Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher: biography. Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742-1819) Prussian field marshal Blücher Prussian field marshal
At the beginning of February, Blücher moved through Chalons to Paris, but Napoleon, taking advantage of the disunited and stretched position of his troops, defeated them in parts and forced the Silesian army, which had suffered huge losses, to retreat to Chalons.
Then her actions were already accompanied by success and ended on March 19 with the capture of the Montmartre Heights near Paris. In the city, upon Napoleon's return from the island of Elba, Blucher took command of the Prussian-Saxon troops in the Netherlands.
Defeated at Ligny, he, however, arrived in time for the battle at Waterloo and this decided the victory, after which, relentlessly pursuing the French, he approached Paris and forced it to surrender.
At the end of the war, Blücher retired to his Silesian estate, where he lived in retirement until his death on September 12, 1819.
Blucher was very popular among the troops; Russian soldiers of the Silesian Army nicknamed him “Field Marshal Vorwertz” due to the word “Vorwärts” (forward!) he constantly repeated in battle. Blucher was considered an example of a brave soldier. Napoleon called him "the old devil" (fr. le vieux diable).
Bibliography
- Elsner, "Blücher von Wallstadt" (Stuttgart, 1835);
- Joh. Scherr, “Blücher, seine Zeit und sein Leben” (Leipz., 1862).
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Books
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- Blucher (ed. 2010), Velikanov Nikolay, 320 pp. He was one of the most famous commanders of the 20-30s of the XX century, the hero of Kakhovka and Perekop, the first holder of the Orders of the Red Banner and the Red Star, one of the first Marshals... Category :
(1742 -1819)
Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher was one of the most outstanding personalities of the Napoleonic era, and his contribution to the destruction of Napoleon’s empire is truly invaluable: it was the timely appearance of Blücher’s troops on the battlefield of Waterloo that put an end to the military biography of the French emperor. It must be said that Gebhard Blucher in his youth received a poor upbringing and a very meager education, but these shortcomings in him were more than compensated for by his natural common sense, an unquenchable thirst for activity and outstanding energy. Throughout Blucher's long fighting life, luck betrayed him more than once, but no adversity could make him lose heart; Having received “another slap in the face” from the enemy, Blucher always gathered his strength and struck back, invariably winning a victory over the proud enemy. Even in his old age, Gebhard Blücher was distinguished by his irrepressible energy and enormous activity, for which he received the nickname “Old Man Forward” (“Alt Vorwärts”) from his soldiers. Napoleon, who hated the talented Prussian field marshal, who gave him a lot of trouble, nicknamed Blucher “the old devil” (“le vieux diable”).
Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher came from ancient noble family, known since the beginning of the 12th century. Gebhard was born in the town of Teutenwinkel near the city of Rostock in the family of a captain of the Hessian troops; The boy spent his entire childhood on the estate of his father Gross-Renzov, far from the city and school, and therefore received a very modest education and insufficient upbringing. In 1756, 14-year-old Gebhard (against the will of his parents) enlisted in the Swedish hussar regiment Sparre (later, due to a change in commander, this unit became known as the “Mörner regiment”). As part of this regiment, the young hussar took part in the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763; On August 29, 1760, during the battle of Friedladda, Blücher showed miracles of heroism in a fierce battle; surrounded by Prussian hussars, he fought until the horse under him was killed; Gebhard, crushed to the ground by the corpse of a horse, could no longer resist, and was captured by the Prussians.
Commander of the Black Hussars Wilhelm von Bellings
After the battle, Prussian Colonel von Bellings, admiring the heroism of the young hussar, invited Blucher to join the service of Prussia (in those days of mercenary armies, such proposals were common). Gebhard agreed, and was immediately accepted as a cornet into the Black Hussars regiment, commanded by von Bellings. Within a few months, Blücher was promoted to second lieutenant, and soon to prime lieutenant; for some time he was von Billings' aide-de-camp. However, then his promotion slowed down: Blucher received the next rank (staff captain) only in 1771. This was due to the fact that for some reason the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great, did not like Gebhard. As a result, Blucher, not hoping for further development military career, resigned and in 1772 was expelled from the army with the rank of captain. The retiree bought himself a small Grocc-Radd estate in Pomerania with money saved from his salary and began farming. Only after the death of King Frederick II did Blücher return to the army, joining his old hussar regiment in 1787; at the same time, he was immediately promoted to the rank of major. Gebhard then distinguished himself in a number of battles in Holland against French troops, for which he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and awarded the Order of Pour le Merite - Prussia's most honorable military award, awarded only for military valor demonstrated in battle.
