Person
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Field Marshal, Prussian army
Life: 1742–1819
The marshal who, the day after a defeat, fell back not towards his supply line but towards the place he could rejoin from.
Seventy-two years old. Beaten at Ligny on 16 June, he went down under his horse, was ridden over by his own cavalry and could not command for hours. His largest contribution came not on the day he fought but on the day after he lost: the beaten army fell back not east towards its supply line but north to Wavre, within reach of Wellington, and on the 18th he decided to march west. The outcome of Waterloo turns on that one point — retreating in the direction where you can still join.
Strategic signature — the day after losing, choose which way to fall back
Blücher was beaten at Ligny on 16 June, went down under his horse, was ridden over by his own cavalry and could not command for hours. He was seventy-two. His largest contribution to this campaign was made not on the day he fought but on the day after he lost.
A beaten army had two directions. East, towards Liège, put it back on its own supply line. North, to Wavre, took it away from supply but kept it within reach of Wellington. Gneisenau, the chief of staff, did not trust Wellington and is held to have favoured the east. The army went to Wavre all the same, and on the 18th Blücher decided to march west to help13. Retreat in the direction where you can still join — the outcome of Waterloo turns on that one point.
Recurring patterns
Do not choose a line of retreat for its ease
Fall back not towards your supply but towards the place you can rejoin from. Whether you can choose that immediately after a defeat is the hinge.
Execute the promise
He marched an exhausted army eighteen kilometres of mud. A junction is not an intention; it is a march.
Overrule your staff's caution
Against a chief of staff who distrusted the ally, he decided to go. Coalitions are made by decisions, not by analysis.
Strengths and limits
Can choose, the day after a defeat, the direction that lets him win it back.
That choice sacrifices supply. If the junction fails to happen, all that is left is a beaten army cut off from its base.
Connection to Waterloo
On the evening of the 18th his 48,000 men appeared behind the French right. He arrived on the field on the 18th; he made arriving possible on the 17th.
Portrait after Ernst Gebauer, c. 1815–19. Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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