August Neidhardt von Gneisenau August Wilhelm Antonius Graf Neidhardt von Gneisenau ( 27 October 1760 – 23 August 1831 ) was a Prussia n field marshal . He was a prominent figure in the reform of the Prussian military and the War of Liberation . Early life . Gneisenau was born at Schildau in the Electorate of Saxony . He was the son of a Saxon lieutenant of artillery , August William Neidhardt , and his wife Maria Eva Neidhardt , née Müller . He grew up in great poverty at Schildau , and subsequently at Würzburg and Erfurt . In 1777 he entered the University of Erfurt , but two years later joined an Austrian regiment quartered there . In 1782 , taking the additional name of " Gneisenau " from some lost estates of his family in Austria , he entered as an officer the service of the Margrave of Bayreuth - Ansbach . With one of that prince ' s mercenary regiments in British pay , he saw active service and gained valuable experience in the American Revolutionary War . Returning in 1786 , he applied for Prussian service , and King Frederick the Great gave him a commission as first lieutenant in the infantry . Made " Stabskapitän " ( " Staff Captain " ) in 1790 , Gneisenau served in Poland from 1793 - 1794 . Ten years of subsequent quiet garrison life in Jauer enabled him to undertake wide ranging studies of military and political history . In 1796 he married Caroline von Kottwitz . Napoleonic Wars . In 1806 Gneisenau served as one of Prince Hohenlohe ' s staff - officers , fought at Saalfeld and Jena , and a little later commanded a provisional infantry brigade which fought under Lestocq in the Lithuanian campaign . Early in 1807 , the Prussian Army sent Major von Gneisenau as commandant to Kolberg , which , though small and ill - protected , with the additional assistance of Schill and Nettelbeck succeeded in holding out against Napoleon ic forces until the Peace of Tilsit . The commandant received the highly - prized " Pour le Mérite " and promotion to lieutenant - colonel . A wider sphere of work now opened to Gneisenau . As chief of engineers , and a member of the reorganizing committee , he played a great part , along with Scharnhorst , in the work of reconstructing the Prussian army . Though primarily devoted to the problem of military reorganization , he exercised considerable influence on the general policy of the Ministry as well . A colonel in 1809 , he soon drew upon himself , by his energy , the suspicion of the dominant French , and Stein ' s fall ( January 1809 ) was soon followed by Gneisenau ' s retirement . But , after visiting Austria , Imperial Russia , Sweden and England on secret missions , he returned to Berlin and resumed his place as a leader of the patriotic party . In open military work and secret machinations his energy and patriotism were equally tested , and with the outbreak of the Wars of Liberation , Major - General Gneisenau became Blücher ' s quartermaster - general . Thus began the connection between these two soldiers which has furnished military history with one of the best examples of the harmonious co - operation between a commander and his chief - of - staff . With Blücher , Gneisenau served in the capture of Paris ; his military character perfectly complemented Blücher ' s , and under this happy guidance the young troops of Prussia , often defeated but never discouraged , fought their way into the heart of France . The plan for the march on Paris , which led directly to the fall of Napoleon , was specifically the work of the chief - of - staff . In reward for his distinguished service , Gneisenau in 1814 — along with Yorck , Kleist and Bülow — was elevated to count , while at the same time Blücher became Prince of Wahlstatt . In 1815 , once more chief of Blücher ' s staff , Gneisenau played a very conspicuous part in the Waterloo campaign . Senior generals such as Yorck and Kleist had been set aside in order that the chief - of - staff should take command in case of need , and when on the field of Ligny the old field marshal was disabled , Gneisenau assumed command of the Prussian army . He rallied the army , directed it towards Wavre from where part of it marched to join Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815 , where the flanking attack by the Prussians helped to decide the battle . On the field of Waterloo , Gneisenau carried out a pursuit that resulted in the capture of Napoleon ' s carriage . In the days following the battle , Gneisenau saw that the Prussian forces reached Paris before Wellington . In reward Gneisenau gained further promotion and the Order of the Black Eagle . Later life . In 1816 Gneisenau was appointed to command the VIII Prussian Corps , but soon retired from the service , both because of ill health and for political reasons . For two years Gneisenau lived in retirement at his estate , Erdmannsdorf in Silesia , but in 1818 he became governor of Berlin , as successor to Kalckreuth , and member of the Staatsrath ( Council of State ) . In 1825 he was promoted to General Field Marshal . In 1831 , soon after the outbreak of the Polish insurrection of 1830 , he was appointed to the command of the Army of Observation on the Polish frontier , with Clausewitz as his chief - of - staff . At Posen he was struck down by cholera and died on 24 August 1831 , soon followed by his chief - of - staff , who fell a victim to the same disease in November . Legacy . As a soldier , Gneisenau proved the greatest Prussian general since Frederick the Great . As a man , his noble character and virtuous life secured him the affection and reverence not only of his superiors and subordinates in the service , but of the whole Prussian nation . A statue by Christian Daniel Rauch was erected in Berlin in 1855 , and in memory of the siege of 1807 , the Kolberg grenadier regiment received his name in 1889 . One of his sons led a brigade of the VIII Army Corps in the Franco - Prussian War in 1870 . Several German navy ships , including the World War I armored cruiser SMS " Gneisenau " , the World War II battleship " Gneisenau " , and a post - war frigate were named after him . Additionally , several German cities have streets named " Gneisenaustrasse " ( Gneisenau Street ) , including Berlin ( which has an U - bahn stop in his name ) , Leipzig , Hamburg , and Heidelberg .