South of Köln, October 18th, 1797
Caesar really would have smiled upon his pupil. In the past five months, Feldmarschall Blücher had conducted a campaign in North-Eastern France that could only be called stunning. His men had taken to call him ‘Marschall Vorwärts’ because of his speedy and dynamic strategies, and the cavalry was openly showing their pride that one of their own had given the French such a hard time.
Marschall Vorwärts, Marshal Forward. Blücher liked this name. It was the name under which he rapidly became famous back home, where the small children began to play games of Prussian vs. French (the kids who had to play the French had to lose, obviously). In Berlin, in the highest circles, he was already celebrated as the hero of this war. But Blücher knew that he had yet to fight an equal force, and he had still not met Napoleon on the field of battle. It was far from over.
After the victory at Köln he had had his best chance to get Buonaparte, when the Corsican moved northwards toward the Netherlands leading an army of only 19000 men. Unfortunately, the distance was already too great, so that he had missed his opponent by days. However, the first army was closely followed by a second, probably reinforcements for a larger campaign in the North. It was about the same size, and was lead by General Davout, whose tactical and strategical skills were said to be only second to Napoleon himself.
He proved himself worthy of that reputation by giving Blücher a hard time at Kerkrade, where the two forces had met on June 21st. But in the end the superiority of the Prussian numbers and the also brilliant lead of Blücher had prevailed, and after the French army had been annihilated, Davouts body had been found surrounded by the corpses of his guard.
The Prussians had marched south then, into the province of Luxemburg, to intercept some more reinforcements, which had been sent to aid in the siege of Hannover. On the way, news had reached the staff that Poland had ceded only two of its provinces to Russia in the peace of Warschau, thereby ending all Prussian hopes on a territory gain in the east. Blücher had taken this as a good sign, he was of the opinion that Germany itself was the true sphere of interest for Prussia. General von Bülow, who had been ordered to Eastern Prussia after his defeat, and had started to train a small army to take care of the rest of Poland, was tasked with the capture of Warschau, so that Prussia could at least gain some money from this otherwise useless war.
Hannover had finally fallen to the French troops under Bernadotte in July, and the Field Marshal had feared that the armies he hoped to catch would turn around. He had fastened his march, pushing his men to the limit, but they had taken the hardships with pride. Only a great leader could inspire his men to do so, and it had been proven there that Blücher was such a leader.
They had caught the French vanguard totally by surprise, and had taken care of Lt. General Lefevbe’s small force of 2000 men in a matter of hours. Field Marshal Hoche had seen the threat earlier, and had tried to avoid it by turning eastwards. It had been quite a chase for a few days, with the Prussian cavalry harassing the French rear guard all the way, but finally Hoche had been forced to give battle. His 8,000 were no match for the 35,000 well motivated Germans, but the night of the 13th of August rescued them. They were beaten finally the next morning, and Hoche had been captured. He had been treated with all due respect, the French and the Prussian Field Marshal had even had an interesting and enriching discussion about military matters.
In the meanwhile, Hohenlohe had managed to capture Dresden for a second time, and Friedrich August of Saxony had had no chance but to surrender. The annexation of Saxony had caused some unrest in Europe, and Friedrich Wilhelm had seen it necessary to celebrate a double wedding of two of his nobles’ daughters to a Count from Austria and an Earl from England. After the celebrations, the attending diplomats had been able to repair the damage, and the coalition stood as united as before. Prussian help in the recapture of Hannover had been promised, and General Hohenlohe had started to march northwest already.
Blücher, however, had begun to worry about the Prussian losses. The numbers lost in a battle were almost insignificant, but more and more soldiers had deserted during the campaign. The Prussian army with it’s emphasize on discipline drilled its recruits merciless, and even after training, hard punishments were happening regularly. While on Prussian ground, the fear of being caught and punished even harder kept most men from running away, but here in Northern France, many took the chance of disappearing in the night. Those who were brought back were often beaten till they were dead, to show the remaining men what it meant to desert, but there were still enough that took the risk.
With his remaining 33,000 men, Blücher decided to head back to Düsseldorf after granting his men the necessary time to recover from the last battle, where he could wait for reinforcements. When he gained the news that Napoleon was marching south after having taken command of the army that had conquered Hannover, some 80,000 men, he tried to reach safety as quick as possible. However, Lt. General Grouchy had only waited for this opportunity. He had attacked the Prussians at Rheinbach, underestimating their strength, with 18,000 men. Running out of time, Blücher had reluctantly engaged the enemy, and had beaten him in a hard and desperate battle.
He resumed his march to Düsseldorf, but by this time Napoleon had come quite close…
Blüchers campaign in Northeast France
And now they were where they had started their little round-trip through France. Blücher looked at his officers, feeling some pride himself, for he had gotten to know them quite well in the past months and had been convinced of their fighting abilities.
“Gentlemen, I fear we can’t reach Kleves before Napoleon reaches us. We will have to fight our way to Düsseldorf.”
“Herr Feldmarschall, we will fight anybody for you! No foe can stand in our way”, his men assured him.
“I knew I could count on you. Fortunately, our enemy can’t bring his full force to bear. If we manage to take care of the vanguard first, we could fight Napoleon with even numbers. It will be a close call, but if we plan this and choose our fighting ground well, we could seize the victory.” And with that, the planning began.
