Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - A lokacin da yake da shekaru 14, mahaifinsa ya sanya shi a cikin rundunar sojojin Prussian na Janar Bruesewitz wanda aka kafa a Greater Poland. A lokaci guda, matashin soja ya yi karatu a Cibiyar Jami'an Kula da Kula da Berlin, daga inda ya kammala karatunsa a 1805 tare da ci gaba zuwa laftanar. A shekara ta 1806, ya nemi a cire shi daga shiga yaƙin
tare da Napoleon Faransa.