VOA, (PRINCE OF WAHLS1ADT, varg.a1.), Prus sian soldier: b. Rostock, 16 Dec. 1742; d. Krie blowitz, Silesia, 12 Sept. 1819. When 14 years of age he visited the island of Riigen, where the sight of some Swedish hussars aroused a desire to become a soldier, and in spite of the opposition of his parents and relatives he took service in a Swedish regiment as cornet. His first campaign was against the Prussians, and he was taken prisoner by the same regiment of hussars which he afterward commanded. The commander of this regiment, Colonel von Belling, induced him to enter the Prussian service. An exchange was agreed upon with the Swedes, and Bliicher was made lieutenant in Belling's regiment. Discontented at the pro motion of other officers over his head, he left the army, devoted himself to agriculture, and by industry and prudence acquired an estate. After the death of Frederick II he became a major in his former regiment, which he com manded with distinction on the Rhine 1793-94. Orchies, Luxemburg, Frankenstein, Oppenheim (16 Jan. 1794), Kirrweiler and Edisheim in the Palatinate, bear witness to his achievements. After the battle of Kirrweiler, in 1794, which added greatly to his reputation, he was ap pointed major-general of the army of observa tion stationed on the lower Rhine. In 1802, in the name of the King of Prussia, he took pos session of Erfurt and Miihlhausen. On 14 Oct.
1806, he fought at the battle of Auerstidt. He then, with the greater part of the cavalry, followed the retreat of the Prince of Hohen lobe to Pomerania. His squadron, moving on the left of the main army, became separated from it, and the Prince of Hohenlohe was forced to surrender at Prenzlau. Bliicher, cut off from Stettin by this accident, threw himself into Mecklenburg, where he joined at Dambeck the corps of the Duke of Weimar, commanded by Prince William of Brunswick-Oels. All the troops, however, were too much fatigued to undertake any enterprise. Having the Grand Duke of Berg on his left flank, the Prince of Ponte Corvo in his front and Marshal Soult on his right, Blucher was obliged to take post behind the Trave in order to draw off the three great divisions of the French forces from the Oder as long as possible. With this view he entered the territory of the free city of La beck, which was soon stormed by the French. Although Bliicher escaped with some troops he was obliged to surrender at Ratkau on 6 No vember, but with a clause in the capitulation that he °accepted it only from want of ammu nition, provisions, and forage.) He was soon exchanged for the French general Victor, and on his arrival at Konigsberg was placed at the head of a corps and sent to Swedish Pomera nia to share in the defense of Stralsund and to assist the efforts of the Swedes. After the Peace of Tilsit he labored in the Department of War at Konigsberg and Berlin. He then received the chief military command in Pomer ania, but at the instigation of Napoleon was afterward dismissed from the service. In the campaign of 1812, when the Prussians assisted the French, he took no part; but no sooner did Prussia rise against her oppressors than Blucher, already 70 years old, engaged in the cause with all his former activity. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Prussian army and the Russian corps under General Winzingerode, which at a later period was separated from him. In 1813 he was created field-marshal. His heroism in the battle of Lfitzen (2 May 1813) was rewarded by the Emperor Alexander with the order of Saint George. The battles of Bautzen and Hanau,
those on the Katzbach (26 Aug. 1813) and Leipzig added to his glory. On the Katzb:ach Bliicher defeated the army of Marshal Mac donald and delivered all Silesia. On 3 October Blucher crossed the Elbe at Wartenburg, and encouraged the Bohemian army under Schwart zenberg, and the northern army under the Crown-Prince of Sweden, to act with more spirit. On 16 October he gained a signal ad vantage over Marshal Marmont at Mockern, forcing his way as far as the suburbs of Leipzig. On the 18th, in conjunction with the Crown-Prince of Sweden, he contributed greatly to the defeat of the enemy, and on the 19th his troops made the first assault upon Leipzig. His promptitude and peculiar manner of attacking had already procured him from the Russians the name of °Marshal Forward.° On 1 Jan. 1814, with the Silesian army, which now consisted of two Prussian, two Russian, one Hessian and one mixed corps, he crossed the Rhine at Kaub, took possession of Nancy on the 17th, gained (1 February) the battle of La Rothiere, and pushed forward toward Paris. His detached corps were, however, checked by Napoleon; yet Blucher, though suffering heavy losses, effected his retreat toward Chalons. He then crossed the Aisne at Soissons, joined the northern army, obtained (9 March) a victory over Napoleon at Laon, and, in connection with Schwartzenberg, at the close of the month, pressed forward to Paris. The of Mont martre crowned this campaign, and on 31 March Blucher entered the capital of France. For this triumph he was created Prince of Wahlstadt, with a suitable income. In EnWand, whither he followed the allied monarchs in June of the same year, he was received with enthusiasm. He then lived on his estates in, Silesia till 1815, when the chief command was again committed to him, and he led his army into the Netherlands. On 15 June Napoleon threw himself upon him and Bliicher, on the 16th, was defeated at Ligny. In this ment his horse was killed, and he was thrown under his body. In the battle of the 18th Blucher arrived at the most decisive moment upon the ground, and, taking Napoleon in the rear and flank, assisted materially in complet ing the great victory of Belle Alliance, or Waterloo (q.v.). He refused the proffered armistice and forced Paris to surrender; oppos ing with energy, on his second conquest of the capital, the system of forbearance practised on the former occasion. As he was already a knight of all the military orders of Europe,. the King of Prussia, to reward his new services, created the new order of the Iron Cross ex pressly for him. After the Peace of Paris he retired to his estate, where he died. On the anniversary of the battle on the Katzbach, a monument commemorating his glory, executed by Schadow in Berlin, was erected at Rostock. On that of Waterloo (18 June 1826) a bronze statue 12 feet in height, modeled by Rauch, was erected to his memory in Berlin. Bliicher was not so eminent for military science as for ability in action. His simplicity, good nature and bravery endeared him to his soldiers, who loved him as a father. His addresses and proc lamations are distinguished for their brevity, precision and simplicity. Consult 'Blucher's Life,' by Varnhagen von Ense (Berlin 1827); Scherr's (Blucher's Life and Times' (Leip zig 1862) ; and Henderson, 'Blucher and the Part of Prussia Against Napoleon' (New York 1911).