The highest military award in Prussia is the Order “Pour le Merite”. This order was awarded to Lieutenant Colonel von Blucher for military merits
In 1790, Blücher became a colonel and led his regiment of the Black Hussars. In this position, Blucher took part in hostilities against the French on the Rhine, especially distinguishing himself in May 1793 at the battle of Kirrweiler, where Gebhard and his regiment captured 300 French in a swift attack and captured 6 guns. This feat brought Blucher the rank of general: Gebhard was promoted to major general. In 1795, Blücher commanded the observation corps in the Netherlands; in 1803, the king appointed Lieutenant General Blücher as governor of Prussia, leaving him as chief of the 8th Hussars.
Lieutenant General Gebhard von Blücher in 1803
In 1806, 64-year-old Blucher, despite his advanced age, took an active part in the war against the French Empire. In the battle of Auerstedt, he commanded the cavalry in the vanguard of the army of Prince Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, and after the defeat of the Prussian army, he stood at the head of the rearguard covering the retreat and took battle with the corps of Marshal Bernadotte, who was catching up with the Prussians. In this battle, Blucher's rearguard was defeated by superior enemy forces and retreated to Sandau - Blucher, who had not accepted defeat, intended to unite with the Duke of Weimar to conduct operations behind French lines. However, the Duke of Weimar’s troops turned out to be few in number: after the connection, Blucher had only 22 thousand people, which was clearly not enough to resist the large French army. However, not wanting to surrender to the enemy, Blücher moved towards Lübeck, hoping to board English ships and leave in order to save troops for the subsequent fight; however, the English fleet was not there. As a result, Blucher had to surrender to the troops of Marshal Victor who surrounded him. Enraged by the quick defeat of Prussia, Gebhard spent more than three months in French captivity and was released only in February 1807. His rage and hatred of Napoleon could not be pacified even by the high award given for his courage: the Order of the Black Eagle. Almost immediately after his release, Blücher joined the German national movement, and soon became known as a fierce advocate new war with France. However, realizing that one of the main reasons for the defeat of Prussia was the state of its army, which was formed and trained according to the outdated principles of Frederick the Great, Blucher provided enormous support to the Minister of War, General Scharnhorst, who developed and implemented the reform of the Prussian army.
In the same 1807, Blucher was appointed governor-general of Pomerania, but in fact he was doomed to inaction at that time - the king, who feared the French, forbade Gebhard to implement any of his decisions; and in 1811 he completely removed Blücher from his post - for his hostile attitude towards Napoleon. Only at the beginning of 1813, after the defeat of Napoleon in Russia, did Blücher get the opportunity to speak out against the French: the king appointed an elderly 70-year-old, but still full of strength and energy, warrior as commander-in-chief of the still small Prussian troops.
As soon as Prussia decided to take military action against France, Blucher, at the head of 25 thousand soldiers, immediately moved from Silesia to Saxony, where he united with the corps of the Russian general F.F. Wintzingerode, which had about 13 thousand people. From the very beginning of the campaign until the end of the Napoleonic wars, the warlike old man acted decisively and quickly, infecting the troops subordinate to him with his energy. In all campaigns and battles, he was among the soldiers, constantly urging them on with shouts: “Forward! Forward!”, for which he received the nickname “Old Man Forward” from the Prussians, and “General Vorwärts” from the Russians who fought under his command, although many Russian soldiers did not even understand what this word meant (German: Vorwärts - Forward).
