Osprey, Men-at-Arms #009 Blucher's Army 1813-1815 (1973) OCR 8.12.pdf

7/25/2019 Osprey, Men-at-Arms #009 Blucher's Army 1813-1815 (1973) OCR 8.12.pdf

1/50

OSPREY

MEN T RMS

SERIES

liichers

rmy

18 3

xt

PETER

YOUNG

olour pl tes

MICH EL ROFFE


2/50

MEN T RMS SERIES

EDITOR PHILIP W RNER

~ i i h e r s rmy

8 3 8 5

xt BRIG DIER PETER YOU

SO

Me

MA

.-.0111


3/50

ublishcd in 1973 by

Publishing Ltd

P.O.

Box 25

07

Oxford

Road Reading Berkshire

Copyright 1973 Osprey Publishing

Limited

This book

is copyrighted

under the Berne

Convention.

All rights reserved. Apart from any

fair dealing for thc

purpose

of private study

raearch

criticism or rcvicw as permitted under th e

Copyright Act 1956 no part of this publication

may Ix rcproduced stored in a retrieval system or

transmitted in any form or by any mcans electronic

lectrical chemical

mechanical

optical photo-

opying recording

or

otherwise without the prior

permi5.5ioll of the copyright owner. Enquiries should

addressed to th e Publishers.

ISUS 85 51175

I wish to pay

tribute

to the uniform plates and

notes of F. and G. Bourdicf those of Richard

KnOtcl

and

to

the

work

of

Illy old

friendthe late

Winand Aerts. I am in addition much indebted

to my friend Marcus Hinton for permission to

uS

plates drawn for his series entitled Prints ililairt

To my Wife who since 1956 has typed all my

deathless prose I can only arx logize for inRicting

yel

another

burden upon her.

P T R YOUN

Printed in Great nritain.

Monochrome by

RAS Printers I.inlitcd

Wallop

Hampshire

olour by Colour

Reproductions

Ltd. Billericay.

2


4/50

lJliicl7el:S

u1TI1Z , 18fJ-18f

t rorlu tioll

In

th e

long struggle

with

Revolutionary

France

Iod with apoleon, Prussia s share was

by no

mcans pre-eminent. In successive coalitions she

either

had

no part at

al l

or played second

fiddle to

Austria,

G re at B ri ta in

an d Russia. But in

th e

final

campaigns

from IBI3 to 1815

she threw

caulion and pedantry to the

winds and fell

upon

the F re nc h w il h all

th e

fervour and energy

o f

a

modern

litzkrieg

This

was

due to

one

ma n

above

all, Field-Marshal

Prince

Blucher

the

avenging

thulldcrboll . whose

dynamic energy

would have

been

remarkable

in

an

officer ofhalfhis years. The

most pugnacious of generals

the

mosl loyal of

colleagues, BlUcher led or drove his

raw

regiments

to

th e

fight

with

relentless

vigour.

The

fumbling

uncertainty displayed

b)

th e

Prussian

High

C om ma nd i n 1806 was

no t

for him. His

army

of

1813-15,

Ihough

it

c on ta in ed p er ha ps

half

the

officer corps

that

had

fought

at

Jena

and

Auer

stadt was

nothing

like

th e

creaking

ma ch ine tha t

Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Duke o f Brunswick ha d

inherited from his

uncle

Frederick the Greal.

The soldiers of

th e

War of

Liberation showed

up

poorly on

the

parade

ground but

they

made

up in

enthusiasm for

an y

lack

of the ol d

Prussian

precision in matters of drill an d lurn-out.

This book docs no t

concentrate

on

th e Waterloo

campaign

to

the

exclusion

of th e

camp.aigns

of

1813

and

1814, for it was

at

Dennt:witz,

on

th e

Katzb ae h a n d at

Leipzig that

th e

Prussian

Army

recovered the self-respect which it ha d lost no t SO

much on

the

battlefields

o f

Jena and Auerstildt

as in th e shameful surrenders that followed. The

Prussian Army

o f

1813

was

very different not only

in

appearance

but in

spirit

from

that of

1806. But

it was the same as that of 1815: it was in fact

BlUcher s Army.

ffrather more

dctail

is here

given

a bo ut the c amp aig n of 1815 than about those o h h e

War of Liberation it is because to

th e

Engli

speaking reader lhe

events

of Napoleon s

l

campaign

have

an

inexhaustible

fascination.

moreoversalutary

forthe

British

student

of milit

alTairs to recall

that

in

t he m aj or it y of

our

gr

battles we have ha d

th e support of trusted

all

Could Marlborough

have won Blenheim with

Prince Eugene? Could ellington have w

Waterloo without Blocher? Those

wh o

have fou

against

the Germans

in this

century have

genera

acknowledged thaI they were resolute :lnd vali

enemies.

t is

as well sometimes to recall that

times

past

they also

showed

lhemsdves

to

devoted

and

hard-fighting

allies.

P

Napoleon

reed

..l

lh e

Q,,

o f P n a

la a TU h F

ch e painw e h y

Nic o la

w

F. . . . .90i.

C o

e

T h e T re a ty o f n i t

r e d u c e d

P r u

la

co eh e cae s

second..:.la

powe

..


5/50

Napoleon lands ncar Cannes.

Ballies

of

Ligny and Quatre Bras.

Battles of Vaterloo and Vavrc.

Second abdication

of

apolcon.

Combal

al Versailles.

The Campaign of

France.

Abdication of Napoleon.

Scharnhorst

dies

of

a wound receive

at Grossgorschen.

Austria declares war.

Dattle

of

Grossbeeren; Bernadott

defeats Oudinot.

Baule of

Ihe Kiltzbach; Blucher rout

Macdonald.

Battle of Dresden; Napoleon wins

laClical victory.

Battlc

of

Kulm; the Allies annihilat

Vandamme s

Corps.

Baule

of Dcnnewitz.

The Battle of the Nat ions: Leipzig

Napoleon is heavily defeated.

Battle

of

Hanau; . apoleon defeat

Vrede s

Bavarians.

The Allies cross

the

Rhine.

2 8 June

12 Aug.

23 Aug.

26

Aug.

30 31 Oct.

6 Sepl.

16 -

1

9

0CI

.

26 -27

Aug.

21 Dec.

8

4

Jan.-Apr.

II Apr.

8S

Mar.

16June

ISJune

2 2 June

I July

Death

of Queen

Louise

of

Prussia.

GIlIY}//O Of)

The

Convention ofTauroggen; Yorck

withdraws the Prussian contingent

from Ihe

Grande Armie

Dattles

ofJena

and Auerstadt.

Napoleon enters Berlin.

BlUcher surrenders near Lubeck.

BaltIc

of

Eylau, General Lestocq s

Corps takes

parl.

Schill s

death at

Stralsund.

Battle of

Wagram.

8

3

2 3

Feb.

Frederick William determines

10

break with Napoleon.

13

Mar. Prussia declares waron France.

2

May

Battle

of

LOlzen.

20 21

May

Battle of

Bautzen;

apoleon drives

Wiltgenslcin from the field.

Balilc of Viloria (Spain).

1

June

8 6

14

Del.

27

Oct.

24

Nov.

8

7

8

Feb.

,8 }

1 May

5-6]uly

.810

IgJuly

r8n

30 Dec.

Templ i n

P

vldence

806.

The

Pru

l.a.n

Noble

G

. . .

r d

sharpe ..

their o rd on

the s teps

or

the F f t. .

ch

Ernbal i .y

la BerlIn.

Wat

colo .. r by F. de

Myrhach

4


6/50

. :ll--< ._

.

9rgal izatioJl

Organization is a ne ces sar y e viL

V O N C LA U SE W IT Z

In 1806

th e

ol d Prussian

Army

inherited from

Frederick t he G re at was shattered. The baltlcs of

.Jcna a nd Aucrstadt broke its body: with th e

shameful surrenders of Klislrin and other fort-

resses it seemed that its soul also

ha d

fled. By th e

Treaty

of

Paris 18oB) the Prussian Army was

limited to a strength

of

42,000.

In 1804 the King of Prussia ha d 9,752,731

subject s l iving in his domains

ofwhorn

4,860,747

were

men.

Th e

Canton

system

of

recruiting

~

milled

numerous

e xe mp ti on s; b ut even

S0,

in

1805,

there

were

2 320 22 me n

l ia ble to

military

service. By the Peace

of Tilsit

9

July

1807) th e

population of Pr us sia was

reduced

to 4,938,000.

