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Michel Ney, Duke of Elchingen, Prince of Moskova (January 10, 1769 – December 7, 1815), called Le Rougeaud ("the ruddy") and le Brave des Braves ("the bravest of the brave") was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the orginal 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon
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[edit] Early life
Michel Ney was born in Saarlouis, a French enclave in the the German-speaking Lorraine, something that made Ney bilingual. He was the second son of Pierre Ney, a master barrel cooper and veteran of the Seven Years' War.
Ney was educated at the College des Augustins and after his education became a notary in Saarlouis and then overseer of mines and forges. The life as a civil servant didn't suite Ney and he enlisted in the Colonel-General Hussar Regiment in 1787.
[edit] French Revolutionary Wars
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[edit] Soldier for Napoleon
An effective, instinctive and courageous soldier, Ney is known for epitomizing the soldierly virtue of "leading from the front". For instance, he led the charge of the French heavy cavalry against British infantry at the Battle of Waterloo. However, Ney was not merely a hotheaded sabreur, he was also a skilled commander, performing excellently at the Battle of Elchingen, from which he later derived his ducal title, and arguably won the Battle of Friedland for Napoleon. On the other hand, during the Battle of Bautzen he was supposed to outflank the enemy to cause an overwhelming defeat. However, instead of stealthily dodging the weak garrisons along his path to the enemy's rear, he wasted much time in taking useless areas. This led to Napoleon not crushing his enemies and ultimately to the Battle of Leipzig.[citation needed]
During the Retreat from Moscow, Marshal Ney commanded the rearguard, protecting the remnants of Napoleon's Grande Armée as it staggered back to France, attacked daily by Russian Cossacks. Napoleon, having previously thought Ney to be lost for ever, declared that 'France is full of brave men but, truly, Ney is the bravest of the brave'.
Despite Ney's humble roots, he was one of the first to be awarded the rank of Marshal by Napoleon, who valued courage and talent above all. In addition to his military rank, Ney was created Duke of Elchingen on 6 June 1808 and Prince de La Moskowa on 25 March 1813.
[edit] After Napoleon's fall
When Paris fell and the Bourbons reclaimed the throne, Ney, who had pressured Napoleon to accept his first abdication and exile, was promoted, lauded, and made a peer by the newly enthroned Louis XVIII. Although Ney had pledged his allegiance to the restored monarchy, the Bourbon court reacted cooly to his common origins. When he was sent to arrest the returning Napoleon, he was convinced to switch sides and fight for his old leader again. During the Hundred Days campaign, he led the French forces at the Battle of Quatre Bras and commanded the left wing of Napoleon's army at the Battle of Waterloo.
Ney has been criticized for his conduct in this battle, perhaps unfairly so. Napoleon had not explained his strategy for the whole campaign, nor had he listened to his generals' pleas for an outflanking manoeuvre instead of his own, unsubtle frontal assault on the British positions at Waterloo. Napoleon compounded these errors by remaining away from the front line for most of the battle, not giving Ney reinforcements that could have won him the battle and, to round it all off, he was also sick. However, Ney also had part of the blame, for he was cowardly[citation needed] and was afraid to attack a crucial bridge before it could be fortified[citation needed] . Later when it was fortified, Ney wasted men by uselessly ordering a frontal charge. Still, Ney fought like a tiger, but he could not shift Wellington's men. He was seen during one of the charges beating his sword against the side of a British cannon in furious frustration.
When all was clearly lost, Ney gathered a group of French soldiers together and cried 'come, and see how a Marshal of France can die!' As Victor Hugo said of him 'O, unhappy man - you were reserved for French bullets!'
[edit] Execution
When Napoleon was defeated, dethroned and exiled for the second time in the summer of 1815, Ney was arrested on 3 August 1815, and tried on 4 December 1815 for treason by the Chamber of Peers. On 6 December 1815 he was condemned, and was executed by firing squad in Paris near the Luxembourg Garden on 7 December 1815 – an event that deeply divided the French public. He refused to wear a blindfold and was allowed the right to give the order to fire, reportedly saying:
“Soldiers, when I give the command to fire, fire straight at my heart. Wait for the order. It will be my last to you. I protest against my condemnation. I have fought a hundred battles for France, and not one against her... Soldiers Fire!” [1]
Ney's execution was an example intended for Napoleon's other marshals and generals, many of whom were eventually exonerated by the Bourbon monarchy. He is buried in Paris at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
[edit] Pretenders and legends
One of the more colourful legends of Ney that have grown up after the Marshal's untimely demise by firing squad was that Ney had managed to escape to the United States. Proponents of this theory argue that Ney had masonic ties, including to the Duke of Wellington, who helped him fake his execution and flee abroad. The basis for these rumors was the presence in the United States of a Peter Stuart Ney, who, when drunk, wowed his friends and students with tales of military glory, and claimed to be – or at least did not deny being – the executed Napoleonic Marshal . While this is almost certainly untrue, Peter Stuart Ney certainly did live for a number of years teaching school in North and South Carolina, including at Davidson College, where he designed the school seal still used today. Ney died in 1846, after uttering the bizarre last words, "Bessières is dead; the Old Guard is dead; now, please, let me die." On his gravestone in Cleveland, North Carolina, one will find the words "(...) soldier of the French Revolution under Napoleon Bonaparte (...)".
[edit] Notes
- ^ Tsouras, P.G. The book of Military Quotations. Zenith Press, 2005. pg.245.
[edit] References
- Chandler, David (editor). Napoleon's Marshals. London: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987. ISBN 0-297-79124-9
[edit] External links
- Ney defends his conduct at Waterloo
- Ney's grave at Findagrave.com.
