Editing Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (section)

===Hundred Days and later life===
[[File:Prussian Attack Plancenoit by Adolf Northern.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|The Prussian attack on [[Plancenoit]] during the [[Battle of Waterloo]], painted by [[Adolph Northen]]]]

After the war, [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William III]] gave Blücher properties in the area of Neustadt (now [[Prudnik]]). In November of the same year, Blücher leased [[Trzebina, Opole Voivodeship|Kunzendorf]], [[Miłowice, Opole Voivodeship|Mühlsdorf]], [[Wierzbiec|Wackenau]] and [[Włóczno|Achthuben]] to a local farmer, Hübner, in exchange for 2,000 [[thaler]]s, rolls of linen cloth and yarn. His wife also moved to Kunzendorf. While living in the area of Neustadt, he financed the families of the fallen soldiers, gave a few liters of beer to the local parish priest every day, and paid a doctor from Neustadt to treat the poor. Thanks to his efforts, a health resort called "Blücher's Spring" was established in Kunzendorf (it was destroyed together with the castle as a result of the battles of the Neustadt in 1945).<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Procner|first1=Lidia|title=Sławne postacie pogranicza polsko-czeskiego Euroregionu Pradziad – wspólne dziedzictwo historyczne|last2=Dendewicz|first2=Franciszek|last3=Kowalczyk|first3=Czesław|publisher=Powiat Nyski|year=2007|isbn=978-83-60431-09-2|location=[[Nysa, Poland|Nysa]]|pages=23|chapter=Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher}}</ref>

After the war, Blücher retired to Silesia. However, the return of Napoleon from [[Elba]] and his entry into Paris at the start of the [[Hundred Days]], called him back to service. He was put in command of the [[Order of battle of the Waterloo Campaign#Prussian Army Order of Battle|Army of the Lower Rhine]], with Gneisenau serving again as his chief of staff. At the outset of the [[Waterloo Campaign]] of 1815, the Prussians sustained a serious defeat at [[Battle of Ligny|Ligny]] (16 June), in the course of which the old field marshal lay trapped under his dead horse for several hours and was repeatedly ridden over by cavalry, his life saved only by the devotion of his [[aide-de-camp]] Count [[August Ludwig von Nostitz|Nostitz]], who threw a greatcoat over his commander to obscure Blücher's rank and identity from the passing French. As Blücher was unable to resume command for some hours, Gneisenau took command, drew off the defeated army, and rallied it.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=80}} In spite of Gneisenau's distrust of Wellington, he obeyed Blücher's last orders to direct the army's retreat towards [[Wavre]], rather than [[Liège]], to keep alive the possibility of joining the Prussian and Wellington's Anglo-allied armies together.{{sfn|Cornwell|2015|loc=Chapter 6, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=z6N3CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT93 93–94?]}}

After bathing his wounds in a liniment of [[rhubarb]] and [[garlic]], and fortified by a liberal internal dose of [[schnapps]], Blücher rejoined his army. Gneisenau feared that the British had reneged on their earlier agreements and favoured a withdrawal, but Blücher convinced him to send two corps to join Wellington at [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]].{{sfn|Barbero|2006|p={{page needed|date=May 2016}} }}{{sfn|Cornwell|2015|loc=Chapter 6, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=z6N3CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT94 94?]}} He then led his army on a tortuous march along muddy paths, arriving on the field of Waterloo in the late afternoon. In spite of his age, the pain of his wounds, and the effort it must have taken for him to remain on horseback, [[Bernard Cornwell]] states that several soldiers attested to Blücher's high spirits and his determination to defeat Napoleon:

{{blockquote|"Forwards!" he was quoted as saying. "I hear you say it's impossible, but it has to be done! I have given my promise to Wellington, and you surely don't want me to break it? Push yourselves, my children, and we'll have victory!" It is impossible not to like Blücher. He was 74 years ({{sic}}) old,{{Efn|He was 72, based on his birth date.}} still in pain and discomfort from his adventures at Ligny, still stinking of schnapps and of rhubarb liniment, yet he is all enthusiasm and energy. If Napoleon's demeanour that day was one of sullen disdain for an enemy he underestimated, and Wellington's a cold, calculating calmness that hid concern, then Blücher is all passion.{{sfn|Cornwell|2015|loc=Chapter 9, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=z6N3CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT158 158?]}}
}}

With the battle hanging in the balance, Blücher's army intervened with decisive and crushing effect, his vanguard drawing off Napoleon's badly needed reserves, and his main body being instrumental in crushing French resistance. This victory led the way to a decisive victory through the [[Waterloo Campaign#Invasion of France and the occupation of Paris (18 June – 7 July)|relentless pursuit]] of the French by the Prussians.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst (prince) von Wahlstatt {{!}} Prussian Field Marshal, Napoleonic Wars Hero |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gebhard-Leberecht-von-Blucher-Furst-von-Wahlstatt |access-date=2023-07-15 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> The two Coalition armies [[Waterloo Campaign#Third week (2–7 July)|entered Paris on 7 July]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=80}}

[[File:SM Krobielowice Mauzoleum Bluchera (15) ID 599647.jpg|thumb|Blücher Mausoleum in [[Former eastern territories of Germany|ex-German]] Krieblowitz (now [[Krobielowice]], Poland).]]
[[File:Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - Field-Marshal Gebhardt von Blücher (1742-1819) - RCIN 405148 - Royal Collection.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Marshal Blücher]]'' by [[Sir Thomas Lawrence]]. It now hangs in the [[Waterloo Chamber]] at [[Windsor Castle]].]]

Blücher remained in the French capital for a few months, but his age and infirmities compelled him to retire to his Silesian residence at Krieblowitz.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=80}} At the invitation of the British government, he made another state visit to England, to be formally thanked for his army and his role in the Waterloo Campaign. When his carriage stopped on [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath Hill]], overlooking London, he is said to have exclaimed, "What a city to sack!"{{sfn|Cornwell|2015|loc=Afterword p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=z6N3CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT239 239?]}} He died at Krieblowitz on 12 September 1819, aged 76.{{Sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=80}} After his death, an imposing mausoleum was built for his remains.

When Krieblowitz was conquered by the Red Army in 1945, Soviet soldiers broke into the Blücher mausoleum and scattered the remains. Soviet troops reportedly used his skull as a football. After 1989, some of his remains were taken by a Polish priest and interred in the catacomb of the church in [[Sośnica, Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Sośnica]] (German: Schosnitz), three&nbsp;km from the now Polish Krobielowice.{{sfn|Leggiere|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=twXBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA448 448]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=twXBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA449 449]}}