The loss

of

rich provinces redu ced h er terricory

from 5 ,5 70 to 2, 877 square miles.

O f

her fortresses

only

Graudenz Pillau Kolberg

Glatz Silbcrburg

an d Cosel had Prussian garrisons. The rest

were

all garrisoned

by

t he F re nc h. In less than a year

Queen

LoW8a

reviewing th e

Pru5s1an

A r m y

18

Watercolour

by F. de

My r b a c h

Prussia, from being the foremost among

German military

powers, had become on e

of

least.

The mobilization of 1813 b eg an o n 9

Februa

when the

royal

authorities in th e tempora

capital

at

Breslau

declared conscription

for

t

r eg ul ar a rm y. Earlier still, on 28

January

[8

an A rmament Commission had been set

up

supervise Ihe

mobilization

and expansion of t

army. Its members included Hardenberg

Schar

horst

and

Hake.

It was on th at d ate t hat Scha r

horsl resumed

his

ol d

POSI at t he h ea d

of

th e

W

Department.

Royal orders for mobilization were issued

January I

February

and 2 an d 18 Mar

1813.

The

first, ironically

enough

was

in

respon

to a

French

request fo i additional troops. ga

a pretext for bringing

regiments

up to establis

ment

size

and

for

calling

up artillery pioneers

a

reservists.

By an

instruction

of 7 Fcbruary it was laid dow

that

subalterns wh o had served in 1806 and 18

were eligible for immediate promotion while

a

ca pa bl e cadet

or

suitable N .C.O. could

commissioned forthwith.


7/50

On 3

February Hardenberg had announced

the formation

of Volunteer

Jager

units,

appealing

to

the

propertied classes, who

were cxempted

from

conscription, to volunteer. This measure brought

in

young

men

of good

family,

who werc

officer

material. In the

first

months of

1813, 2,798

volunteered

and by

the

summcr

the

total had

reached 7.800. This was

not enough

to

prove

that

the best of the nat ion

were

rising spontaneously

throw

off

the

yoke

of Napoleon,

but it was

quitc enough

to

provide

a

valuable

pool

of

subaltern officers.

At

first

the

Jager, who

were required to equip

themselves, were given

preferential

treatment.

But

few commanding officers believed in anything

but the strictest disciplinc, and they had thc

Volunteers whipped

with

the same impartiality

that they

bestowed

on ordinary

recruits.

The reformers worked hard to

cnsure

that

every able-bodied man should be

liablc

to con-

scription, and

achieved

their cnd in the teeth of a

popular

press which

declared Ihat the country

was

not ready

for

such

a

burden,

and

that the

free

Prussian lands wcrc

bccoming

a police

state.

But

so

far

as

the military

authorities wcrc

concerned,

a

man

was fit

if

his front teeth met firmly enough

lO

enable him

to bilc his cartridge.

Prince Eugenc

de Beauharnais withdrew

his

French

t roops from Berlin

on

4

March.

By that

time the

alliance with Russia had been signed

(28 February and on

March

King Fredcrick

William felt bold enough

to

declare

war

on

the

French

Empire. Next

day he made

his

appeal,

6

An Mein Volk,

by

which he

set the

tone of the

w

Henceforth the struggle was nO l dynastic

b

national. In all these measures we may disc

the hand of

Scharnhorst,

who principally

pav

the

way for Blucher s

campaigns.

The opening of

hostilities

on March

18

found Ihe Prussians with the following resourc

F I E L D

ARMY

1,776 officers; 66,963

men;

20,105 hors

213

guns.

M E D I C A L T R A I N

AND

T EC H NIC A L T RO OP S

2,643

men;

3,625 horses.

S EC O ND L IN E T RO OP S

615 officers; 32,642

men;

650 horses; 56

guns

GARRIS ON

T R O O P S

398 officers; 22,277 men; 1,743 horses;

train Knechte .

Garde -J ii ge r Baual io n. G re en j

red

facing.;

g old l

R . KnCS1el)


8/50

Left: Queen Lows .

of

Prussl ; rillbt: Frederick w r

of Prussl Enll

.,ed

by

T.

Johnson

The total amounted to 127 394.2 but half the

men

were recruits

without

much training.

There

was little

artillery;

muskets were hard to

come

by

and there

were not

enough horses. Flints for

muskets

were

so s ca rc e that

the

Berlin

porcelain

factory was

ordered

to

make

t r s l ~ ones.

On 2 April a andsturmforce was brought into

being. was to be a

guerrilla army,

armed with

flails rakes pikes

and

axes

and

was

to

carry

out

a

scorched-earth

policy

upon the approach

of

the

enemy.

was

not uniformed

- indeed uniform

for

the

andslurm

was expressly

forbidden.

Students of

uniform will

observe that whereas

most units

of

Bliicher s

Army

w or e P ru ss ia n b lu e

many of their

shakos

and cartridge-belts had

a

decidedly English

appearance.

But

arms are evcn

more important

than

uniforms

and

it is

not

loo

much

to say that without English weapons

the

Prussian

Army would

have

been on the same

footing as

the andslurm By th e

end

ofJune

1813

British

arms were

arrivinR in

the

Balt ic p or ts . By

5July 40 000 muskets and million cartridg

had been

received.

Cannon,

powder,

ball wago

and

uniforms

arrived

in

quantities. Altogether t

Prussian

Army

was issued at least 13 000 Engl

muskets in time for

the

autumn campaign of 18

They

were

needed, for

by

June 1813 the Pruss

Army numbered nearly

150 000

men. T

Landwehr, recruiting

vigorously raised a

total

120 000

men by mid-July;a Lithuania,

East

a

West

P ru ss ia to

the Vistula,

20 000

men;

Prus

west of

th e

Vistula

6,620;

Silesia 49 974;

N

Mark,

7 941; Electoral

Mark Brandenbu

20 560;

Pomerania,

15 409.

In the

1815

campaign the

Prussian

Army

w

organized into Headquar ter s and

four

arm

corps. There

were no

divisions.

Each

corps

h

four

infantry

brigades each about

thc

same s

as a

French

infantry division. Each corps had t

or three brigades of

cavalry

and between

six

a

eleven

batteries

of

artillery

as well as a

compa

of pioneers.


9/50

The corps

varied

in

strength:

I

11

Infantry

29,135

27,00 2

22,275

27,459

Cavalry

2, 75

4,47

1

1,9

8

3,3 2 I

Gunners

1,0. )4

1,5

999

1,37

Guns

88

8

4

8

88

Pioneers

4

74

63

5

Total

32,568 33,048 25,318 32, 23e

will be observed

that Thielmann s

Corps

(III)

was

much weaker t han the o ther

three.

llie e tiers

FELDMARSCHALL VORWARTS

TilE AVENGING THUNDERBOLT

as Heilige

Don1/erwe/ler

GEBHARD U;RERt:CHT VON Bl UCHER (1742-1819)

was a native of Rostock, brought up in Mecklen

burg. When he

was

6

he obtained

a commission

in

the

Swedish service,

but

was soon

taken prisoner

by

the Prussian Colonel von Belling, who formed a

high

opinion

of him and took him into his

own

regiment. His piOllS commanding officer s prayer

was:

Thou

seest, dear

Heavenly Father, the sad

plight of

thy servant

Belling.

Grant him

soon a

nicc lit tle

war that

he

may bct ter

his

condition

and

continue

to praise Thy

name.

Amen. t

would be

strange if

his attitude did not influence

his subalterns.

BWeher is said to have been of a quarrelsome

nature and fond

of

drinking and gambling.

He

also seems to

have been somewhat heavy

handed and

when stationed

in

Poland is

alleged

to

have tor tured

a priest in order to extract a

confession. At a time

when

Frederick th e Great

wished

the

Poles to believe

him their benefactor

llus was unwise.

Blucher

was passed

over

for

promotion and,

resigning his commission, was

told by the

King

that he

mighl

go to the devil.

He

soon regretted his action and repeatedly applied

to return to the servicc; but in vain. Not until

Frederick

died in

1786

was Bliicher,

now

aged

44,

reinstated. He

was given the

rank of major

in his

old regiment. In

1793

he was

serving

as a colonel

8

under Duke Ferdinand of

Brunswick,

taking

p

in a number of sieges and skirmishes.

In

M

1794, aged 52, he

was

promoted major-gener

He was already known for his energy and his lo

of

excitement:

from

drilling

his squadron, wh

was quartered at a distance, he would proceed t

hare

hunt or a gay dinner

and thai same nig

perhaps,

to a

surprise

a ttack on

the enemy, or

the

laying

of an ambush for the

next morni

Slloe.ian RUloe

Battalion.

Gr_n

black

facinc_ with

pJpinS, yoellow . . .oetal buttons. Fro. . . 8


10/50

Having temporarily

silenced t he e ne my he would

enjoy himself

at

Frankfort gambling

or going

to

th e t h e a t r e ~

By

8

he

was a lieutenant-general.

In

1802 Prussia was granted a slice of the

bishopric of MUnster, an d Blucher was given

command of the occupying force. Baron Stein, the

famous s ta tc sman a n d reformer, was president o f

the organization commission,

and

b et we en t he m

they made such a good job

of

their unpopular

task

that

th e estatcs

and the

ecclesiastical

authori

tics asked the King of Prussia to ma ke Bluc her

thcir governor. Somewhat surprisingly they

had

been impressed by the old hussar s

knowledge of

local aA airs, his honesty

and

uprightness, his

amiability an d charitableness, his cleverness and

pcnctration,

and

his ability

to keep

the peace

between soldiers

and

civilians'.

$

When in 1803 Mortier occupied Hanover,

BlUcher

hastened

to Berlin,

only

to find to his

disgust

that

his

government s attitude

was

onc

of

indifferencc. 'All

thc

misfortuncs of Germany and

of the Prussian monarchy , he was to

declare

later,

are traceable to this event, at the moment so

insignificant.' From this time the words, W e

must

fight France , were constantly on BlUcher's

lips.

At Auerstadt

(14 October 1806), at

the

head of

his squadron,

he

ha d his

horsc shot

under him.

After extricating h im se lf h e asked t he King to let

him

lead

the

Gendarmes

to

th e c ha rg e. No s oo ner

had he been given permission than a counter

Qrder bade

him cover the w ithd raw al o f Hohen

lohe.

This he

succeeded in

doing.

When

Hohenlohe

surrendered

at Prenzlau

B hich er fou ght on ,

cutting his wa y through to th e

Hansa

city

o f

LUbeck, where after a s ti ff fight he was compelled

to surrender, though he was soon to be

exchanged

for Gen eral later Marsh al) Victor.

Scharnhorst, wh o ha d been with BlUcher in th e

retreat

to LUbeck,

had

discerned

in

hi m

th e

highest military

qualities.

No

other

general, in

his opinion, was fit to

head

th e

army

of resurgent

Prussia.

Y ou

ar c

our

leader

and our

hero, wrote

S ch ar nh or st , e ve n

if

yo u

have

to be carried

before or behind us on a litter. But, afflictcd by

th e disasters

of

1806, BlUcher fell sick in

body and

mind.

Boyen tells us that he

actually

believed

that

he was pregnant with an elephant , to which

Scharnhorst s

retort was that BlUcher must lead

F el d mar .cb al l

Gebhard Leberll chc von BlUcher, P

o f Wahl.tadt. Engraving b y G. Kruell

though he have a h u nd red e le ph an ts insid

him .

In

1809 Major von Schill,

on e

of

the

hero

th e

defence

o f

Colbcrg

(1806)

rose

agai nst

Fr en ch . H e was defeated

and

killed at Strals

Eleven of his officers were court-martialled

shot. A number were sent captive to Fra

branded

an d compelled to serve in the gal

Blucher,

though

in his public utterances

disavowed Schill 's action, took some goo of

survivors under his protection an d in consequ

was reprimanded by the King. For a second

he resigncd from th e Prussian service.

To

Gneisenau he wrote:

G od knows

with w ha t gr ief

I

quit

a stale

an army in which I h av e b ec n ror fifty year

breaks my heart to abandon a

master

for wh

w ou ld h av e given my life a thollsand times.

all th e same, by God in Heavcn, I will stan

more slights I will no t be treated as a su

annuated commander.

l l n g ~ r

me n shall

no

placed ahead of me the King docs not m

up his

mind,

if we take no steps to

break


11/50

Scharnhorst .

Froan a anedalllon

by L.

POlich

chains

- well, those who will may wear them,

not I I have sacrificed

everything

ror

the state;

1 leave it as one

quits

the world,

poor, naked,

and barco But I shall go, wherever it be, with a

quiet conscience and

accompanied by

many

honest rolk.

is said

that he

actually

oncred

his

sword

to

the

Austrian

Archduke Charles, but the King assured

BlUcher orhis COIHinucd conl ldence and promoted

him gencr.d or cavalry. Gradually the old man s

wrath

subsided. Sti ll , throughout 1809 he was

urging

the King to

throw in his lot with

Austria

nd arter Wagram he did not hesitatc

to

reproach

Frederick William ror not having dOlle so.

During the debacle or 1806 and all the misror

tunes

that

rollowed, Prussian morale, albeit a

reebte flame, had been sustained to some

extent

by the grijcious,

brave

and charming Queen

Louise, who was twice

the

marl

lhat

Frederick

William was. Her sad and

early

death deprived

the

Prussian

court

or

its

chid

ornamcnt.

pro

voked a characteristic explosion rrom General

BlUcher:

I am as ir struck by lightning The pride

or

womanhood has departed rrom the earth. God

in Heaven, it must be that she was too good for

us How is i t possible ror such a succession or

misfortunes to rail un a state In

my

present

mood I should be pleased to

hear tha t

the earth

had caught fire at all four

corners

At this

time Blucher

was in command

a

Colberg,

busy with the fortifications and wilh

training reserves. The French consul at Stcuin

discovered

that

he

had

7,000

men re

than

he

was allowed and

apoleon s ambassador

de

manded his dismissal. On

I I

November 1811 the

King

wrote

explaining

this in as rr iendly a rashion

as he ventured to, sending him 2,000 thalers ro

his travelling expenses, and adding, I have it in

mind to place

yOll

in a position to

renew

you

ac tivity so soon as

there

shall an opportunity.

At 6g BlUcher

can

scarcely have

thought

it likely

that he

would

reemployed.

BlOcher withdrew to Stargard where he spen

the winter

or

1811 12 While the French

were

invading Russia he remained unemployed, com

plaining

that, with Prussia subjected by treaty to

France, All

is

lost and honour too . But with

the

ncws that

the

rande Arnde

had

been crippled

excitement rosc. Early in

January

1813 Bluche

wrote

[

Scharnhorst:

I am

itching

in every finger to

grasp the

sword.

If

his Majesty,

our

King,

ir

all the othe

German princes, if

the

nation as a whole do no

now rise and sweep rrom German territory the

whole rascally French brood together with

tapol

eon

and all his crew, then it seems to me

that no German is any

longer

worthy or the

name.

tis now the

moment

to do what I was

already advising in 1809;

namely, to

call

the

whole nation

to

arms

and

to

drive

out

those o

the

princes who refuse and who place

them

selves in

opposition

even as we shall drive ou

Bonaparte. This

is not

a

question

or Prussia

alone

but or

reuniting the

whole

German

Fatherland and rebuild ing the nat ion.

What Blucherwas bluntly expressing in hissoldierly

prose, was

already being

SLing

by

the

pacts or

the

War or Liberation, among

them

Moritz Arndt:

path

r

freedom Purify

the

soil

The German soil oh deanse it with thy blood

At first Frederick William hoped to preserv

peace with France on

the

principle or Live and

let live , but

by

23 February Scharnhorst

Hardenberg

and others

had made up

his

mind

ro

him. He would venture to break with Napoleon

Three days

later

he wrote

to

Blucher:

I have

determined to place you in command o

those

troops

that are to the first to take th


12/50

field. ] order you

accordingly

to mobilize here

as speedily as possible.

The importance of the

commission

thus

entrusted 1 you will convince

you

of

the confidence

feel in

your military

e x ~ r i e n c e and in your

patriotism.'

Blucher's Army of Silesia look the field

early

in

April,

drove

in

the French

outposts, crossed

the

Elbe and set up his headquarters in

Dresden.

From

the

first

bartle

of

the campaign,

LOtzen

(2

May),

his

mixture

of

iron

nerve

and

dash

built

up

rhe Blocher legend.

'Blucher, with

the

utmost

i m ~ r t u r b b i l i t y

re

mained,

for the

mOSI

part at points of more or

lessdanger,

indefatigably smoking

his pipe.

When

it was smoked to the

end

he would hold it out

behind him

and call

Schmidt whereupon

his

Olderly would hand him

one

freshly filled and

the old gentleman smoked

away

at his case.

Once we

haired

for a time

qui le ncar

a Russian

battery

and

a shell fell right in front

of

liS.

Everyone

shouted: Your

Excellency, a shell

' ' 'Well, leave the hellish thing alone said

BlOcher

calmly.

There he stood until it

burst;

then

and

not till then

did

he

change

his position.'

About 4 o'clock he led a desperate attack on the

corps

of

Ney

and Marmont and

in

the

fighting

that

followed his horse was shot under him and he

was

hit

in Ihe side by a bullet. As the

surgeon

examined the wound BlUcher feared the worst,

but, learning that

it was

11 t

serious, scarcely

had

the

patience to

let himself be bandaged before

mounting

and

dashing back

into the fray. In the

last

cavalry attack,

made after dark by a man of7_

who

had

been

in

the

saddle

since dawn, he got

within 200

yards

of

Napoleon's

command post,

and

so imposed upon

the Emperor's imagination

that he let the Allies depart

unmolested.

LUtzen

was

not much

of a victory for the

French,

who lost

22,000

men

to the 11,50 casualt ies of the Allies.

As

Blucher elegantly expressed i t,

'The

French

may

make wind as

much

as they please; they are

not likely to forget the

2nd

of May.'

The Tsar,

full of

admiration,

bestowed

the

Cross of St

George

upon Blucher for his services

on this occasion, speaking

of

his

'splendid

habit of

always

being

present at the point of

greatest

danger

.'

But

despite his

bravery

at LOtzen,

Bautzen

and Hanau the old gentleman had his

critics. He was too

old;

he was out of date; he

had

been out of his

mind;

he had little experienc

handling large

forces; he knew little of strat

or tactics.

He could

not converse with his Rus

colleagues

either

in Russian or

French.

He

fond ofgambling and o f the bottle.

Even

if

all or

some

of these charges

contai

an

element

of

truth

BlUcher's virtues outweig

them.

He

alone had the will-power, the drive,

optimism, the sheer guts

to carry his raw a

forwards. His quickness

of

decision, his presenc

mind under

fire,

more

than made up for his

c

tempt

for

planning and cartography. With

a

C

of Staff like

Gneisenau

to work out the detai

was a positive advantage to lhe Prussians

BlUcher did not concern himselfwith the minu

of

military administration.

'Gneisenau,

being

my chief of

staff

and

very

liable,

reports

to me on the manceuvres that

~ ; ; ' _ ~ - : ' ' ' ' ' ' _ ' ' ' ' ' ' _ o L i l . ' f j -

The Bnuo.deDb , I:

Cwratls ler

RepmeDI . The

sUneD

ra ised a t e r Tn. i ,

rro

....

the

r maiDS o r . u .

heavy

ca

r e pmeD 'S, a nd

(ousht

In th e campaJ'1lII

o(

.81) .....d

at

Baul>len,

n ... .. .den,

Kuhn, Le lp z i. a nd elsewhere.

I

d . . - a a

whJte

coa 'ee

waa wo rn .

On

c ampa J p

office. . .

th blue jack t kao aa

the

l ~ i b o c l c td the men w

blue litnlc

with r td

( adn .a . With the

white c

U.hl

btue

raci.roa:s were

worn. The . . .

ddle-doths ar

with } -lIow lr i ....mi R Knl>tel)


13/50

to be executed

and the marches

that

are

to be

performed. Once convinced that he

is

right I

drive my troops

through

hell towards

the

goal

and never stop until the object has been achieved

- yes,

though

officers of the old school

may

sulk

and

bellyache to the

point

of

mutiny.'

Above all Blocher had the great virtue that,

i le he detested

Napoleon,

he was not impressed

him.

'Let him do his worst: said he after

'he

is

really

nothing but

a

dunderhead.'

Blucher for his part was not merely a

blunt

Arndt, who met him in April 1813,

saw

in his face

'the

cunning

of

a hussar,

e

play

of features sometimes extending up into

s eyes, and

something of

a marten listening for

prey'.

Wenzel

Krimer

(1795-1834), an

Austrian

who

ought in Lutzow's Freikorps

at Lutzen and

tzen tells

us something

of Blucher's

technique

f

command.

rooper,

Ufes:uard,

1 09

White

u.uform,

re d

(adaS_ aDd

rey

ove

....

lIs.

From

a d ....win.

by

I.

Wolf,

en.....ved

by

F.

u e l

' Blucher, although he might

readily

ove

look indiscipline among

brave

soldiers,

cam

down

very severely on weaklings and usuall

punished

them

by his caustic

humour

or b

personal example.

Thus

it frequently

happene

that,

if

he met stragglers

along

the line of march

he would

dismount

and proceed on foot, wit

them

walking in front

of him. Or

he would

orde

them

to

stick wisps of straw in

their

shakos an

they

would then be

escorted by

cavalrymen

t

their regiments, decorated as men of

straw.

'Whenever he passed a

battalion

which h

knew to

be

a

brave

one, he

would

not allow h

staff

to take

up the

middle

of the road. So as no

to

impede

those on

the march, he

preferred

t

ride to

one

side, and he

greeted everyone

cord

ally

and

made

enquiries about

everything.

there was a shortage of rat ions, we were certai

to

find an adequate

supply

all

ready

laid out i

the open

street in

the

next village: every man a

he passed by was allowed to help

himself

as h

liked.

'BlOcher's usual

greeting

was

Good morning

children even in the evening. To this th

soldiers would respond with,

Hurrah, Fathe

BlOcher

'He had

his weaknesses, certainly,

bu t

thes

did

little

damage

to his many virtues.

ofte

happened that, as soon as

evening

came or

whe

otherwise in bivouac, a

drum had to brough

over, and he would

throw

dice with the fir

officers who

came

along.

Ifhe

won a

few

thalers

he was as

delighted

as a child and would strok

his grey moustache and

grin;

while

if

he lo

(and

he often lost a

great deal

of money) h

would laugh at himself. But, s trange to relate

the very

thing

he himself

did

so passionately h

forbade to the soldiers: they were not allowe

to

play

for

money or ,

at least, must never b

caught doing SO,'1

Captain Fritz a fellow

Mecklenburge

who had been at

Auerstadt,

with

the King

German

Legion in the Peninsula, and had th

Cross of

St

George and the

scar of

a

lance woun

as souvenirs

of

Borodino, was well received

whe

he called on Blucher

early

in 1813.

Vhen

I called on

our

old hussar general, h

was cheerful as always and displayed that

rar

joviality

with

which

he always knew

how to

wi


14/50

the hearts of those around him. He was just

having a good brea kfas t of bread and ham and a

few

bottles of Hungarian wine, to which he

had

invited several Russian generals

under

his

command, when I was permitted to enter.

t

is

indeed a

great

pleasure,

Captain,

to see

you a ga in. How the deuce did you acquire that

memento

on your

check? He talked in this

friendly manner and shook my

hand

vigorously.

Take

your

things

off and

drink

a glass

of

wine

with us

and

tell

us what

you have been

doing

in

the world since I last saw you. You

are

said to

have

got

around

quite

a bit ,

he

went on, giving

me a large glass of the Hungarian wine. Drink

up he ur ged.

This is

good wine, such as we

do not have the chance of tas ting e ve ry day.

He introduced me to the Russian generals as the

grandson

of

an old

comrade

in

arms and the

son

of an officer of his regiment who had been a dear

friend

of

his. I

had to

sit

down

at

table

and

tell

them about Wellington and the English, and it

was so cheerful

and pleasant

that

the

few hours

which our breakfast took slipped by very quickly

for me. The General was still the same man

whom I

had

known before;

rank,

fame

and

years

had not affected him in the slightest. He laughed,

joked

and

also swore like

any

good hussar officer,

and for everyone, high or low, general or cor

poral, he

had

a c oa rse

joke,

an

apt

jest, but also,

if

he

thought

necessary, a rebuke.

This

un

affected joviality, which nothing put off, was of

inestimable value to the Army of Silesia and

helped subst ant ial ly to impr ove it and to

6t

it

for great deeds.

Despite his affability Blucher could be heavy

handed, s the Saxons were to find when they

mutinied

in

1815.

The most perceptive analysis

of

Blucher s

character comes from General Karl von Muffling

1775-1851),

the Hanoverian

who was to play

an

important

part

as liaison officer with Wellington s

Headquarters

at

Waterloo.

Despite a sharp, penetrating intellect Blucher

had

received no s ys te ma tic

education; only

in

contac t with other peopl e, fi ndi ng hi msel f

on

good terms with everyone, acting firmly and

with great tact, his inexhaustible cheerfulness

and his modest , good-natured behaviour won

him friends whe re ve r he went. He never despised

G ~ a d i ~ r Fooc

Guard. ,

1809.