"Vorwärts!" (“Forward!”) - Blucher urges his troops to meet the enemy as quickly as possible
Already in March 1813, Blucher's soldiers occupied Dresden, and in May they fought at Lutzen. True, the Prussians lost this battle - largely due to the injury of Blucher, who was in the front ranks, who was forced to transfer command to General York. But two weeks later, not yet fully recovered from his wound, Blucher led the Silesian Army, which by that time included the Prussian corps of General York and the Russian corps of F.V. von der Osten-Sacken and A.F. Langeron (about 100 thousand people in total; more than half of this number were Russian soldiers). Moreover, Blucher’s chief of staff was the former Prussian Minister of War, General Gerhard Scharnhorst, and after his death on June 28, 1813, this post was taken by General August von Gneisenau, who earlier, together with Scharnhorst, played a huge role in the reorganization and retraining of the Prussian army, significantly increasing its combat effectiveness. All subsequent successes and victories of the Prussian troops are equally the merit of Blücher and his chief of staff, General von Gneisenau.
Gerhard Scharnhorst and August von Gneisenau - reformers of the Prussian army and alternate chiefs of staff in Blücher's army
On May 20, Blücher took part in the battle of Bautzen, where his troops found themselves in a very difficult situation. Even on the first day of the battle, Blücher's divisions were subjected to fierce attacks by Marshal Soult's corps; and although the French managed to wedge themselves into the center of Blucher's positions, the Prussians still held out. But on the next day of the battle, Napoleon threw his imperial guard onto Blucher’s left flank, and Marshal Ney’s cavalry attacked the Prussians from the rear. As a result, Blucher had to begin a retreat, which was the signal for the retreat of the entire allied army. However, despite the retreat of the Allies, the battle of Bautzen cannot be called their defeat: the French lost twice as many soldiers in this battle (about 20 thousand). Russian Emperor Alexander I awarded Blücher for the courage shown under Bautzen with the Order of St. George, 2nd degree.
In August 1813, Blucher took advantage of the mistake of the French command. Near the Katzbach River, he suddenly attacked the group of Marshal MacDonald (1 cavalry and 3 infantry corps) that had become separated from the main forces. Blucher's army inflicted a severe defeat on the enemy: about 12 thousand enemy soldiers died, about 18 thousand more soldiers and 103 guns were captured. This success completely neutralized the significance of Napoleon’s victory in the Battle of Dresden, who, leaving the conquered positions, rushed to the aid of the defeated MacDonald. However, Blucher skillfully avoided battle with the superior forces of Bonaparte and began to move north - to join the Swedish Northern Army of Crown Prince Bernadotte. Along the way, having crossed the Elbe, Blucher at Wartenburg immediately overturned and put to flight the corps of General Bertrand, after which he went to Leipzig, where he was joined by other Allied troops that arrived later. The unification of the Silesian, Bohemian, and subsequently the Northern armies allowed the allies to fight Napoleon’s main forces near Leipzig, and this grandiose four-day battle went down in history as the “Battle of the Nations” (October 16-19, 1813).
Battle of Leipzig: Prussian hussars break through the lines of Marmont's corps near the village of Mökern
In this battle, the troops of the newly promoted Field Marshal Blucher occupied positions northwest of Leipzig. The Prussians distinguished themselves already on the first day of the battle: without waiting for the approach of the lagging Northern Army, Blucher threw his troops into the attack. Having broken the fierce resistance of the corps of Dombrowski and Marmont, the Prussians knocked out the enemy from well-fortified positions near the villages of Wiederitz and Möckern; at the same time, Marmont's corps was virtually completely destroyed. Thus, the front of the French troops north of Leipzig was broken through by the Prussians, which forced Napoleon to throw two new corps against Blucher, easing the pressure on the troops of the Bohemian Army near the village of Wachau, where French success had already begun.
