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GNEISENAU, AUGUST WILHELM ANTON, COUNT

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 149 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GNEISENAU, AUGUST WILHELM ANTON, COUNT

GNEISENAU, See also:
AUGUST (originally Sextilis)
AUGUST WILHELM ANTON, See also:
COUNT (Lat. comes, gen. comitis, Fr. comte, Ital. conte, Span. conde)
COUNT NErTHARDT VON (1760—1831), Prussian See also:

field See also:

MARSHAL (med. Lat. marescalcus, from O.H.Ger. marah, horse, and scalc, servant)

marshal, was the son of a Saxon officer named Neithardt. See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

Born in 176o at Schildau, near See also:

TORGAU

Torgau, he was brought up in See also:

GREAT

great poverty there, and subsequently at Wtirzburg and See also:

ERFURT

Erfurt. In 777 he entered Erfurt university; but two years later joined an See also:

AUSTRIAN

Austrian See also:

REGIMENT (from Late Latin regimentum, rule, regere, to rule, govern, direct)

regiment there quartered. In 1782 taking the additional name of Gneisenau from some lost estates of his See also:

FAMILY

family in See also:

Austria, he entered as an officer the service of the See also:

MARGRAVE (Ger. Markgraf)

margrave of Baireuth-Anspach. With one of that See also:

prince's See also:

MERCENARY (Lat. mercenarius, from merces, reward, gain)

mercenary regiments in See also:

ENGLISH

English pay he saw active service and gained valuable experience in the See also:

War of See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

Independence, and returning in 1786, applied for Prussian service. See also:

Frederick the Great gave him a See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission as first See also:

LIEUTENANT

lieutenant in the See also:

INFANTRY

infantry. Made Stabskapitdn in 1790, Gneisenau served in See also:

Poland, 1793—1794, and, subsequently to this, ten years of quiet See also:

garrison See also:

LIFE

life in See also:

JAUER

Jauer enabled him to undertake a wide range of military studies. In 1796 he married See also:

Caroline von Kottwitz. In 18o6 he was one of See also:

HOHENLOHE

Hohenlohe's See also:

STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff-See also:

OFFICERS

officers, fought at See also:

JENA

Jena, and a little later commanded a provisional infantry See also:

BRIGADE (Fr. and Ger. brigade, Ital. brigata, Span. brigada; the English use of the word dates from the early 17th century)

brigade which fought under Lestocq in the Lithuanian See also:

CAMPAIGN

campaign. See also:

Early in 1807 See also:

Major von Gneisenau was sent as commandant to Colberg, which, small and See also:

ill-protected as it was, succeeded in holding out until the See also:

peace of See also:

TILSIT

Tilsit. The commandant received the much-prized See also:

order " pour le merite," and was promoted lieutenant-See also:

COLONEL (derived either from Lat. column, Fr. colonne, column, or Lat. corona, a crown)

colonel. A wider See also:

SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

sphere of See also:

WORK

work was now opened to him.

As See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief of 2 There is no authority for calling the latter Via Egnatia. H. See also:

SWINBURNE, ALGERNON CHARLES (1837–1909)

Swinburne, Travels in the Two Sicilies (See also:

LONDON

London, 179o), ii. 15, mentions the walls as being 8 yds. thick and 16 courses high. See also:

ENGINEERS, MILITARY

engineers, and a member of the reorganizing See also:

COMMITTEE (from commute, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of commettre, Lat. committere, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent comite is derived from the Eng.)

committee, he new material; Frau von Beguelin, Denkwurdigkeiten (See also:

Berlin, 1892); played a great See also:

PART

part, along with See also:

SCHARNHORST, GERHARD JOHANN DAVID VON (1755-1813)

Scharnhorst, in the work of re- constructing the Prussian See also:

army. A colonel in 1809, he soon See also:

drew upon himself, by his See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy, the suspicion of the dominant See also:

French, and See also:

Stein's fall was soon followed by Gneisenau's retirement. But, after visiting See also:

Russia, See also:

Sweden and See also:

England, he returned to Berlin and resumed his See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place as a See also:

LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

leader of the patriotic party. In open military work and See also:

SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

secret machinations his energy and patriotism were equally tested, and with the out-break of the War of Liberation, Major-See also:

General Gneisenau became See also:

BLUCHER, GEBHARD LEBERECHT VON (1742—1819)

Blucher's quartermaster-general. Thus began the connexion between these two soldiers which has furnished military See also:

HISTORY

history with its best example of the harmonious co-operation between the general and his chief-of-staff. With Blucher, Gneisenau served to the See also:

CAPTURE (from Lat. capere, to take; Fr. prise maritime; Ger. Wegnahme)

capture of See also:

Paris; his military See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character was the exact See also:

COMPLEMENT (Lat. complementum, from complere, to fill up)

complement of Blucher's, and under this happy guidance the See also:

young troops of See also:

Prussia, often defeated but never discouraged, fought their way into the See also:

heart of See also:

France. The See also:

plan of the See also:

march on Paris, which led directly to the fall of See also:

NAPOLEON

Napoleon, was specifically the work of the chief-of-staff. In See also:

REWARD

reward for his distinguished service he was in 1814,- along with See also:

York, See also:

Kleist and Billow, made count at the same See also:

time as Blucher became prince of Wahlstatt; an See also:

ANNUITY (from Lat. annus, a year)

annuity was also assigned to him.

