Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal
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Generalfeldmarschall Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal (July 20, 1810 - December 21, 1900), Prussian generalfeldmarschall, son of Captain Ludwig von Blumenthal (killed in 1813 at the battle of Dennewitz), was born at Schwedt-on-the-Oder.
Educated at the military schools of Culm and Berlin, he entered the Guards as 2nd lieutenant in 1827. He studied at the Berlin General War School (later called the Prussian Military Academy). After serving in the Rhine provinces, he joined the topographical division of the general staff in 1846. As lieutenant of the 31st foot he took part in 1848 in the suppression of the Berlin riots, and in 1849 was promoted captain on the general staff. The same year he served on the staff of General von Bonin in the Schleswig-Holstein campaign, and so distinguished himself, particularly at Fredericia, that he was appointed chief of the staff of the Schleswig-Holstein army when the previous chief of staff, Captain von Delius, was killed.
In 1850 he was general staff officer of the mobile division under von Tietzen in Hesse-Cassel. He was sent on a mission to England in that year (4th class of Red Eagle), and on several subsequent occasions. Having attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel, he was appointed personal adjutant to Prince Frederick Charles in 1859. In 1860 he became colonel of the 31st, and later of the 71st, regiment. He was chief of the staff of the III. army corps when, on the outbreak of the Second War of Schleswig of 1864, he was nominated chief of the general staff of the army against Denmark, and displayed so much ability, particularly at Dybbøl and the night attack on the island Als, which he masterminded and which ended the war, that he was promoted major-general and given the order pour le mérite, only its 50th recipient.
In the war of 1866 Blumenthal was chief of the general staff to the crown prince of Prussia, commanding the 2nd army. It was upon this army that the brunt of the fighting fell, and its arrival at Königgratz saved the day. Blumenthal's own part in these battles and in the campaign generally was most conspicuous. On the field of Königgratz the crown prince said to his chief of staff, "I know to whom I owe the conduct of my army", and Blumenthal soon received promotion to lieutenant-general and the oak-leaf of the order pour le mérite. He was also made a knight of the Hohenzollern Order. From 1866 to 1870 he commanded the 14th division at Düsseldorf.
In the Franco-German War of 1870-71 he was chief of staff of the 3rd army under the crown prince. Eighteen other members of his family also fought in this war, including his son and three nephews, of whom two were killed. Von Blumenthal's soldierly qualities and talent were never more conspicuous than in the critical days preceding the battle of Sedan, and his services in the war have been considered as scarcely less valuable and important than those of Moltke himself. Bismarck said "He won the battles of Wörth and Wissembourg, and after that of Sedan." He commanded the siege of Paris and resisted calls to bombard it: we owe the Paris of today to this civilised act. In 1871 Blumenthal represented Germany at the British manoeuvres at Chobham, and was given the command of the IV. army corps at Magdeburg. In 1873 he became a general of infantry, and ten years later he was made a count. In 1888 he was made a general field marshal, after which he was in command of the 4th and 3rd army inspections. He retired in 1896, and died at Quellendorf near Köthen on the 21st of December 1900. He was noted (among others by the English journalist William Howard Russell who followed him during the Franco-German War) for his kindliness and sense of humour. Like the Crown Prince, Moltke and other key Prussian leaders, he had an English wife (Delicia Vyner) and it was widely thought in conservative circles that this was the basis of a liberal Prussian clique. His least appreciated but arguably most important work was the development of the doctrine of Fire and Infiltration, the basis of Blitzkrieg.
Von Blumenthal's diary of 1866 and 1870-1871 was edited by his son, Count Albrecht von Blumenthal (Tagebuch des G.F.M. von Blumenthal), 1902; an English translation (Journals of Count von Blumenthal) was published in 1903.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