Battle of Leipzig: Prussian troops break into the Leipzig suburb of Grimmas
The next day, Field Marshal Blucher's troops continued the offensive, taking the villages of Oitritzsch and Golis, and approached Leipzig. On October 17, despite the objections of Crown Prince Bernadotte, who did not want to share the glory of victory with others, Prussian troops supported the Swedes in the assault and capture of Paunsdorf, and then took the village of Schönefeld. On October 19, the Prussians broke into the Leipzig suburb of Grimmas, and together with other allied forces took part in capturing the city and capturing the French who did not have time to leave Leipzig. At the same time, Blucher proposed to immediately organize the pursuit of the retreating Napoleon with forces of 20 thousand cavalrymen, but this proposal was rejected by Emperor Alexander I and the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, Austrian Field Marshal Schwarzenberg. The next day, for his great contribution to the overall victory, Emperor Alexander awarded Blucher the highest military order of Russia - the Order of St. George, 1st degree.
Russian Order of St. George, 1st degree - von Blücher was awarded this award for his services in the Battle of Leipzig
In the campaign of 1814, “Old Man Forward” acted just as quickly and decisively, and although this year his luck often betrayed him, Blucher never lost heart and rushed into battle again. On January 1, 1814, his troops crossed the Rhine, then the Moselle, almost encircling Marmont’s corps; On January 22, the Prussians crossed the Meuse, forcing Marshal Victor to abandon Saint-Dizier. Then Blücher moved to Brien, where he was defeated (January 29), and himself was almost captured. Nevertheless, having made a skillful maneuver, Blucher withdrew his troops from the battle, retreating to the south, and three days later he settled accounts with the French: on February 1, 1814, at the Battle of La Rotière, largely thanks to Blucher’s orders, the French army was defeated. Although the casualties on both sides were roughly equal, Napoleon lost more than 60 guns and the morale of his recruits was severely damaged.
In early February, Blücher launched an attack on Paris, but Napoleon took advantage of the stretched nature of the Prussian troops, and in three battles held from February 9 to 14, he defeated the Prussian units piece by piece. Having suffered huge losses, Blucher's army was forced to retreat to Chalons. But already on February 22, Blucher, having recovered from the sudden attacks, resumed the offensive. Once again, Napoleon stood in the way of the “Ancient Forward” with more numerous troops. It seemed that the defeat of the Prussians was inevitable, but Blücher managed to avoid battle and cross to the northern bank of the Aisne, where he was joined by long-awaited reinforcements - fresh Russian divisions. This allowed Blucher to give the French battle on March 7 at Craon. And although, under pressure from Napoleon’s superior forces, the Russian divisions under Blücher had to withdraw, the withdrawal of these troops was carried out brilliantly - under the cover of intense artillery fire and a cavalry counterattack, which drove back the French pursuing the retreating infantry. Moreover, the subsequent capture of the abandoned positions did not give Napoleon anything, since they did not have strategic importance Moreover, Napoleon realized that he was dealing only with Blucher’s vanguard, while the rest of his troops were completely unharmed in the battle. And the human losses were higher among the French: the Russians lost about 5 thousand people, the French were missing almost 8 thousand soldiers, while Marshal Victor and 6 generals were out of action due to injury (including such celebrities as Nansouty and Grouchy ) – since the French army had a very high percentage of recruits, the generals had to personally lead them into the attack...
Blücher encourages his soldiers before the battle
Having retreated to Laon, Blucher pulled all available forces into this area, deploying an army of 109 thousand people (67 thousand Russians and 42 thousand Prussians) with 260 guns in advantageous positions. On March 9, Napoleon attacked this armada with corps totaling 52 thousand soldiers, supported by the fire of 180 cannons, but ran into a counterattack by Blucher, which threw the French back to their previous positions. The day would have ended in vain if, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, Marshal Marmont’s 11,000-strong corps had not approached the battlefield and suddenly attacked Blucher’s left flank. Marmont managed to push back the Prussians somewhat, but the ensuing darkness stopped the battle. The French began to settle down for the night, and Marmont's bivouac was separated from the rest of the French army by an impassable swamp. Blucher decided to take advantage of this. He launched a night attack on Marmont, throwing the Prussian corps of York and Kleist against him and pulling all his horse artillery to the left flank. The Prussians walked out to the French bivouac in complete silence and only then did gun shots ring out and cannons roar. Marmont's sleepy soldiers fled in panic; The Prussians captured 2 thousand French and the entire artillery fleet of the corps - 45 guns. By morning, Marmont's corps virtually ceased to exist: the officers managed to gather only a few hundred people, the rest of the soldiers simply fled.
