation: [mɔ̃miʁaj] )

781-762: The Krupp-Germaniawerft ) and launched 20 March 1877. Taken out of service after a boiler explosion in 1907, she ended her days as a coal freighter in Vigo , Spain. On 11 April 1908, the Panzerkreuzer SMS Blücher was launched from the Imperial Shipyard in Kiel. This ship was sunk on 24 January 1915 in the First World War at the Battle of Dogger Bank . The Second World War German heavy cruiser Blücher

SECTION 10

#1732852080222

852-613: The Battles of Lützen and Bautzen . Later he won a critical victory over the French at the Battle of Katzbach . Blücher commanded the Prussian Army of Silesia at the Battle of the Nations where Napoleon was decisively defeated. For his role, Blücher was made a field marshal and received his title of Prince of Wahlstatt . After Napoleon's return in 1815, Blücher took command of the Prussian Army of

923-530: The Katzbach , and by his victory over Marshal Marmont at Möckern led the way to the decisive defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig . Blücher's own army stormed Leipzig on the evening of the last day of the battle. This was the fourth battle between Napoleon and Blücher, and the first that Blücher had won. On the day of Möckern (16 October 1813), Blücher was made a field marshal. He later earned

994-647: The Lower Rhine and coordinated his force with that of the British and Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington . At the Battle 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 of Berlin , Hamburg and Rostock . Known for his fiery personality, he

1065-529: The Opava District and in 1847 the lands at Wahlstatt, Legnickie Pole , all of which remained in the family until the flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland and Czechoslovakia in 1945, which forced the family into exile in their mansion Havilland Hall in Guernsey , acquired by the 4th prince and his English wife, Evelyn, Princess Blücher . Later the family moved to Eurasburg , Bavaria. The present head of

1136-704: The Pomeranian Campaign and thereafter joined the Prussian Army , serving as a hussar officer for Prussia during the remainder of the Seven Years' War . In 1773, Blücher was forced to resign by Frederick 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 the French Revolutionary Wars , Blücher became

1207-637: The Prince of Württemberg to fight the French at Montereau . On 22 February, a council of war was held near Troyes by Coalition leaders. Frightened by his recent streak of victories, they offered Napoleon an armistice whose terms would allow him to keep his throne in exchange for the restoration of the French borders of 1791. Napoleon refused unless they agreed to the terms of the 1813 Frankfurt proposals . On 28 February, Coalition forces resumed their advance. Napoleon inflicted further defeats on both Schwarzenberg's and Blücher's armies. Thus after six weeks fighting

1278-485: The autumn campaign . The most conspicuous military quality displayed by Blücher was his unrelenting energy. The irresolution and divergence of interests usual in Sixth 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 defeated Marshal MacDonald at

1349-459: The capitulation of the main body after the Battle of Prenzlau on 28 October, he found his march toward the north-east blocked. He led the remnant of his corps away to the north-west. Reinforcing his numbers with a division previously commanded by Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar , Blücher and his new chief of staff , Gerhard von Scharnhorst , reorganised his forces into two small corps totaling 21,000 men and 44 cannons. Nevertheless, he

1420-567: The Coalition armies had hardly gained any ground. However, after the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube on 20 March, where the Austrians outnumbered his dwindling army 80,000 to 28,000, Napoleon realised that he could no longer continue with his current strategy of defeating the Coalition armies in detail and decided to change his tactics. He had two options: he could fall back on Paris and hope that the Coalition members would come to terms, as capturing Paris with

1491-458: 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. 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." His campaign journal covering

SECTION 20

#1732852080222

1562-455: The Cossacks. Although the French inflicted more damage than they received, Napoleon retired to Lesmont, and from there to Troyes , Marshal Marmont being left to observe the enemy. Owing to the state of the roads, or perhaps to the extraordinary lethargy which always characterized Schwarzenberg's headquarters, no pursuit was attempted. But on 4 February Blücher, chafing at this inaction, obtained

1633-478: The French army between Blücher's vanguard and his main body. Napoleon turned his attention to the vanguard and defeated Osten-Sacken and Yorck at Montmirail on 11 February; There were 4,000 Coalition casualties, to 2,000 French casualties. Napoleon attacked and defeated them again the next day at the Battle of Château-Thierry . There were 1,250 Prussian, 1,500 Russian casualties and nine cannons lost, to approximately 600 French casualties. Napoleon then turned on

1704-567: The French capital for a few months, but his age and infirmities compelled him to retire to his Silesian residence at Krieblowitz. 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 on Blackheath Hill , overlooking London, he is said to have exclaimed, "What a city to sack!" He died at Krieblowitz on 12 September 1819, aged 76. After his death, an imposing mausoleum

1775-531: The French. After Blücher's death, statues were erected to his memory at Berlin , Breslau , Rostock , and Kaub (where his troops crossed the Rhine in pursuit of Napoleon's forces in 1813). Blücher is honoured with a bust in the Walhalla temple near Regensburg . In gratitude for Blücher's service, George Stephenson , the pioneering British locomotive engineer, named a locomotive after him. The small mining village

1846-532: The Great replied to with "Captain Blücher can take himself to the devil" (1773). Blücher settled down to farming. Within 15 years, he had acquired financial independence and had become a Freemason . 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

1917-463: The House of Blücher von Wahlstatt is Nicolaus, 8th Prince Blücher of Wahlstatt (born 1932), the heir apparent is his son, hereditary count Lukas (born 1956). He received the following orders and decorations: The Rhineland town of Kaub 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

1988-679: The Katzbach battlefield). The king also awarded him estates near Krieblowitz (now Krobielowice , Poland) in Lower Silesia and a grand mansion at 2, Pariser Platz in Berlin (which in 1930 became the Embassy of the United States, Berlin ). Soon afterward, Blücher paid a visit to England , where he was received with royal honours and cheered enthusiastically everywhere he went. When Oxford University granted him an honorary doctorate (doctor of laws), he

2059-717: 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. In gratitude for his victories in 1814, King Frederick William III of Prussia created Blücher Prince (Fürst) of Wahlstatt (in Silesia on

2130-499: The Spanish frontier (see Invasion of south-west France ), and 20,000 more were required to watch the debouches from the Alps. Hence less than 80,000 remained available for the east and north-eastern frontier. If, however, he was weak in numbers, he was now operating in a friendly country, able to find food almost everywhere and had easy lines of communication. The fighting in north-east France

2201-541: The age of 16, when he joined the Swedish Army as a hussar . At the time, Sweden was at war with Prussia in the Seven Years' War . Blücher took part in the Pomeranian 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. Blücher took part in

Six Days' Campaign - Misplaced Pages Continue

2272-535: 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). After the war, Blücher retired to Silesia. However,

2343-567: The army's retreat towards Wavre , rather than Liège , to keep alive the possibility of joining the Prussian and Wellington's Anglo-allied armies together. After bathing his wounds in a liniment of rhubarb and garlic , and fortified by a liberal internal dose of schnapps , 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 at Waterloo . He then led his army on

2414-410: 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. This victory led the way to a decisive victory through the relentless pursuit of the French by the Prussians. The two Coalition armies entered Paris on 7 July . Blücher remained in

2485-489: The capital. Marmont and Mortier with what troops they could rally took up a position on Montmartre heights to oppose them. The Battle of Paris ended when the French commanders, seeing further resistance to be hopeless, surrendered the city on 31 March, just as Napoleon, with the wreck of the Guards and a mere handful of other detachments, was hurrying across the rear of the Austrians towards Fontainebleau to join them. Napoleon

2556-410: The celebrated 1814 campaign in north-east France , and they were quickly followed by victories of Napoleon over Blücher at Champaubert , Vauchamps , and Montmirail . The courage of the Prussian leader was undiminished, though, and his victory against the vastly outnumbered French, at Laon (9 and 10 March) practically decided the fate of the campaign. However, his health had been severely affected by

2627-513: The expedition to the Netherlands in 1787, and the next year was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1789, he received Prussia's highest military order , the Pour 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 at Kirrweiler on 28 May 1794, he was promoted to major general. In 1801, he

2698-464: 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 the mock execution of a priest suspected of supporting Polish uprisings in 1772 . As a result, he was passed over for promotion to major . Blücher submitted a rude letter of resignation in 1773, which Frederick

2769-512: The latter being almost essential in the terrible weather prevailing. Blücher himself on the night of 7/8 February was at Sézanne , on the exposed flank so as to be nearer to his sources of intelligence, and the rest of his army were distributed in four small corps at or near Épernay , Montmirail and Étoges ; reinforcements also were on their way to join him and were then about Vitry. In the night Blücher's headquarters were again surprised, and Blücher learnt that Napoleon himself with his main body

2840-733: The main body of the Army of Silesia and on 14 February defeated Blücher in the Battle of Vauchamps near Étoges , pursuing the latter towards Vertus . There were 7,000 Prussian casualties and 16 cannons lost, to approximately 600 French casualties. These disasters compelled the retreat of the whole Silesian army, and Napoleon, leaving detachments with Marshals Mortier and Marmont to deal with them, hurried back to Troyes. Ralph Ashby wrote in Napoleon Against Great Odds (2010): Blücher’s Army of Silesia had been very roughly handled between February 10 and 14. The ebullient Prussian Field Marshal

