Bill Peters wrote:
It was almost as if Blucher was born to help beat Napoleon. The guy fights in the Seven Years War, then takes to the field shortly during the French Rev Wars .... then comes back to fight (and lose) in 1806.
Finally pissed with the way that the French were treating the canteen ladies, he comes out of retirement from his farm and beats the pants off of the French in 1813-15 while suffering only minor losses here and there with Ligny being his worst.
Dies shortly after the wars, his dreams fulfilled. Napoleon outlives him but not by much.
Lets PARTTTTTTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
Very well said Bill....lol....
What is so interesting is all the precursor stuff that could of went differently and we may of never heard of him. He had to join the Swedish Army to get captured by a Prussian Hussars regiment in the Pomeranian War. He had to impress the colonel enough to be offered to join. He had to accept that offer. He then did what was probably the most detrimental thing he could of done, but probably changed the course of his own life and the destiny of Prussia at large forever....he had to be a bit excessive in peace, which he always was, he hated those time periods.....he had to have been skipped over for promotion and get angry enough to resign, write a nasty letter to Frederick the Great and get Frederick's wrath to be banned from service until Frederick died. He then had to be reinstated and rejoin. He then had to be promoted for all his actions & survive them. Prussia had to actually go to war for him to fight in Jena-Auerstedt, he had to do well there, survive the battle and survive the retreat and then be exchanged as a prisoner. He then had to and was one of only 2.....2.....of the 143 general officers in 1806 to be kept after the Prussian Reforms that followed Jena-Auerstedt. He drew the ire of several in the Prussian court in peace and during war and even during the 1813-14 Campaigns was at odds quite a bit with the others.....but he was often, through his own actions able to convince the others to take action. He had to be selected to lead the forces in 1813 and to not only survive all those battles but to survive the very harsh 1814 Campaign. Once in Paris he grew very restless and he again had to not get into too much trouble....he did find himself in it too at times. He then had to be well enough for the 100 Days Campaign, survive Ligny and being trapped under his horse for hours, while being ridden over. Nostitz had to find him and then get with Gneisenau and march to Waterloo, to show up at the right place at the right time......he survived several years afterwards. He actually become very wealthy & good at farming. He ended up preferring it, in certain ways to the battlefield. He had debts that the King himself sent money to Blücher to pay for. But by the end of his life, he had found some tranquility for what was a very restless soul.
Anyone of these particular things changed and it could of altered everything......that's a lot of variables.....more than a lot of the Napoleonic commanders.
NWC
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Got to try to find the right amount of time using them and time when I don't have them on, so it gives my hand a chance to rest & breathe.....either way, very helpful indeed!