Prussian infantry on the attack
Napoleon responded to the defeat of Marmont's corps with new attacks on Blücher's positions. Fierce attacks followed one after another all day, preventing Blucher from either organizing the pursuit of Marmont’s fleeing corps or overthrowing Napoleon’s troops. However, all the French attacks were defeated by the resilience of the Prussian and Russian divisions, until Napoleon realized that he could not defeat an army twice his size, which was also on the defensive. Therefore, at the beginning of twilight, the French army retreated, leaving the battlefield behind the enemy. Napoleon's retreat transferred the strategic initiative to Blucher and threatened complete defeat of the retreating French, but the Prussians could not pursue the enemy for a week: old age and military adversity nevertheless undermined Blucher's health, and he went to bed sick. In addition, his army had big problems with the supply of food and gunpowder, so for a while the Prussian army actually lost its combat effectiveness. Only on March 25, Blücher, who had returned to duty, resumed the attack on Paris. On March 30, the Prussian army of Blücher and the Austrian army of Schwarzenberg ( most both armies were composed of Russian corps) reached the outskirts of Paris and captured them in fierce battles; the next day Paris capitulated, which soon led to Napoleon's abdication. The Prussian king celebrated the capture of Paris by assigning the title “Prince of Wallstatt” to Blücher.
Allied troops storm Paris. 1814
It seemed that the Napoleonic wars were over, but in March 1815 Bonaparte returned from exile and again seized power in France. To finally overthrow the stubborn emperor, all countries of the anti-Napoleonic coalition raised their troops on alert. The Prussian king immediately appointed Blücher commander of the Prussian-Saxon troops in the Netherlands and Belgium; 105 thousand infantry, 12 thousand cavalry and 296 guns were subordinate to “Starina Forward”. At the beginning of May, Blucher personally met with the British commander Wellington and began to convince him of the need for immediate action against Napoleon, without waiting for reinforcements to arrive from other countries. Having received the consent of the British, Blucher immediately moved to join the British stationed at Quatre Bras, but along the way his army was intercepted by Bonaparte. The opponents met near the Belgian city of Ligny on June 16, 1815; in the raging battle long time neither side could succeed. Towards evening, the French managed to push back Blucher's right flank, and then the old commander made a mistake: he transferred reinforcements to the right flank, thereby weakening the center of his positions. Napoleon immediately noticed this and sent his invincible guard to attack, breaking through the Prussian center. Blücher tried to rectify the situation by personally leading the attack of 32 squadrons of Prussian cavalry on the Imperial Guard, entrenched at the Bussy mill. However, it was not so easy to deal with the veteran guards: the French guard grenadiers drove back the Prussian cavalrymen; at the same time, a horse was killed near Blucher, and the old general collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness from the blow. He could well have been captured by the French, but the field marshal’s adjutant, risking his life, carried the insensitive “Old Man Forward” from the battlefield. At this time, General Gneisenau, who took command of the army, began an organized withdrawal of troops to avoid complete defeat.
Saber of Field Marshal Blücher; with it in his hands, he personally led a cavalry attack on the French Imperial Guard at the Battle of Ligny on June 16, 1815.
In that battle, the Prussians lost about 20 thousand people and 40 guns, the French about 11 thousand people. However, Blücher was defeated, but not destroyed. Wounded but not broken, “Marshal Vorwärts” was burning with determination to take revenge on Napoleon for his defeat. Returning to his headquarters, he rejected Gneisenau's plan of action, which was to leave Wellington to his fate, and withdraw from the battle area to await the Austrian and Russian troops rushing to the rescue. The “Old Prussian Fox” made a brilliant maneuver, leading Grouchy’s pursuing corps as far as possible from the main forces of the French army, and then broke away from the pursuit and hurried to the aid of the English troops dying on the field at Waterloo (June 18, 1815). The Prussians arrived just in time to turn the tide of the battle almost lost by Wellington and, with a sudden flank attack, overturn the French army, putting it to flight. This sealed the fate of Napoleon and France. After the battle, Blucher organized a relentless pursuit of the defeated French, and “on their shoulders” almost broke into Paris. However, near the walls of the French capital, he encountered the troops of Marshal Davout, who delayed the Prussian advance for several days. Nevertheless, having driven back the enemy, Blucher nevertheless entered Paris on July 7, finally ending the protracted Napoleonic wars. After the surrender of Napoleon, the fierce old man demanded the immediate execution of the French emperor, but in this matter he met Wellington’s opposition, and Napoleon Bonaparte remained alive, again going into now indefinite exile...