In 18r5, oncemore chief of Blucher's staff, Gneisenau played a very conspicuous part in the See also:

WATERLOO

Waterloo campaign (q.v.). See also:

SENIOR, NASSAU WILLIAM (1790-1864)

Senior generals, such as York and Kleist, had been set aside in order that the chief-of-staff should have the command in See also:

case of need, and when on the field of Ligny the old field marshal was disabled, Gneisenau at once assumed the See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the Prussian army. Even in the See also:

LIGHT

light of the See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence that many years' See also:

RESEARCH (O. Fr. recerche, from recercher, re- and cercer, mod. chercher, to search; Late Lat. circare, to go round in a circle, to explore)

research has collected, the precise part taken by Gneisenau in the events which followed is much debated. It is known that Gneisenau had the deepest distrust of the See also:

BRITISH

British See also:

COMMANDER

commander, who, he considered, had See also:

LEFT

left the Prussians in the See also:

LURCH

lurch at Ligny, and that to the See also:

HOUR

hour of victory he had See also:

GRAVE

grave doubts as to whether he ought not to fall back on the See also:

RHINE (Lat. Rhenus, Ger. Rhein, Fr. Rhin, Dutch Rhyn, or Rijn)

Rhine. Blucher, however, soon recovered from his injuries, and, with See also:

GROLMANN, KARL WILHELM GEORG VON (1777-1843)

Grolmann, the quartermaster-general, he managed to convince Gneisenau. The relations of the two may be illustrated by Brigadier-General See also:

HARDINGE, HENRY HARDINGE, VISCOUNT (1785-1856)

Hardinge's See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report. Blucher burst into Hardinge's See also:

ROOM

room at See also:

WAVRE

Wavre, saying "Gneisenau has given way, and we are to march at once to your chief." On the field of Waterloo, however, Gneisenau was See also:

QUICK

quick to realize the magnitude of the victory, and he carried out the pursuit with a relentless vigour which has few See also:

PARALLELS

parallels in history. His reward was further promotion and the insignia of the " See also:

Black See also:

EAGLE (Fr. aigle, from the Lat. aquila)

Eagle " which had been taken in Napoleon's See also:

COACH (through the Fr. coche, originally from the Magyar kocsi, an adjective from the Hungarian place named Kocs, between Raab and Buda, i.e. the sort of vehicle used there in the 15th century)

coach. In 1816 he was appointed to command the VIIIth Prussian See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

Corps, but soon retired from the service, both because of ill-See also:

HEALTH

health and for See also:

POLITICAL

political reasons. For two years he lived in retirement on his See also:

ESTATE (through O. Fr. estat, mod. flat, from Lat. status, state, condition, position, stare, to stand)

estate, Erdmannsdorf in See also:

SILESIA

Silesia, but in 1818 he was made See also:

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

governor of Berlin in See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession to Kalkreuth, and member of the Staatsralh. In 1825 he became general field marshal. In 1831 he was appointed to the command of the Army of Observation on the See also:

POLISH

Polish frontier, with See also:

CLAUSEWITZ, KARL VON (1780-1831)

Clausewitz as his chief - of - staff.

At See also:

Posen he was struck down by See also:

CHOLERA (from the Gr. Xo)du, tile, and Map, to flow)

cholera and died on the 24th of August 1831, soon followed by his chief-of--staff,4who See also:

fell a victim to the same disease in See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November. As a soldier, Gneisenau was the greatest Prussian general since Frederick; as a See also:

man, his See also:

NOBLE, SIR ANDREW (1832- )

noble character and virtuous life secured him the See also:

AFFECTION (Lat. ad, and facere, to do something to, sc. a person)

affection and reverence, not only of his superiors and subordinates in the service, but of the whole Prussian nation. A statue by See also:

RAUCH, CHRISTIAN DANIEL (1777 – 1857)

Rauch was erected in Berlin in 1855, and in memory of the See also:

SIEGE (0. Fr. sege, siege, mod. siege, seat, ultimately from sedere, to sit, cf. Class. Lat. obsidium, a siege)

siege of 1807 the Colberg grenadiers received his name in 1889. One of his sons led a brigade of the VIIIth Army Corps in the war of 1870. See G. H. See also:

PERTZ, GEORG HEINRICH (1795-1876)

Pertz, Das Leben See also:

des Feldmarschalls Grafen Neilhardt von Gneisenau, vols. 1-3 (Berlin, 1864—1869) ; vols. 4 and 5, G. See also:

Delbruck (eb. 1879, 1880), with numerous documents and letters; H. Delbriick, Das Leben des G.

F. M. Grafen von Gneisenau (2 vols., and ed., Berlin, 1894), based on Pertz's work, but containing much See also:

HORMAYR, JOSEPH, BARON VON (1782-1848)

Hormayr, Lebensbilder aus den Befreiungskriegen (Jena, 1841) ; Pick, Aus dem brieflichen Nachlass Gneisenaus; also the histories of the See also:

CAMPAIGNS

campaigns of 1807 and 1813-15.

End of Article: GNEISENAU, AUGUST WILHELM ANTON, COUNT

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