2911-405: The nickname "Marshal Forwards" due to his tireless energy. 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. The Battle of Brienne and the Battle of La Rothière were the chief incidents of the first stage of

Six Days' Campaign - Misplaced Pages Continue

2982-578: The overthrow of the First Empire were the direct consequences. 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 the Duke of Wellington , one of Blücher's plans involved blowing up the Jena Bridge near the Champ de Mars : About blowing up the bridge of Jena there were two parties in

3053-548: The permission of his own sovereign, King Frederick III Prussia , to transfer his line of operations to the valley of the Marne ; Pahlen's corps of Cossacks were assigned to him to cover his left and maintain communication with the Austrians. Believing himself secure behind this screen, Blücher advanced from Vitry along the roads leading down the valley of the Marne, with his columns widely separated for convenience of subsistence and shelter

3124-474: The remnants back into Germany, Napoleon missed his only opportunity of forcing the Coalition Powers to agree to anything other than peace on their terms. Following his successful campaign against Blücher, Napoleon hurried south to face Schwarzenberg. Although his forces were outnumbering Napoleon's by six to one, Schwarzenberg ordered a retreat upon hearing of Napoleon's approach, and left a rearguard under

3195-611: The return of Napoleon from Elba and his entry into Paris at the start of the Hundred Days , called him back to service. He was put in command of the Army of the Lower Rhine , with Gneisenau serving again as his chief of staff. At the outset of the Waterloo Campaign of 1815, the Prussians sustained a serious defeat at Ligny (16 June), in the course of which the old field marshal lay trapped under his dead horse for several hours and

3266-444: The roads in rear were so choked with traffic that retreat was out of the question. At about noon on 2 February Napoleon attacked them opening the Battle of La Rothière . The weather was terrible, and the ground so heavy that the French guns, the mainstay of Napoleon's whole system of warfare, were useless and in the drifts of snow which at intervals swept across the field, the columns lost their direction and many were severely handled by

3337-538: The sort of brute force characteristic of earlier French victories. But the campaign rallied the Allies and helped end their internal bickering. Michael Leggiere in Blücher: Scourge of Napoleon (2014) quotes Johann von Nostitz that the campaign displayed Napoleon's "talents as a field commander to the highest degree in defeating five enemy corps in sequence", but in failing to totally destroy Blücher's army and driving

3408-417: The spring of 1813, Blücher was again placed in high command, and he was present at Lützen and Bautzen . During the summer 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, with August von Gneisenau and Karl von Müffling as his principal staff officers and 40,000 Prussians and 50,000 Russians under his command during

3479-399: 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. 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

3550-450: The time that Six Days' Campaign ended only two armies had crossed the frontier into France: At the same time Wellington invaded France over the Pyrenees . Leaving Marshals Soult and Suchet to defend south-west France, Napoleon commanded the French resistance in north-east France. Napoleon had about 200,000 men in all, of whom upwards of 100,000 were held by the Duke of Wellington on

3621-466: 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 of Yorck and Gneisenau) appeared in 1932: Blücher was married twice: in 1773 to Karoline Amalie von Mehling (1756–1791) and, after her death, in 1795 to Katharine Amalie von Colomb (1772–1850), sister of General Peter von Colomb . While this second marriage

SECTION 50

#1732852080222

3692-461: Was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal). He earned his greatest recognition after leading his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Blücher was born in Rostock , the son of a retired army captain. His military career began in 1758 as a hussar in the Swedish Army . He was captured by the Prussians in 1760 during

3763-476: Was beginning to take shape... David Zabecki wrote in Germany at War (2014): Later commentators noted that in this campaign Napoleon achieved unexpected and extraordinary results, including the elimination of approximately 20,000 enemy troops, which nearly halved the forces he then faced. Napoleon's troops had been greatly outnumbered, and he therefore fought by means of careful tactical manoeuvring, rather than using

3834-527: Was born on 21 December 1742 in Rostock , a Baltic port in northern Germany , then in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . 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 from Mecklenburg . Gebhard began his military career at

3905-535: 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 in Sośnica (German: Schosnitz), three km from the now Polish Krobielowice. Napoleon characterised him as

3976-463: Was captured by his enemies. The Coalition commanders held a council of war at Pougy on the 23 March and initially decided to follow Napoleon, but the next day Tsar Alexander I of Russia and King Frederick of Prussia along with their advisers reconsidered, and realising the weakness of their opponent, decided to march to Paris (then an open city ), and let Napoleon do his worst to their lines of communications. The Coalition armies marched straight for

4047-480: 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 near Oslo during the invasion of Norway . Blücher was played by German actor Otto Gebühr in the 1929 film Waterloo . In 1932, he was the subject of the biographical film Marshal Forwards , in which he was played by Paul Wegener . It