Battle of Waterloo: finale
For Blucher's services in the Battle of Waterloo, King Frederick William III granted him his palace near the Brandenburg Gate on Pariser Platz in Berlin. For the victory over Napoleon in the same 1815, Blucher was awarded the highest degree of the military Order of the Iron Cross, the Great Star, established especially for him by the Prussian king. This award was called the “Blücher Star” and existed in one copy for a long time. Only in March 1918, Field Marshal Paul Hindenburg was awarded a similar award (in the entire history of Germany there were only two awards with this high military award). In addition, Blucher was presented with an award saber decorated in gold with wreaths and other signs of victory and glory applied to the scabbard.
Field Marshal Blücher's awards for the victory over Napoleon: award golden saber and "Blücher Star" - Great Star of the Iron Cross
After the end of the war, the 73-year-old field marshal, tired of the battles, retired to his Silesian estate, where he lived in retirement until his death on September 13, 1819.
Blücher Gebhard Leberecht was born on December 16, 1742 in Teutenwinkel, Poland. After several years of school, in 1756, against the wishes of his parents, he enlisted in the Swedish hussars. Participated in hostilities against Prussia.
In 1760, in a skirmish with the Prussian hussars at Friedland, he was captured. In captivity, in the same year, after the persuasion of Colonel von Belling, a relative of Blucher on his mother's side, he entered Prussian service with the rank of cornet in von Belling's Eighth Hussar Regiment.
IN different times Blücher served as a second lieutenant, a premier lieutenant, von Belling's adjutant, and a headquarters captain of the Eighth Hussars. In 1772, von Belling was replaced by a new regiment commander, General von Lossow, with whom the wayward Blucher did not have a good relationship, as a result of which the latter was forced to resign, which caused the sharp indignation of King Frederick II the Great himself. Only in 1787, a year after Frederick's death, Blücher was able to return to the Black Hussars regiment with the rank of major.
The lack of upbringing and very meager education in him was compensated by natural common sense, an unquenchable thirst for activity and outstanding energy.
In 1787 he took part in an expedition to the Netherlands. Two years later he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Since 1790 he commanded the Eighth Hussar Regiment with the rank of colonel. Next he fights against the French on the Rhine. At the Battle of Kirrweiler on May 28, 1794, he defeated the French, capturing 6 guns and 300 prisoners, after which he was promoted to major general. IN next year appointed commander of the cavalry corps on the border with France. In 1801, for his numerous exploits, Blücher was promoted to lieutenant general.
During the campaign of 1806, after the battle of Auerstedt, Blucher with a handful of soldiers led by him and General York managed to leave for Lubeck, but here, finding himself in a hopeless situation, he was forced to surrender, having initially done everything to save the honor of the weapon.
In the spring of 1807, after returning from captivity, he was appointed governor general of Pomerania. Two years later he received the rank of general from the cavalry. In 1812, due to poorly concealed hatred of Napoleon, King Frederick William III was forced to dismiss him.
Until the end of the year he was doomed to inactivity, but as soon as there was hope of overthrowing the Napoleonic yoke, Blucher, at the age of seventy, but still full of strength and energy, became the head of the national movement in Germany.
At the beginning of 1813, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Prussian troops. At the end of March 1813, without meeting resistance, he entered Dresden, abandoned by the French. Participated in the battles of Lützen and Bautzen. He received command of the united Russian-Prussian troops in Silesia, which covered themselves with glory in the battles of Katzbach and Wartenburg. Blucher's actions during the Battle of Leipzig were especially skillful and energetic. In October 1813 he received the rank of Field Marshal.