Blue uniform,

red

Cacb

rk

rey

breec:he

. From

a d

. . .

wlnl

by

I.

Wolf,

eUI ,v

by

F. JUlel

knowledge, nor did he overestimate it. He talk

frankly about the neglect of his upbringing, b

he also knew very well what

he

could achie

without this education. His imperturbabil

in dangerous situations, his tenacity in misf

tune, and his courage whi ch g rew under dif

culties were based on an awareness of his physi

strength,

which he

had

often used in

hand-

hand

fighting during earlier campaigns.

In

t

way he had gradually convinced himself th

Ulere was no military predicament from whi

one could no t ultimately extricate oneself

fighting, man to man. He had no very hi

opinion of

any

officer who

did not share

t

view.

'In his opinion courage produced a mi li ta

reputation, and

it s ee med to him impossible th


15/50

Officer C

F

ilie.r Sattallon

18ol}. T h e

t ul i f onn

bl .. e with

red

faclalJ. aD d silver lace. Fro m a p r i o t o f

th e

period

drawD by I. W ol f aD d r lJrtlVed by F. l d

a brave man could lose such a reputation.

He

was never troubled by

th e

slightest apprehension

that a

retreat

or a lost

battle

could take

away

his

own reputation.

Thus

th e wish to command large

armies was quite alien to him: as a field-marshal

he pu t himself

at

the head

of

a squadron as

readily as

at

t he h ea d of an

army.

He trusted the officers of his

staff

on ly when

he c onsidered the m e ntcrpris ing; bu t once they

had

earned

this

trust

he

gave

it

unreservedly.

He allowed them to pu t forward

their

pla ns for

marche s, positions

and

battles, he

grasped

everything quickly,

an d

if he ha d given

them

his

approval and signed th e relevant orden he would

accept no outside advice, an d no expressions of

a la rm m ad e

the slightest impression

on

hi m

We have now arrived at th e dawn of th e

cam-

paigns whic h made Blucher s reputation.

From

this t ime his hist or y s that

of

his army. Suffice it

to

ad d

that he was made a f ield-marshal a

Leipzig an d inJuly 1814 - des pite his own oppo

t ion - Pr ince Bl ucher von Wahlstadt. Everythin

he

wrote , will

d ep en d o n

the so rt of principa

I

am

to receive in Silesia. Under no circumstan

will I consent to add

on e

more to th e horde

sickly, hungry princes:

GENERAL HANS

DAVID

LUDWIG

YORe K VON WART

BURG 1759-1830). Y o r d was comm issi oned

the Prussian

Army

at

th e ag e

of

13,

but go t

hims

cashiered before he

h ad h ad

two yean service.

accused a

brother

officer of stealing while

campaign. This deli cate case in mi litary law w

summarily dismissed by no less an authority th

Frederick the Great who wrote, Plundering

no t stealing. Yorck ca n go to the devil - a c

history that soldiers would bc unwise to take a

precedent.

Lieutenant Yorck was now compelled to se

his fortune

abroad an d

served in Ceylon with

French regiment

in

th e pay of th e Dutch E

India Company. On Frederick s death

he

rejoin

th e Pr ussian A rm y, rising to command a Jag

regiment

an d

was noted as an

expert train

With

his customary awkwardness

he

declin

th e coveted order our e iritesaying that

wanted to win it on the field of battle and no t o

parade ground.

In

1806 Yorck,

b adl y wo un de d

was tak

prisoner

in

Blucher s defence

of Lubeck.

When apoleon invaded Russia a Pruss

contingent

under Yorck s erve d under

Mars

Macdonald

in his

advance on

Riga. He c

eluded the Convention of T: lUroggen with

Russians 30 D ec em be r 1812), an d by so do

made thc first move in th e

War

of Liberation

which th e people of

Germany

lhrew

of f

th e yo

of Napoleon.

Beyond question Yorek was a difficult custom

and

though

competent and upright

a b

subordinate.

He was known to th e men

s

der

hegrim which, though it means

l he

old man w

th e iron helmet s the centuriesold nickna

given to the wolf in German folklore.

He

w

merciless to looters,

stragglen

an d campfollowe

Lie ulenantColone l Ludwig von Reiche give

balanced picture

of

this remarkable officer.

Ahhough General Y o r d

could

often be ba

tempercd

an d

even harsh he could also be

ju


16/50

as kind, and really charmcd peoplc in this way.

He had

a high

degrce

of subtlcty

in his

mind,

and

a tinge of slyness cxpressed itself in his

spiritcd facc especially

when

he was in a

good

humour

an d his peculiar sarcastic smile

showed

itself. Yet he ha d a

t en de r h ea rt

susceptible to

friendship.

As a

subordinate,

however, Yorck was very

disobedient

and

difficult to

handle,

which with a

character

like his

is

no t

to

be w ondered

at.

That Yorck was ad mi red a nd could be

quite

charming is exemplified hy an

incident

d ur in g t he

Frellch

retreat

to

t he R hi ne after

Leipzig. Colonel

Coullt Henckel von

Donnersmarck, th e com

mander of Yorck s

advance

guard, with

tw o

regimcnts of cavalryd rescued

Austrian

officers an d 4,000 men,

taken

at

Dresden,

wh o

wefe

being marched into

captivity

by two

Polish

battalions.

When

he

reported

to Yorck,

th e

General took

offhis cap an d

said to his

entourage,

Gentlemen,

le t

us give

Count

Henckel a cheed

These

words, wrote th e

Count,

spokcn

at this

mOment an d by this

man,

I valued

more

than

if

I

had been

decorated

with some order.

BlOcher, who

had

to

pu t up with

a

good deal

from

th e Wolf , said o f h im : Y or ck is

a waspish

fellow;

he

docs

n ot hi ng b ut

argue, but

when he

attacks, then he gets stuck in like nobody else.

Not

too

ba d an

epitaph

for de lte

segrim

G EN ER A L

WILIIELM

B U LO W

VO N D E N N E W I T Z (1755

18t6).

Colonel Hermann von Boyen

1771-1848),

who was at

on e

lime his Chief of Staff, describes

the General thus:

Bolow ha d a vcry keen glance an d an excel

lent

memory;

a bold selfconfidencc guidcd his

steps,

bu t this made him mostly an opponent of

his

superiors an d

a

rather uncomfortable sub

ordinatc. Without

being

strictly

trained

as a

scholar, t he G en er al ha d

acquired

a respectable

fund of

knowledge

in many fields. He ha d a

passionate love of music and had established a

reputation

as a composer

The General ha d

u nd er st oo d t he

events of

the time

in a

liberal

spirit; his views

on war

were mainly

derived

from

the Seven

Years War and our earlier

military institutions [i.e. the legacy of Frederick

t he G re at ) an d

therefore

he had

been

among th e

opponents

of Scharnhorst even before th e wa

However, his

practical understanding

led

hi

almost unconsciously to

grasp th e nature 1

th

new

war [of

1813].

Although

very susccptib

to fame, he

placed

very l it tlc value on

outwa

distinctions, he was

not

self-seeking, an d

esteemed people irrespective of their opinions

In th e Watcrloo campaign th e other

thr

corps commanders

were:

I.

L ie uten an t-Ge ne ra l Han s

Ernst

Karl

Gr

von Zieten II (1770-d1413). He ha d com

manded

a division in

the

Leipzig

campaig

II.

Major-General

George

Dlibislaw

Ludw

Pirch I. He was 52 :lIld

came

ffom Magd

burg.

III.

Licutenant-General Johann

A do lf F re ih c

\ on Thielemann. He was 50 and had led t

Saxon

cavalry

fighting for Napoleon

Borodino in 1812.

is

well known

that

Wellington

cared

bUl lit

how his officers dressed

when

on

campaign,

an

saw

nothing

objeclionable in

Si r

Thomas Picto

taking his division into action to p

hat

on hcad an

umbrella

in

hand.

does

I t

seem that Bluche

F r e de r i c k Wilhelm BUlow

v on O en ne witz .

F r om

e n g ra v i n g by

T .

J o b n ..on


17/50

staff

was

much more

d res sy . Hi s ow n

turn-out

with c lo ak an d forage cap was

practical

rather

than showy. A

great

differencc ha d crept in s in ce

the days

of 1806 when

Yorck

ha d ta ken the

field

with his kit

packed

in a

wagon and

a l ig ht ch ai se .

