Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

Blücher started as a Swedish hussar in 1758, got captured by the Prussians two years later, and switched sides for the rest of the Seven Years' War. In 1773 Frederick the Great cashiered him for insubordination; he farmed until Frederick died in 1786, then worked his way back up to colonel. The French Revolutionary Wars made him a major general in 1794, and by 1806 he was commanding cavalry in the Napoleonic campaigns. When war resumed in 1813 he took field command at 71, fought Napoleon at Lützen, Bautzen, and Katzbach, then helped deliver the knockout at Leipzig - earning his field marshal's baton and the title Prince of Wahlstatt. In 1815 he took a beating at Ligny, got trampled by cavalry, but dragged himself back to link up with Wellington three days later at Waterloo. His soldiers called him "Marshal Forward." He and Hindenburg remain the only Prussian-German officers ever awarded the Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross.