Blucher, Gebhard Leberecht von, << BLOO kuhr, GEHP hahrt LAY buh rehkht fuhn >> (1742-1819), was the Prussian marshal whose arrival with reinforcements helped the British defeat Napoleon’s army at the Battle of Waterloo (see Waterloo, Battle of). Throughout the day of June 18, 1815, the French attacked the British. The Duke of Wellington, knowing that his soldiers could not hold out much longer, anxiously hoped for “Blucher or night.” The aged Blucher finally arrived, and Napoleon was defeated.
Blucher also helped defeat Napoleon at Leipzig in 1813 and helped capture Paris in 1814. He became general field marshal and Prince of Wahlstatt. The people named him Marshal Forward.
Blucher was born on Dec. 16, 1742, in Rostock, Germany. As a youth, he joined first the Swedish Army and then the Prussian Army. Blucher retired as the most highly decorated marshal in the Prussian Army. He died on Sept. 12, 1819.