Caesar really would have smiled upon his pupil. In the past five months, Feldmarschall Blücher had conducted a campaign in North-Eastern France that could only be called stunning. His men had taken to call him ‘Marschall Vorwärts’ because of his speedy and dynamic strategies, and the cavalry was openly showing their pride that one of their own had given the French such a hard time.
Marschall Vorwärts, Marshal Forward. Blücher liked this name. It was the name under which he rapidly became famous back home, where the small children began to play games of Prussian vs. French (the kids who had to play the French had to lose, obviously). In Berlin, in the highest circles, he was already celebrated as the hero of this war. But Blücher knew that he had yet to fight an equal force, and he had still not met Napoleon on the field of battle. It was far from over.
After the victory at Köln he had had his best chance to get Buonaparte, when the Corsican moved northwards toward the Netherlands leading an army of only 19000 men. Unfortunately, the distance was already too great, so that he had missed his opponent by days. However, the first army was closely followed by a second, probably reinforcements for a larger campaign in the North. It was about the same size, and was lead by General Davout, whose tactical and strategical skills were said to be only second to Napoleon himself.
He proved himself worthy of that reputation by giving Blücher a hard time at Kerkrade, where the two forces had met on June 21st. But in the end the superiority of the Prussian numbers and the also brilliant lead of Blücher had prevailed, and after the French army had been annihilated, Davouts body had been found surrounded by the corpses of his guard.
The Prussians had marched south then, into the province of Luxemburg, to intercept some more reinforcements, which had been sent to aid in the siege of Hannover. On the way, news had reached the staff that Poland had ceded only two of its provinces to Russia in the peace of Warschau, thereby ending all Prussian hopes on a territory gain in the east. Blücher had taken this as a good sign, he was of the opinion that Germany itself was the true sphere of interest for Prussia. General von Bülow, who had been ordered to Eastern Prussia after his defeat, and had started to train a small army to take care of the rest of Poland, was tasked with the capture of Warschau, so that Prussia could at least gain some money from this otherwise useless war.
Hannover had finally fallen to the French troops under Bernadotte in July, and the Field Marshal had feared that the armies he hoped to catch would turn around. He had fastened his march, pushing his men to the limit, but they had taken the hardships with pride. Only a great leader could inspire his men to do so, and it had been proven there that Blücher was such a leader.
They had caught the French vanguard totally by surprise, and had taken care of Lt. General Lefevbe’s small force of 2000 men in a matter of hours. Field Marshal Hoche had seen the threat earlier, and had tried to avoid it by turning eastwards. It had been quite a chase for a few days, with the Prussian cavalry harassing the French rear guard all the way, but finally Hoche had been forced to give battle. His 8,000 were no match for the 35,000 well motivated Germans, but the night of the 13th of August rescued them. They were beaten finally the next morning, and Hoche had been captured. He had been treated with all due respect, the French and the Prussian Field Marshal had even had an interesting and enriching discussion about military matters.
In the meanwhile, Hohenlohe had managed to capture Dresden for a second time, and Friedrich August of Saxony had had no chance but to surrender. The annexation of Saxony had caused some unrest in Europe, and Friedrich Wilhelm had seen it necessary to celebrate a double wedding of two of his nobles’ daughters to a Count from Austria and an Earl from England. After the celebrations, the attending diplomats had been able to repair the damage, and the coalition stood as united as before. Prussian help in the recapture of Hannover had been promised, and General Hohenlohe had started to march northwest already.
Blücher, however, had begun to worry about the Prussian losses. The numbers lost in a battle were almost insignificant, but more and more soldiers had deserted during the campaign. The Prussian army with it’s emphasize on discipline drilled its recruits merciless, and even after training, hard punishments were happening regularly. While on Prussian ground, the fear of being caught and punished even harder kept most men from running away, but here in Northern France, many took the chance of disappearing in the night. Those who were brought back were often beaten till they were dead, to show the remaining men what it meant to desert, but there were still enough that took the risk.
With his remaining 33,000 men, Blücher decided to head back to Düsseldorf after granting his men the necessary time to recover from the last battle, where he could wait for reinforcements. When he gained the news that Napoleon was marching south after having taken command of the army that had conquered Hannover, some 80,000 men, he tried to reach safety as quick as possible. However, Lt. General Grouchy had only waited for this opportunity. He had attacked the Prussians at Rheinbach, underestimating their strength, with 18,000 men. Running out of time, Blücher had reluctantly engaged the enemy, and had beaten him in a hard and desperate battle.
He resumed his march to Düsseldorf, but by this time Napoleon had come quite close…
Blüchers campaign in Northeast France
And now they were where they had started their little round-trip through France. Blücher looked at his officers, feeling some pride himself, for he had gotten to know them quite well in the past months and had been convinced of their fighting abilities.
“Gentlemen, I fear we can’t reach Kleves before Napoleon reaches us. We will have to fight our way to Düsseldorf.”
“Herr Feldmarschall, we will fight anybody for you! No foe can stand in our way”, his men assured him.
“I knew I could count on you. Fortunately, our enemy can’t bring his full force to bear. If we manage to take care of the vanguard first, we could fight Napoleon with even numbers. It will be a close call, but if we plan this and choose our fighting ground well, we could seize the victory.” And with that, the planning began.
Last edited:
Vorwärts sounds like a good name to have. 