He took with

him two

extra uniforms,

t en p ai rs

of

gloves, four pairs of trousers an d waistcoats, an

extra hat

cloaks, a n a bu nd an ce of personal

cloth

ing, four pai rs of

leather

breeches, fifteen pairs of

stockings,

eight

nightgowns, five nightcaps,

three

table-cloths, thirty-six napkins, a mattress, five

pillows, a

red

silk bcd-cover,

tw o

bedpans a set of

china an d silver, cooking utensils, a coffee-grinder,

eight

razors, twelve glasses,

an d

twenty-five

bottles

of

liquor.

o

On 5 October 1813 an incident

took place

which illustrates

th e

new

attitude towards turn-out

an d what

now

vulgarly known

as bull . Boyen

is once more ou r aul1lOrity.

While

they were

marching

through

Dessau

there occurred another

source of

annoyance

for

t he C ro wn

Prince. Bnlow look

very

little

trouble

over his dress, in glaring

contrast

to

th e Cr own

Pr inc e, w ho

devoted

every possible

care

to this

s ub je ct . We ha d 11 0 idea Ihat the

Crown

Prince,

who

had never

once

bothered about th e

troops

throughout the ca mp ai gn o r shown

h im se lf to

them

was

proposing

to

make

an exception here.

A nd so Riilow, wearing his sel vice ovcrcoat an d

a

rather dilapidated

field-cap, rode

at the head

of his troops

on

a small Polish horse.

Suddenly

we

heard that the Crown Prince

was

waiting

a

few

yards

away in

the

slrcets of Dessau in order

to let th e corps parade

past

him. With the best

will in

th e

world

there

was no

time

to

a lt cr a ny

thing. llnlow

drew

his sword

and just

as

he

was,

led his t ro op s p as t

th e

Commanderin-Chiefwith

all possible

honours of

war.

However

this was a

stab

through

th e heart

for

th e

C ro wn P ri nc e.

H e r eg ar de d it

as a

per

sonal slight to

th e

respect

due

to hi m, but instead

of s ay in g so

direct

he called

me over

and in a

voice which everyone

round could hear he

mixed r ep ro ac he s

about

this clothing offence

with

the

old recital

of

all B ul ow s real

or

alleged

sins. As

can

well be

imagined

1 found myself in

a most

embarrassing situation and when he

r ev er ted to

the sartorial error

I replied a trifle

rudely that

this ha d been

the

service dress in o m

army

since

th e time

of

Frederick th e Grea

whereupon

I was dis mi ss ed.

In

fact,

part

of

m

answer was a lic, because

the

Prussian offic

has only our

present

monarch

to

thank for

th

dress specially made for campaigning. ll

Thc

Crown

Prince

was,

of

course,

JeallBaptist

Jules Bernadotte on e

of

Napoleon s

marsha

wh o

was

no w

at

t he h ea d of th e

Swedish Army.

GENERAL AUGUST G RA F N E IT H AR D T VON GNEISENA

1760-1831). Born in Saxony the son of a lie

tenant

in

the

artillery

Gneisenau joined t

Austrian

service,

then transferring

to

that

Anspach-Bayreuth

was

sent

to

America

in

17

fight for

King

George I I I

against

his rebellio

colonists. Too late for the

war

he returned

Europe where in 7B he

joined

th e Prussi

Army

as a

staff captain. In IB 6

he

commanded

battalion at

Saalfeld

an d at Jena. In IB 7

greatly distinguished

himself by

his

tenacio

defence of th e fortress

of

Kolberg an explo

which won him th e h ighes t P ru ss ia n orde

Pour

Meritt

and soon b ec am e l eg en da ry

German

history -

Hit ler h ad

a film

made of

when the tide

turned

against hi m

in

t he S ec o

W or ld W ar .

G ne is cn au h at ed

the

Russians and

mistrust

the English, but he got on splendidly wi

BlOcher

who needed someone

to

do

his

staff

wor

Friedrich

von

Schubert an

officer in

th e Austri

se rvi ce, tells us that

Gneisenau

w as a

highly

gifted and clever man of

spi

and energy. He

virtually

commanded

th e

Arm

of

Silesia,

yet

he

could no t h av e d on e

this in h

ow n name. For

on e

thing he

was

not

ye t s en

enough

in

rank;

for

another

public

opini

d em an de d th at BlUcher s

name

celebrated

Prussia, should

be

at

the head Relatio

between

Bli.icher and his Chief of Staff

were

mo

excellcnt.

Both

men were

fired

by hatred

the French.

Bu t

th e

on e

wh o could

only concei

of Vorwar{s had complete confidence in

t

outstanding

abilities of

the o the r

to whom

he

l

all

arrangements

for th e

advance

and

accept

personal responsibility for this.

In 1814 th e

University

of Oxford conferred

Blncher the h on or ar y d egr ee of doctor. At

dinner given in his

honour the

Field-Marsh

said:

Now if

you

have made

me a

doctor

th


18/50

Gnellu,n u.

rom

med lUon

by L. POIIc:b

Gneisenau

must

be made at least

an

apothecary.

Ernst

Moritz

Arndt 1769 1860), a Professor of

History

and

Philology, writes:

Gnciscnau was a

man

of fifty-two

when

first

saw

him

during

the winter

of 1812, but

he

looked

like a

thirty-year-old

in bearing, walk and

gestures. His figure was

imposing,

his

limbs

like

those of a lion, and he had broad shoulders and

chest.

From the

hips to

the

soles

of

his feet every

thing

was strong,

roundcd

and,

wherever

it

should be

delicate

- the feet andjoints-dclicatcly

and supply formed.

He stood

and movcd

like a

born hero. A noble

head crowned

this powerfuli\

built

body

of above average

height:

the brow

was open, broad and serene, his dark hair grew

thick, he had

the most beaut iful ,

large, blue

eyes, which could look and nash with equal

friendlincss or disdain, a straight nosc, full lips,

a

round chin, and

an expression

ofmanliness and

beauty in all his features. The forehead bore a

long,

hcaled-up scar. This scar , he

used to say

with a smile, often makes me angry or bored,

when

people

want to know

in

which

battle

received the wound, and 1 have to send them

away

with

the

dusty

answer:

A foal was th e

hero

who scarred the lad.

This fine man

had

a passionate and fiery

nature, and

bold

impulses and thoughts

flowed

incessantly to and fro within him. And if he d

occasionally - a

rare occurrence

for him -

into a half-dreamy,

brooding

state of exhausti

his face likewise

radiated

a

bubbling, spirit

animation which seldom left his features

repose. Consequently,

the

very handsome f

was difficult to take in and portray in its m

peculiar, positive significance, and

anyone

w

kncw

Gneisenau was dissalisfied wilh

a

portrait

or

engraving

of

him.

Another intellectual, Henrik

Steffens

(177

1845), who served on his staff, found Gneisenau

blend

of

noble

pride

and real humility, of conf

cnce and modesty

_He

discerned

in Gneisena

respect for higher intellectual training, b

thoughl he lacked the agility of mind, the

rea

wit and the pungent irony which distinguish

many of

the outstanding

senior officers ofhis day

Gneiscnau was a stern and unbcnding warri

but

not

lacking

in

heart.

On

19

October

1813

A.D.C.,

Captain Stosch,

rode

with

him

across

corpses of the Silesian Landwehr un the battlefi

of

Mockern

which

Yorck had

taken

on

the

16

watched

Gncisenau s

solemn face, :md as

said

to me,

Victory was bought wi th Gcrm

blood

at

gre: l1

cost, at

vcry grea t cost ,

a

t

trickled down f rom his eye. was the only lea

ever

saw

him shed.

u

He

was

made i t count

for

services in Ihc Leipzig campaign.

Gneisenau played

a decisive

pari

in Ihe 1

campaign and by his relentless pursuit of

rmieu Nord

on

the

night

aftcr

Waterloo

show

himself as much a man of action as a staff offic

The pursuil

he

described as die r in Klapperja

a mad chase, and laler declared

that

it was

most

glorious

night of his lifc. Gncisenau died

cholcra

in

August

1831.

MAJOR-GENERAL KARL

VON

CLAUSEWITZ (17

1831).

Clausewitz

was

born

at

Magdeburg

June

1780, and entered the )russian

Army

a

Falmenjunker (cadet) when he was 12.

He

serv

on the Rhine in 1793 and 1794 and

afler

the si

of Mainz

was commissioned.

From 18 1

10 1803 he was a student at

Berlin

Military

School, then under

Ihe direct

of General Scharnhorst, who was struck by

ability.

