Gerhard von Scharnhorst

Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst (1755–1813) was a Hanoverian-born Prussian lieutenant general and the intellectual architect of the modern military staff system. Following Prussia's catastrophic defeat by Napoleon at Jena-Auerstedt in 1806, King Frederick William III appointed Scharnhorst head of the Military Reorganization Commission.

Scharnhorst transformed the obsolete Prussian feudal army into a modern national army: he opened officer commissions to merit and education rather than aristocratic birth, abolished degrading corporal punishments, established the Prussian General Staff (Großer Generalstab), and introduced universal military conscription through the Krümper system. His doctrines formed the foundation for Carl von Clausewitz (his closest student) and the Prussian military triumphs of the 19th century. Wounded at the Battle of Lützen in 1813, he died while negotiating an alliance in Prague.