4118-462: Was defeated by two French corps at the Battle of Lübeck on 6 November. The next day, trapped against the Danish frontier by 40,000 French troops, he was compelled to surrender with less than 10,000 soldiers at Ratekau . Blücher insisted that clauses be written in the capitulation document that he had had to surrender due to lack of provisions and ammunition, and that his soldiers should be honoured by

4189-763: Was forced to announce his unconditional abdication and sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau . Napoleon was sent into exile on the island of Elba and Louis XVIII became king. The Treaty of Paris , signed by representatives of the French monarchy and the Coalition powers, formally ended the War of the Sixth Coalition on 30 May 1814. Attribution: Gebhard von Bl%C3%BCcher Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher ( German pronunciation: [ˈɡɛphaʁt ˈleːbəʁɛçt fɔn ˈblʏçɐ] ; 21 December 1742 – 12 September 1819), Graf (count), later elevated to Fürst (prince) von Wahlstatt ,

4260-425: Was in close touch during the period of Napoleonic domination, but his hopes of an alliance with Austria 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. Following the start of the War of Liberation in

4331-574: Was in full march to fall on his scattered detachments. At the same time he heard that Pahlen's Cossacks had been withdrawn forty-eight hours previously, thus completely exposing his flank. He himself retreated towards Étoges endeavouring to rally his scattered detachments. Napoleon was too quick for Blücher: he decimated Lieutenant General Olsufiev's Russian IX Corps at the Battle of Champaubert (10 February). There were 4,000 Russian casualties and Russian General Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev taken prisoner, to approximately 200 French casualties. This placed

SECTION 60

#1732852080222

4402-587: Was indecisive during January and the first week of February. During the Battle of Brienne (29 January 1814) Napoleon surprised Blücher at his headquarters and nearly captured him. Having learnt that Napoleon was at hand Blücher fell back a few miles to the east the next morning to a strong position covering the exits from the Bar-sur-Aube defile . There he was joined by the Austrian advance guard and together they decided to accept battle—indeed they had no alternative, as

4473-506: Was made a lieutenant general. 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 double Battle of Jena-Auerstedt , Blücher fought at Auerstedt , repeatedly leading the charges of the Prussian cavalry, but without success. During the retreat of the broken armies, he commanded the rearguard composed of Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe 's corps. With

4544-674: Was nicknamed Marschall Vorwärts ("Marshal Forward") by his soldiers because of his aggressive approach in warfare. Along with Paul 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 the Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross . A statue once stood in the square that bore his name, Blücherplatz , in Breslau (today Wrocław). Blücher

4615-451: Was part of a group of Prussian films released during the era. He was portrayed by Soviet actor Sergo Zakariadze in the 1970 Soviet-Italian film Waterloo . Blücher also has a boarding house named after him at Berkshire based Wellington College . The Blucher, as it is known, is a boys' house renowned for sporting and academic prowess. A popular German saying, ran wie Blücher gehen ("to charge like Blücher"), meaning that someone

4686-433: Was repeatedly ridden over by cavalry, his life saved only by the devotion of his aide-de-camp Count Nostitz , 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. In spite of Gneisenau's distrust of Wellington, he obeyed Blücher's last orders to direct

4757-538: Was soon replenished by the arrival of reinforcements. Five days after the defeat at Vauchamps, the Army of Silesia was back on the offensive. By the start of 1814 the Sixth Coalition had defeated the French both in Germany (see German Campaign of 1813 ) and in Spain (see Peninsular War § End of the war in Spain ), and were poised to invade France from the north-east and south-west. On the north-eastern front three Coalition armies were preparing to invade France, however by

4828-502: Was temporarily chastened. Napoleon had beaten a larger force with a smaller one and had suffered only a fraction of the casualties he inflicted on the Russo-Prussian forces. Even given the massive Allied superiority in numbers, they had taken losses proportionately greater than the French. The Army of Silesia had lost about a third of its strength, and the remainder was whipped and demoralized. To add to Allied woes, French partisan warfare

4899-468: Was that for more than a week after the battle of Laon, the Army of Silesia... played no useful role in the war". After this, Blücher infused some of his energy into the operations of the Prince Schwarzenberg 's Army of Bohemia , and at last this army and the Army of Silesia marched in one body directly towards Paris. The victory of Montmartre , the entry of the allies into the French capital, and

4970-444: 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

5041-499: 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 created Prince Blücher of Wahlstatt ( Serene Highness ) in the Kingdom of Prussia on 18 October 1861, a hereditary title in primogeniture , the other members of his branch bearing the title count or countess . In 1832, he bought Raduň Castle in

#221778