Background
Blücher was born on 16 December 1742 in Rostock a Baltic port in northern Germany then in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The son of a captain in the cavalry, he became a cadet in a Swedish regiment.
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Blücher was born on 16 December 1742 in Rostock a Baltic port in northern Germany then in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The son of a captain in the cavalry, he became a cadet in a Swedish regiment.
Gebhard began his military career at the age of sixteen when he joined the Swedish Army. At the time, Sweden was at war with Prussia in the Seven Years' War. Blücher took part in the Pomeranian campaign of 1760. 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 was made a lieutenant general.
He was one of the leaders of the war party in Prussia in 1805-1806 and served as a cavalry general in the disastrous campaign of the latter year.
At Auerstadt Bliicher repeatedly charged at the head of the Prussian cavalry, but without success.
In the retreat of the broken armies he commanded the rearguard of Prince Hohenlohe's corps, and upon the capitulation of the main body of Prenzlau he carried off a remnant of the Prussian army to the northward, and in the neighbourhood of Liibeck he fought a series of combats, which, however, ended in his being forced to surrender at Ratkau (November 7, 1806).
His adversaries testified in his capitulation that it was caused by " want of provisions and ammunition. "
He was soon exchanged for General Victor, and was actively employed in Pomerania, at Berlin, and at Konigsberg until the conclusion of the war.
After the war, Bliicher was looked upon as the natural leader of the patriot party, with which he was in close touch during the period of Napoleonic domination.
His hopes of an alliance with Austria in the war of 1809 were disappointed.
In this year he was made general of cavalry.
He defeated Marshal Macdonald at the Katzbach, and by his victory over Marmont at Mockern led the way to the decisive overthrow of Napoleon at Leipzig, which place was stormed by Bliicher's own army on the evening of the last day of the battle.
On the day of Mockern (October 16, 1813) Blucher was made a general field marshal, and after the victory, he pursued the routed French with his accustomed energy.
The combat of Brienne and the battle of La Rothiere were the chief incidents of the first stage of the celebrated campaign of 1814, and they were quickly followed by the victories of Napoleon over Blucher at Champaubert, Vauxchamps, and Montmirail.
After this Bliicher infused some of his own energy into the operations of Prince Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia, and at last this army and the Army of Silesia marched in one body direct upon Paris.
The victory of Montmartre, the entry of the allies into the French capital, and the overthrow of the First Empire were the direct consequences.
The relations of the Prussian and the English headquarters were at this time very complicated, and it is uncertain whether Bliicher himself was responsible for the daring resolution to march to Wellington's assistance.
This was in fact done, and after an incredibly severe march, Blucher's army intervened with decisive and crushing effect in the battle of Waterloo.
The great victory was converted into a success absolutely decisive of the war by the relentless pursuit of the Prussians, and the allies re-entered Paris on the 7th of July.
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Gebhard retained to the end of his life that wildness of character and proneness to excesses which had caused his dismissal from the army in his youth, but however they may be regarded, these faults sprang always from his ardent and vivid temperament.
The qualities which made him a great general were his patriotism and the hatred of French domination which inspired every success of the War of Liberation.
Known for his fiery personality, he was nicknamed Marschall Vorwärts ("Marshal Forward") by his soldiers.
Gebhard was married twice. Blücher was married twice: in 1773 to Karoline Amalie von Mehling (1756–1791) and in 1795 to Amalie von Colomb (1772–1850), sister of General Peter von Colomb. He had, by his first marriage, two sons and a daughter.