Clausewitz

for his part took

Scharnho

as his model.

He

passed out first wilh the Gene


19/50

on his

breadth

of vision, and obtaining

im a posting as

A.D.C.

to Prince August

of

At the battle

of

Auerstiidt Clausewitz led a

battalion in the

assault on Poppel.

Prince Au gu st s battalion was with

Prince

Hohenlohe s

rearguard in the retreat

that

fol

owed, an d when

surrender

was

imminent

tried

to fight its

way out.

Arter beating o ff several

French

cavalry

attacks

it was trapped in a bog

nd

taken. Prince August

and

Clausewitz were

prisoners

of wa r

until 1809.

On

his

return

from

France

C la us ew it z was

appointed to Scharnhorst s staff an d played

a pa n

in his

reorganization of

th e Prussian

Army.

At this

p er io d h e

became

a friend

of

Gneisenau.

In

1810

Clausewitz

became

a member of th e Prussian

General

Staff an d a professor at the Military

School, as well as military

instructor

to the

Crown

Prince

of

Prussia, later King Frederick William IV .

In 1812, when N apoleon took a Prussian c orp s

to

Russia, Clausewitz

along

with some 300

of

his

brother officers resigned

their

commissions and

the Russian service,

where

he was

A.D.C.

to the Prussiall General Ernst von Pfull 177

1866).

He

was at Borodino and was w it h

Milora

dovich s rearguard covering the Russian with

drawal. In Napoleon s retreat

from Moscow

Clausewitz served with

Gen eral Wiu ge ns te in

Corps. fell to his lot to playa decisive part in th

negotiations with Yorck that led to

th e Conventio

of Tauroggen.

In 1813 Clausewitz, still in th e Russian servic

was liaison officer at Blocher s headquarters, an

in 1814 he was

Chief of Staff

to

Ge ner al Wa

moden s

Corps.

In

1815 he

re-entered

th e Prussia

Army and served as Chief of Staff to Gener

Thielemann

Ill

Corps) at Ligny

an d Wavre.

In 1818 Clausewitz was promoted

majo

general

and made Director of th e

Berlin

Milita

School, a n a pp oi nt me nt

which

gave him

time

devote

himself to his writings. In 1830 he w

tr an sfe rr ed to

th e

artillery

at

Breslau

and

December of

that year, when

wa r

with

Franc

appeared imminent, he was appointed Chief

Staff

to

Gneiscnau.

They

were

both

victims

of th

cholera

epidemic

of 1831.

This is no t th e

place

to

analyse Clauscwitz

theories on

th e ar t of

war. In addition

to

his

gre

work, On

War

3 vols.), he w rot e stu die s

of

Th

Ilalian Campaign q 9 ; The Campaigns

Switzerland and Italy 799 2

vols.),

the cam

paigns

of

1812, 1813

an d

1814;

an d

The

Wa/eTl

Campaign Among

a

number of papers

on

th

campaigns of

G us tav us Adolphus, Turenn

Luxembourg,

Frederick the Great an d others, th

most important was

on e

on

th e debacle of

180

This was published

by

th e

German General

Sta

in 1888.

The German h l i l ~ k r i of

1939

an d

19

followed th e classic

German strategy

hammere

ou t by Blucher, bu t

recorded,

analysed an

d eve lo pe d by C la use wi tz ,

and

handed down

the

elder

Moltke an d by Schli eRen. Yet Claus

witz wr ote not

only

for soldiers

bu t

for Slatesme

an d

his legacy

is lO

b e found

e ns hrin ed n ot

on

in Bismarck s policy

of

Blood and Iron, but

Hitler s A ein Kampf

GRAF AUGUST

LUDWIG

FERDINAND

VON

NOSTI

1777-1866). Blocher s

A.D.C.

was

Graf

Augu

von Nostitz.

The

son of a Saxon

cavalry gener


20/50

he had

served in a

dragoon

regiment. As a

captain

he was with BlOcher at Leipzig, and

accompanied

him to England in 1814. As a lieutenantcolonel

he

coolly rescued

the

old field-marshal

when he

was

pinned under

his

dead

horse

at

Ligny.

Nostitz,

aged

75

and by then

a

general

of

cavalry,

carried

Blocher s

baton

at

Wellington's

funeral in

1852. He kept a diary which has been

published.

Nostitz

showed

his p re se nc e of mind not only

at

Ligny

but at

Leipzig,

when

on 18

October)

the

Allies were

entering the

city

and Blocher

was

leading up

troops from a Russian corps wilh

impatient

cries of'Vorw;irts, vorw;irts,

Kinder '

'A Russian general,

of

whose

bravery

BHicher

had no great opinion, protested about the

personal

danger

to

which

BlOcher was

exposing

himself;

but Blucher paid

no

attention, and

r en ew ed his

shouts

of Vorwarts

inspiring

his

troops to advance

more

rapidly still.

At

this

moment

my

horse

shied:

it

had

been

hit by a

bullet. The Russian

general, not icing

this,

drew Blucher s

a tten tion to the

fact as a

proof of

his

earlier

assertion

that

BlOcher wa s

within

range

of bullets.

BlOcher turned peevishly

round

and asked,

Nostitz,

is

your

horse

wounded?

' ' ' I 'm not aware

of

it ,

was

my

reply.

'A t

the gate the General remarked, That

was

clever of

you,

Nostitz, telling a lie about

your

horse s

wound.

If

you

had

said

'Yes',

then our

good

friend would probably

have

gone to

pieces. 'lt

STAFF

The Headquarters

Staff

under

von

Grolmann

numbered

only six officers. The remainder

of the

Army Staff

numbered fortynine

and

ineluded the

officer commanding the artil lery, the

commandant

of Headquarters,

surveyors, surgeons,

an auditor,

the

provostmarshal

and others. In

all

the

Prussian

Headquarters amounted

t o f if ty e ig ht

officers.

A

corps staff

comprised

about twenty

officers

and a

brigade staff about

five.

The officers of

the

Army Headquarters

included

Lieloltenant-Colonel Count von Nostitz, Blocher's

A.D.C. who gallantly rescued

his

general at

Ligny, j ~ r von Winterfeldt, who was severely

wounded when,

while taking an

import

mes sage t o

Wellington, he

imprudently

rode

near

the

French

outposts; Captain von Wuss

and Captain von

Scharnhorst.

At

Leipzig

Yorck's staff included

Colo

Katzcler, Major

Count

Brandenburg and Ma

von

Schack.

In

the

same battle

Gneisena

A.D.C. was Captain Stosch.

The

three armies engaged

in

the

1815

campa

were

led respectively

by

a

gunner, an infan

officer

and

a

cavalryman. Each showed

a

decid

pen h nt for his old arm. Bhichcr was

the caval

man, and, despite his years and his heavy r

ponsi bil iti es as

Commander-in.Chicf,

thou

nothing

of

leading

cavalry

charges

in person

wcakness

which nearly brought complete

disas

on at

least

one

occasion.

InJune

1808

the

Prussian

cavalry

was 12,8

strong,

including 535 officers

and

1,766

N.C.O

Since

the whole army

only numbered 5 0,4 7 t

was a reasonable proportion of mounted tf

but since 4,634 of the men

were

on more or

permanent

leave,

the regiments can

scarc

have been

in a very high state of efficiency.

Wh

i n 1813

the

Prussian

Army

was

expanded

t o s o

'100,000, serious difficulties

were

encountered.

Narrow eBcape

of

Blucher

a t Ul(ny. Trapped

under

dead horBe, he BeeB the 9th Cui ras si e rs

charl(e

paBt h

i A.D.C.,

Graf Nostilz, haB d lBmounted to

defend

h

From a print by Wolf and von Maner


21/50

At regimemal

and squadron level, cavalry

tactics in

Blucher s

Army were much the same as

in those of his contemporaries. Their tasks may

e

summed l p

as rcconnaissest uni ts were as good as the ilite regiments

f

Napoleon s

cavalry.

Nor were

they

anything

as well mounted or equipped as th e British

nd

King s German

Legion

cavalry

of th e

day.

n th e Waterloo campaign Blucher s cavalry

numbcrcd

I 1,948. This was

not

a

particularly

iberal

provision.

20


22/50

Officers

N.C.O.s

Musicians

Surgeons

Troops

Me n

on

leave

No r di d he have any great cavalry co mm and er at

his disposal.

He

lacked a Seydlitz to take a

grip

on

th e whole mass of his mounted

arm.