In the campaign of 1814, happiness betrayed Blücher more than once, but did not make him lose heart. He suffered a setback at Brienne on January 17, but then, having received reinforcements, won a victory at La Rotière on January 20. At the beginning of February, Blücher moved through Chalons to Paris, but Napoleon, taking advantage of the disunited and stretched position of his troops, defeated them in parts and forced the Silesian army, which had suffered huge losses, to retreat to Chalons. At the end of February, Blucher won a victory at Laon. And on March 18 he occupied the Montmartre Heights near Paris. The next day his troops entered Paris.
In 1815, after Napoleon's return from the island of Elba, Blücher took command of the Prussian-Saxon troops in the Netherlands. Partially defeated at Ligny, pursued by Grouchy, could not make it in time for the start of the Battle of Waterloo. However, the approach of the vanguard of the Prussian army became the turning point of the battle. Gneisenau decided the victory with his brilliant maneuver, in Napoleon's opinion, after which, relentlessly pursuing the French, British and Prussian troops approached Paris and forced it to surrender on July 7, 1815.
For Blucher's services in the Battle of Waterloo, Frederick William III granted him his palace near the Brandenburg Gate on Paris Square in Berlin.
At the end of the war, Gebhard Leberecht Blücher retired to his Silesian estate Kriblowitz, where he died on September 12, 1819.
Gebhard Blücher Awards
Order of the Black Eagle (April 1807)
Order of the Red Eagle
Order "Pour le Mérite" (4 June 1789)
Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (1813)
Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (31 August 1813)
Iron Cross 1st class (1813)
Order of Saint John of Jerusalem
Military Order of Maria Theresa, Grand Cross (Austria)
Sword set with diamonds, from the City of London (UK, 1814)
Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
Military William Order, Grand Cross (Netherlands, 28 July 1815)
Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (Russia, October 11, 1813)
Order of St. George, 1st class (Russia, October 8, 1813)
Order of St. George, 2nd class (Russia, May 20, 1813)
Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (Russia, October 11, 1813)
Order of the Seraphim (Sweden, April 28, 1814)
Participation in wars:
Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Wars with Napoleonic France.
Participation in battles:
Battle of Leipzig. Battle of La Rotière. Battle of Waterloo
(Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher) Prussian field marshal (1813), Prince of Walyptadt (1813). Participant in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) and the wars with Napoleon (1806-1815)
At the age of sixteen, Blucher entered the Swedish military service, but two years later, having been captured by the Prussians, he transferred to the Prussian hussar regiment Bellinga, in which in the era Seven Years' War and received the leaven of hussar valor and courage, which distinguished him to a very old age.
In 1773, having aroused the king’s wrath against himself for an insignificant reason, he was bypassed by the proceedings and submitted a sharp resignation. “Captain Blucher has been fired and can get the hell out,” the resolution read. Friedrich, and only in 1787, after the death of the king, Blucher returned with the rank of major to his former regiment, and five years later, for outstanding military service in the Rhine campaign, he was put at the head of the cavalry observation corps on the Lower Rhine.
Hating Napoleon, Blucher loudly spoke out in favor of declaring war on him. In 1806 in the battle under Auerstedt, commanding an advanced cavalry detachment, Blucher persistently advised the king to act offensively, energetically, and he and his cavalry repeatedly rushed into attacks against cavalry and infantryDavout . When the Prussian army retreated from Jena and Auerstedt, Blucher, uniting the remnants of his cavalry, troopsEugene of WürttembergAnd Duke of Saxe-Weimar(27 thousand), took command of the vanguard and tried to break through to Prenzlau to join the troops Prince Hohenlohe, however, he was surrounded and, after stubborn resistance, was forced to surrender (October 26 - November 7 in Radhau) with the remnants of his detachment.
After returning from captivity in the spring of 1807, Blücher was assigned to Pomerania. However, he hid his hatred of Napoleon so poorly that King Frederick William was forced to recall him and send him into retirement.
