Born in a Hanoverian farming family, Scharnhorst was an artillery teacher and founded a newspaper which was published until 1805. Once his reputation was established, he let himself be recruited by Prussia in 1801. There he gave talks (Clausewitz was amongst his audience), and he helped the Duke of Brunswick when the latter occupied Hanover in 1805. He was a member of the Duke's Staff in the fatal campaign of 1806. After the defeat, he undertook the military reorganisation of Prussia, with Gneisenau and Boyen. His main innovation was the Krumper system, which enabled the Prussians to bypass the troop limitations imposed by Napoleon. The extent of his work was to be obvious in 1813, but Scharnhorst, who was Blücher's Chief of Staff, was seriously wounded at the battle of Grossgörschen in May, 1813, and died two months later on a diplomatic mission in Prague, attempting to bring the Austrians over to the allied side.
Jean Tulard, in Tulard Jean, (ed.), Dictionnaire Napoléon, Paris: Fayard, 1987, 2nd edition 1999, p. 977, ed./trans. P.H., L.L.