Me n like

S oh r a nd H en ck el v on

Donnersmarek

were first

class

at

th e

regimental

level, bu t Blocher ha d

nobody wh o could co-ordinate the movements of

the

cavalry

as

Uxbridge

di d for Wellington

at

\Vaterloo, and as Murat ha d done for apoleon

in t he great days

o f

th e

Empire.

The

consequence

of

all this was

that

Blucher

occasionally took it into his old hussar h ea d to lead

cavalry

charges

himself.

Thus

it was

that a t a bout

8 p.m. on

16June

1815,

when

he could see by th e

selling sun nOlhing bu t ruin and a

breach

in his

line filled with the bearskins of the O ld G ua rd

he g al lo ped f or wa rd

at

the head

of

ROder s five

regiments. The Prussian cavalry mel by volleys at

point-blank

range

only

succeeded in

strewing

the

ground

with

th e

bodies

of men

and horses.

Milhaud s

Cuirassiers

and

the D ragoo ns

of

th e

Guard

su pp orte d th e

F re nc h s qu ar es

and they

pressed

on

towards th e windmill of Brye.

Undaunted Blucher

led his last remaining

squadrons in a desperate charge. His horse was

hit, an d galloped wildly on until suddenly it fell

dead crushing

its

aged master. Graf

ostitz

dismounted

to p ro te ct t he F ie ld -M ar sh al as th e

9th Cuirassiers

ebbed

an d flowed past

them

in the

d im l ig ht , li ttl e k no wi ng th e

prize that la y

within

Iheir grasp.

fell

to some

Prussian

uhlans

to

haul

Ihe old

gentleman

from under his dead horse, and

to the charger of an .C.O. of th e 6th Uhlans

10

carry him

back

amidst th e

flood

of departing

Prussian soldiery.

While Blucher was

playing

Ihe hussar,

Count

Gneisenau was

working

ou t the next move - and

getting it right. So it

ma y

be s aid

thai if

BlOcher

did not always behave precisely as a

commander

in-ehiefshould at

least he had m anaged to select a

chief

of

stafr

wh o

eould

carryon

in his a bs en ce .

jilllflJI

W he n P russia took th e field against N apoleon in

1813 sh e was desperately

short of

t rai ne d m an

power. This was la rg el y due to the restrictions

laid down by the Treaty of Paris of 8 Septem

1808.

Strength

of th e Prussian Army includ

reserves:

187 53 523;

1808,52,142; 18og, 45,8

1810 62 609; 1811, 74,553;

18Et, 65,000.

is

true

that under a programme attributed

Scharnhorst there had been

a n a tt em pt

to

tr

reserves. The success of th e KriimjNr syuem

become

part of Prussian legend, bu t th e assert

that

15,000 reservists were available in

t8t3

re

only

on

th e m is ta ke n i de a thai th e ne w un

formed

that

year consisted

entirely of

reservi

This was no t so; they were built

on

a nuc leus

trained officers, N.C.O.s and men to wh

recruits were

added.

That this was not easy

is

evident from

following figures:

Strength orthe Prussian Army inJune 1808

hifaTltry Artillery Cavalry To

1,079

147

535 1,7

3,264 503 1,7

66

5,

659 35

9 9

227 27

86

10,025 2,161 5,651

7

17,396 1,653 4,634 23,

Total 32,650 4,526 12,871 50,

We see that th e Prussian Army some 50,

strong

in 1808, c om pr is ed

only

1,761 officers

a

5,533

N.C.O.s.u

There was a serious shortage

experienced officers and

literate .C.O.s. O n

other

hand

there was a source

of

poten

officers

In

th e

Volunteers FreiwiiJige

]iiga w

came

forward in

substantial

numbers. They w

however,

r 1r

from

being

imbued with Ihe sp

of

th e old-style Prussian

martinet.

One

of the

C oun t Christian Stolberg lSI EaSI Pruss

Regiment) wrote on 8 October:

am

no

sold

but

a

fighter for

th e Fatherland;

and

w he n p e

comes

I

shall return home. To be a soldier for

ow n

sake will always be

abhorrent

to

me l

Major Karl Friedrich Friccius 1779-1856)

the 3rd Battalion of th e

East

Prussian Landw

Regiment, lells us that in order to t he u

up to

strength

they had tu

take m;I lY men

un

1

7

or over 40.

Even fathers of families, if th e lottery

picked them

could

seldom be

exempted


23/50

O _ ~

of f ia: r Fool Artill

.. ry or tb .. rd , 1801 .

Blue

. .Uonn

with n d

plpins:

a r o _ d collar

and cuff

10 jacket and

. r ip

down

overall.

Cold la_. Fro. ..

corueonpo ry pr int d . . .

.. by I. Wolf a

..

d

e ..

C....ved

y F.

Jille.1

very

often

the town had

to assume carc

of the

wivcs and chi ldrcn. Whcrc many ways re

mained opt:n

of

escaping from military service,

and

when

the

promised advantages

appeared so

meagre, and above all when it had not

yet been

settled whether privileges promised

to

volunteer

i i g ~ r

should

also be granted

lo l.mulwdtr

volull

leers, voluntary cnlistmCll1 ill lite J andwdlr had

greater merit than later 011. In spite of all this,

thc Battalion had over one hundred sllch

volunteers. Of tht

many

boys

who

oflcred their

services, we only look as many as we could usc

for

drummers

and b ug le rs . All

the

rest were

rejected

As the men of the Battalion werc drawn from

a large

town, they

were

better acquainted

with

the pleasures of life and

perhaps

weaker in

physique.

but

they wcre also more experienced

and skilful,

and were

imbucd with

greater claims

to

justice and

honour.

They were a

strange

mixture, drawn from the most varied walks o

life

and

ag e groups. Beside a grey-haired man

you might find a boy

of seventeen;

beside a

worthy

family-man,

who had never conceived

the

idea of

taking

up arms while in

the

quie

circle of his civil profess ion, might a gay

adventurer; beside an

educated

young man. who

had broken

away

from the happiest circum

stances

so as to fight for

the Fatherland

with

high

ideas

of

duty

and

honour,

stood a

raw

youth

The

othcr battalions

of the

province

wer

recruited from

the

villages and small towns

where

onc found a greatcr uniformity in age

better

physique,

more contentedness and respec

for their superiors, but less

experience

and

docility. 11

The equipment left

much

to be desired. Whe

20,000 Austrian muskets were issued to th

Silesian Landwehr it was d is co ve re d that th

manufacturers

had

failed to

bore

t o u c h h o l e s

Many of the soldiers

had linen

wallets

instead

o

knapsacks. On 30 October 1813 E rn st Janke,

young

Prussian officer,

wrote

to his family: Bu

no one i n B erlin will b elieve just how ragged ou

army is. The

men s

clothing

is rotting

off the

bodics. What will the outcome of it all ?

Yorck, describing

the state of

his corps af te

Leipzig, tells us

that

of 106

guns

he had i

September only 42 remained serviceable. Despi

picking

up

a number

of

French muskets

many o

his men were unarmed.

The

troops

who had

taken part in

the

Russia

campaign in Courland

were

still wearing th

clothing issued

to them

in 1811. The Silesia

fAndwthr s patrol

jackets made out

of coars

cloth had shrunk so badly as a resull of we

bivouacs and

rainy

weathcr

that

they were to

narrow

fore

and

aft,

and

too short on

top an

below. We were approaching a wintcr

campaig

and

the men still had no

cloth

trOllsers. Th

adage

about ten patches for OIlC hole foun

widespread

application on

the

tight-fitting coat

Thcre was a great lack of shoes, although o

the march

from L ei pz ig any ne w or worn foo

wear to be found

had

been

requisitioned.

Many

and

not

only Landwehr men

but

also Jiig

volunteers,

marched

barefoot. There was

s h o r t ~ of cloaks too, but here and

there

peop

had

taken

them

off prisoners. The horses for

th


24/50

artil lery were

wo rke d ve ry

hard

and

many

of

them

became

unusable. What is more, the region

we had marched through

s in ce l ea vi ng

Halle

was v er y poor in horses, so we

had been able

to

requisition

only

a

few:

The

spirit

of

the Landwehr sustained them even

when they had to

march without

shoes. But the

shortage

of

food, lack of straw and firewood, and

generally

indifferent administration

took its toll.

In the

eighteen days

ending

Osprey, Men-at-Arms #009 Blucher's Army 1813-1815 (1973) OCR 8.12.pdf

Documents

Transcript of Osprey, Men-at-Arms #009 Blucher's Army 1813-1815 (1973) OCR 8.12.pdf