The offensive of the Russian army in 1812 again called Blücher to activity. He was appointed commander of the Southern Army (27 thousand Prussian and 13 thousand Russian troops), concentrated in Silesia, and immediately began to show his energy.
In the first half of March, Blücher occupied Dresden. IN battle of Lützen he commanded the first line, which was supposed to cross Flusso-Groben, abruptly changing front, and then begin the offensive. This maneuver resulted in the defeat of the Allies. But with his dashing attack at the head of the cavalry, the wounded Blucher delayed the French infantry division and forced it to stand under guns all night. For this feat, Blucher was awarded by the emperor Alexander I Order of St. George, II degree.
Near Bautzen, Blücher defended the central section of the position - the Krekvitsky Heights, and during the retreat to Schweinitz, he inflicted significant damage on the French with an unexpected attack near Gainau. In the autumn campaign of 1813, Blücher, at the head of the Silesian army, energetically advanced against Not me, but avoided a fight with Napoleon himself. The consequence of this cautious course of action was a major victory for Blucher over MacDonald on the Katzbach River (August 14-26), which brought him great fame and the title of Prince of Wallstadt.
On September 21, the Silesian army forced the crossing of the Elbe near the village of Wartemburg and on October 4 defeated the marshal Marmont near the village of Meckern.
On October 6, she energetically made her way from the Parta River, and the next day she was the first to break into Leipzig.
The campaign of 1814 most sharply highlighted the positive and negative traits of Blücher as a commander.
In January, with an army of 75,000, he crossed the Rhine (at Koblenz, Kaube, Mannheim), pushing Marmont in front of him, and, leaving about two-thirds of the forces of his army in the rear to blockade the fortresses, he quickly went through Nancy to Paris, neglecting concentration and close connection with the main army.
Taking advantage of this, Napoleon inflicted defeat on Blucher on January 15-27, 1814 at Brienne's. However, having received reinforcements, Blücher was victorious four days later. at La Rotière and again rushed towards Paris.
However, this time too, he, neglecting the danger, stretched his forces and within five days (February 10-14) suffered several defeats from Napoleon at Champaubert, Montmiral, Chateau-Thierry and Vau-Shac. Having lost thirty percent of his army, Blucher ordered Gneisenau: “We need to move forward again!” - and for the third time he launched an offensive towards Paris, hoping there to unite with Bülow and Winzegerode.
At Soissons he again almost fell into a trap, but was able to escape from it.
Napoleon, irritated by this failure, energetically pursued Blücher, but achieved only some success with Craon. Napoleonic troops were again defeated at Laon. Blucher decisively marched towards Paris and with his offensive provided significant assistance to the main army in the victorious battle on the Montmartre Heights.
In 1815, Blucher, at the head of the Prussian-Saxon army concentrated in the Netherlands, was defeated by Napoleon under Ligny. But with his usual energy, he managed to quickly recover from the defeat and arrived at Waterloo in time to help the attacked Wellington. The appearance of the Prussian army on the French right flank decided the outcome of the battle in favor of the Allies. Without stopping or resting, Blucher immediately followed on the heels of Napoleon to Paris, flatly rejecting any negotiations, and forced the capital of France to capitulate.
Only the presence of Emperor Alexander I saved Paris from the defeat that Blucher was preparing to inflict on it for all the humiliations suffered by Prussia from the French. For his services in the 1815 campaign, Blücher received a special, specially established symbolic insignia for him alone: the Iron Cross with a golden glow. After peace was concluded, Blucher retired and died four years later.
Blucher embodied in his personality the type of the old “hussar-slasher,” combining in himself almost all the soldier’s virtues. He was a stern, demanding, abusive, but essentially fair and caring boss. Blucher sought to overtake the already outdated ideas of war of his time: his goal was not to occupy individual points and lines, but to defeat the enemy’s manpower. After the victory, he pursued the enemy with cavalry, keeping it in reserve for this purpose.
However, Blucher lacked a strategic eye and military foresight. This explains most of his failures. That is why Blücher relied entirely on his quartermasters, such as Scharngerst and Gneisenau, to whom part of the glory that fell to his lot belongs.
