SCHARNHORST, GERHARD JOHANN DAVID VON (1755-1813), Prussian general, was born at Bordenau near Hanover, on Nov. 12, 1755. In 1778 he received a commission in the Hanoverian service. He designed, and in part published, a Handbuch fur Offiziere in den anwendbaren Theilen der Kriegs wissenschaften. He also published in 1792 his Militdrische Taschenbuch fur den Gebrauch ins Felde. His first campaign was that of 1793 in the Netherlands, in which he served under the duke of York with distinction. In 1794 he took part in the de fence of Menin and commemorated the escape of the garrison in his Vertheidigung der Stadt Menin (Hanover, 1803), which, next to his paper Die Ursachen des Glikks der Franzosen in Revolu tionskrieg, is his best-known work. Shortly after this he was pro moted major and employed on the staff of the Hanoverian con tingent.
In i8oi he entered the service of the king of Prussia, who gave him a patent of nobility, and the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Scharnhorst was employed at the War Academy of Berlin, where he had Clausewitz (q.v.) as one of his pupils, and he was the founder of the Berlin Military Society. In the mobilizations and precautionary measures of 1804 and 1805, and in the war of 18°6, Scharnhorst was chief of the general staff (lieutenant quartermaster) of the duke of Brunswick, and received a slight wound at Auerstedt. He attached himself to Bliicher in the last stages of the disastrous campaign, was taken prisoner with him at the capitulation of Ratkau, and, being shortly exchanged, bore a prominent part in the leading of L'Estocq's Prussian corps which served with the Russians. For his services at Eylau, he received the order pour le merite.
Educated in the traditions of the Seven Years' War, Scharn horst had by degrees divested his mind of antiquated forms of war, and come to realise that a "national" army and a policy of fighting decisive battles alone responded to the political and strategical situation created by the French Revolution. The
steps by which he converted the professional long-service army of Prussia, wrecked at Jena, into the national army as we know it to-day, based on universal service, were slow and laboured. He was promoted major-general a few days after the peace of Tilsit, and placed as the head of a reform commission, to which were appointed Gneisenau, Grolman, Boyen and others. Stein him self became a member of the commission and secured for Scharn horst free access to the king by causing him to be appointed aide de-camp-general. But Napoleon's suspicions were quickly aroused, and the king had repeatedly to suspend or to cancel the reforms recommended. By direct application to Napoleon, Scharnhorst evaded the decree of Sept. 26, 181o, commanding all foreigners to leave the Prussian service forthwith, but when in 1811-1812 Prussia was forced into an alliance with France against Russia and despatched an auxiliary army to serve under Napoleon's or ders, Scharnhorst left Berlin on unlimited leave of absence. In re tirement he wrote his Uber die Wirkung des Feuergewehrs (1813). But the retreat from Moscow at last sounded the call to arms for the new national army of Prussia. Scharnhorst was recalled to headquarters, and was made chief of staff to Bliicher. The first battle, Liitzen or Gross-Gorschen, was a defeat, but a very differ ent defeat from those which Napoleon had hitherto been accus tomed to inflict. Scharnhorst was wounded, and died from the effects of his wound on June 8, at Prague, where he had been sent to negotiate with Schwarzenberg and Radetzky for the armed intervention of Austria.
See C. von Clausewitz, Ober das Leben and den Charakter des General v. Scharnhorst; a life by M. Lehmann (Leipzig, i886-88, an important work in two volumes) ; also Max Jahns, Gesch. der Kriegs wissenschaften, iii. 2,154; Weise, Scharnhorst and die Durchfiihrung der allgemeinen Wehrpflicht (1892) ; A. von Holleben, Der Friih jahrsfeldzug, 1813 (19o5).