“ His earlier life was spent in great poverty, and the struggle for existence developed in him an iron strength of character. Entering the Prussian artillery in 1820 he became an officer in 1825. From 1830 to 1837 he attended the Allgemeine Kriegsakademie at Berlin, and in 1841, while still a subaltern, he was posted to the great General Staff, in which he afterwards directed the topographical section. ”