Gerhard von Scharnhorst Gerhard Johann David Waitz von Scharnhorst ( 12 November 1755 – 28 June 1813 ) was a general in Prussia n service , Chief of the Prussian General Staff , noted for both his writings , his reforms of the Prussian army , and his leadership during the Napoleonic Wars . Biography . Born at Bordenau ( now a part of Neustadt am Rübenberge , Lower Saxony ) near Hanover , into a farmer ' s family , he succeeded in educating himself and in securing admission to the military academy of William , Count of Schaumburg - Lippe at the fortress Wilhelmstein . In 1778 he received a commission in the Hanoverian service . He employed the intervals of regimental duty in further self - education and literary work . In 1783 he transferred to the artillery and received an appointment to the new artillery school in Hanover . He had already founded a military journal that , under various names , endured until 1805 , and in 1788 he designed , and in part published , a " Handbuch für Offiziere in den anwendbaren Teilen der Kriegswissenschaften " ( " Handbook for Officers in the Applied Sections of Military Science " ) . He also published in 1792 his " Militärisches Taschenbuch für den Gebrauch im Felde " ( " Military Handbook for Use in the Field " ) . The income he derived from his writings provided his chief means of support , for he still held the rank of lieutenant , and though the farm of Bordenau produced a small sum annually , he had a wife ( Clara Schmalz , sister of Theodor Schmalz , first director of Berlin University ) and family to maintain . His first campaign took place in 1793 in the Netherlands , in which he served under the Duke of York with distinction . In 1794 he took part in the defence of Menin and commemorated the escape of the garrison in his " Verteidigung der Stadt Menin " ( " Defence of the Town of Menin " ) ( Hanover , 1803 ) , which , besides his paper " Die Ursachen des Glücks der Franzosen im Revolutionskrieg " ( " The Origins of the Good Fortune of the French in the Revolutionary War " ) , remains his best - known work . Shortly thereafter he received promotion to the rank of major and joined the staff of the Hanoverian contingent . After the Peace of Basel ( 5 March 1795 ) Scharnhorst returned to Hanover . He had by now become so well known to the armies of the various allied states that he received invitations from several of them to transfer his services . This in the end led to his engaging himself to King Frederick William III of Prussia , who gave him a patent of nobility , the rank of lieutenant - colonel and more than twice the pay that he had received in Hanover ( 1801 ) . The War Academy of Berlin employed him , almost as a matter of course , in important instructional work ( Clausewitz was one of his students ) and he founded the Berlin Military Society . In the mobilizations and precautionary measures that marked the years 1804 and 1805 , and in the war of 1806 that ensued , Scharnhorst served as chief of the general staff ( lieutenant - quartermaster ) of the Duke of Brunswick , received a slight wound at Auerstedt ( 14 October 1806 ) and distinguished himself by his stern resolution during the retreat of the Prussian army . He attached himself to Blücher in the last stages of the disastrous campaign , went into captivity with him at the capitulation of Ratekau ( 7 November 1806 ) , and , quickly exchanged , had a prominent and almost decisive part in leading L ' Estocq ' s Prussian corps , which served with the Russians . For his services at Eylau ( February 1807 ) , he received the highest Prussian military order " Pour le Mérite " . It was apparent that Scharnhorst ' s skills exceeded those of a merely brilliant staff officer . Educated in the traditions of the Seven Years ' War , he had by degrees , as his experience widened , divested his mind of antiquated forms of war , and realised that only a " national " army and a policy of fighting decisive battles could give an adequate response to the political and strategic situation brought about by the French Revolution . He was promoted to major - general a few days after the Peace of Tilsit ( July 1807 ) , and became the head of a reform commission that included the best of the younger officers , such as Gneisenau , Grolman and Boyen . Stein himself became a member of the commission and secured Scharnhorst free access to King Frederick William III by securing his appointment as " aide - de - camp - general " . But Napoleon quickly became suspicious , and Frederick William repeatedly had to suspend or cancel the reforms recommended . By slow and labored steps , Scharnhorst converted the professional long - service army of Prussia , wrecked at Jena ( 1806 ) , into a national army based on universal service . Universal service was not secured until his death , but he laid down the principles and prepared the way for its adoption . Enrollments of foreigners were abolished , corporal punishment s were limited to flagrant cases of insubordination , promotion for merit was established , and the military administration organized and simplified . The organization of the " Landwehr " ( army reserves ) was begun . In 1809 , the war between France and Austria roused premature hopes in the patriots ' party , which the conqueror did not fail to note . By direct application to Napoleon , Scharnhorst evaded the decree of 26 September 1810 , which required all foreigners to leave the Prussian service forthwith , but when in 1811 – 1812 France forced Prussia into an alliance against Russia and Prussia despatched an auxiliary army to serve under Napoleon ' s orders , Scharnhorst left Berlin on unlimited leave of absence . In retirement he wrote and published a work on firearms , " Über die Wirkung des Feuergewehrs " ( 1813 ) . But the retreat from Moscow ( 1812 ) at last sounded the call to arms for the new national army of Prussia . Scharnhorst , recalled to the king ' s headquarters , refused a higher post but became Chief of Staff to Blücher , in whose vigour , energy , and influence with the young soldiers he had complete confidence . Russian Prince Wittgenstein was so impressed by Scharnhorst that he asked to borrow him temporarily as his Chief of Staff . Blücher agreed . In the first battle , Lützen or Gross - Görschen ( 2 May 1813 ) , Prussia suffered defeat , but a very different defeat from those Napoleon had hitherto customarily inflicted . The French failed to follow up , so this defeat was not complete . In this battle , Scharnhorst received a wound in the foot , not in itself grave , but soon made mortal by the fatigues of the retreat to Dresden , and he succumbed to it on 28 June 1813 at Prague , where he had travelled to negotiate with Schwarzenberg and Radetzky for the armed intervention of Austria . Shortly before his death he had received promotion to the rank of lieutenant - general . Frederick William III erected a statue in memory of him , by Christian Daniel Rauch , in Berlin . Scharnhorst was buried at the Invalidenfriedhof Cemetery in Berlin . Legacy . Several German navy ships , including the World War I armored cruiser SMS " Scharnhorst " , the World War II battleship " Scharnhorst " , and a post - war frigate , as well as a district of the city of Dortmund and a school in the city of Hildesheim , were named after him .