33. “He Must Lead Even If He Has a Hundred Elephants Inside Him“
Blucher’s lunatic spells did not keep him from being an effective fighting general. Indeed, he proved himself to be Prussia’s best general of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He bounced back from setback after setback, and in 1813, played a pivotal role at the head of the Prussian-Russian army in defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig – the biggest battle of the Napoleonic Wars. Two years later, on June 16th, 1815, he bounced back from a serious battlefield loss at Ligny, from which he miraculously escaped with his life, and shaped history.
Instead of retreating, Blucher led his defeated but still game army on a forced march to link up with Wellington at Waterloo. He arrived two days later, on the 18th, in the nick of time to fall upon Napoleon’s flank and crush him. That fighting spirit and determination are why the Prussians hung on to Blucher, despite all his lunatic and manic episodes. As his chief of staff, Scharnhorst, wrote him on one occasion: “You are our leader and our hero“, insisting that he head the Prussian Army “even if you have to be carried before or behind us on a litter“. On another occasion, he put it even more succinctly: “He must lead even if he has a hundred elephants inside him“.
