Ney

Michel, Duke of Elchingen, Prince of the Moscova,
Marshal of France at thirty five (1804).
(Sarrelouis (Lorraine),1769 - Paris, 1815

Author: Jean-Louis Enjolras - Cercle Histoire et Figurines

" Ney is the bravest man, there are restricted all his capacities " Napoléon.

Decorations: The Legion of Honor, the Portuguese Order of Christ.

The only marshal executed in 1815 by Louis XVIII. At Waterloo he charged the Allies furiously after having promised Louis XVIII to bring Napoleon back in an iron cage. Napoleon said, Ney is the bravest of men, but his abilities limit him.

Ney arose from modest origins; his father was a master cooper. Ney abandoned a peaceful office job, clerk for a notary from the age of thirteen, to enter at the age of nineteen the Colonel regiment of hussars, in Metz on 6 December 1788. His superior officer was Kellerman. During the Revolution he fought on the frontiers, where he was noticed by Kleber in 1794. He obtained his commission as second lieutenant in 1792 and won his Captain's epaulets in 1794. Next, in the army of the Sambre and Meuse he received his stripes as an adjutant squadron chief on July 31, 1794 after distinguishing himself at Louvain, notably by capturing an Austrian general. He was promoted to head of a brigade on October 15, 1794.

He particularly distinguished himself in the campaign of Germany in 1796, took Wuerzburg and Pforzheim, became brigadier general on the first of August, 1796, at twenty seven years, with a blue silk sash. His men gave him the surnames the Tireless, Reddy, Michel the Red, the Red Lion because of his shock of hair. The fellow was a peasant, sharing the life of his soldiers, who adored him. In 1797 the charges of the hussar corps he commanded contributed to the victories of Neuwied and of Dierdorf. When the war took up again in 1798 Ney made himself famous by a curious feat of arms; he captured Mannheim by a trick with only one hundred fifty men. The city capitulated on March 2, 1799.

He was promoted to division general on March 28 following an icy exchange of letters with Bernadotte. After new exploits in the army of the Danube he was made provisional commander of the army of the Rhine. He served under the orders of Lecourbe, who discovered his thin skin, served by an unequivocal pen) when he learned of the coup d'etat of 18 brumaire. A dyed-in- the-wool republican, he was not delighted by that, but never the less he signed the act of adherence to the consulate. In 1800, under the command of Moreau, he made himself talked about again because of his part in the Battle of Hohenlinden (December 3). His lightning attack made ten thousand prisoners, eighty seven cannon fell into his hands, the center of the Austrian army was annihilated. Moreau raised and embraced him in front of the cheering soldiers. The first consul then became more closely interested in this general; it was the turning point of his career. He married him to a friend of Hortense de Beauharnais and named him ambassador to Switzerland in 1802. Ney rallied the Swiss cantons to the Act of Mediation.

In 1803 Napoleon trusted him with the VI Corps of the army in the camp at Boulogne. The following year he made him a marshal, him thirty five years old. Ney had no equal in leading attacks, but he was a poor strategist and the emperor was always careful to closely direct him. In 1805 Ney went into the field at the head of the VI Corps. A Elchingen (October 14, 1805) he drove the Austrians back toward Ulm (Mack surrendered), a victory which earned him a ducal title. Following Ulm he marched into the Tyrol, from which he chases Archduke Charles.

In 1806 he took part in the campaign in Prussia.Present at Jena, he led his divisions in the assault on the Prussian lines. However, he was carried on by his eagerness into becoming surrounded. Lannes got him out of that misstep. Next day Ney took Erfurt and a few days later undertook the siege of Magdeburg, a siege which was to last less than twenty four hours. He was everywhere.

At Eylau (February 8, 1807) he reached the battlefield late but forced the Russians to retreat; at Guttstadt he fought against seventy thousand men with his fourteen hundred; at Friedland (June 14, 1807) he attacked the left wing of the enemy's army and threw it into the Alle. Now the marshal enjoyed an enormous reputation and the adoration of his soldiers. From 1808 to 1811 Ney served in Spain and Portugal. After many successes he undertook the siege of Villa-Franca. When Massena's army made good its retreat, pursued by Wellington, Ney led the rear guard action with the six thousand man remainder of his corps. He ill endured being placed under Massena and receiving orders from someone other than the emperor. Quarrels were frequent. Ney balked so much that ended up removing him in March of 1811.

Sent back to France, he was charged with preparing the III corps, which was going to invade Russia. That campaign would be the marshal's most glorious. He beat the Russians at Ostrovno on July 25 and 26, 1812. He took an active part in capturing Smolensk, where he received a ball in his neck. At the Battle of Borodino (September,1812) his attack on the great redoubt was decisive. He got from Napoleon the title of prince of the Moscova and the surname Bravest of the Brave. During the retreat he performed prodigies. entrusted with guarding the rear, harassed by the enemy, he succeeded by a miracle in rejoining Napoleon before the crossing of the Beresina. He saved three thousand men from disaster by not counting his efforts and sacrifices.He was one of the last Frenchmen to quit Russian soil.

During the following two years Ney was placed in key positions. He was at Luetzen (May 2,1813), Bautzen (May 20-21, 1813), Dennewitz (September 1813), where he was beaten by Bernadotte, finally, at Leipzig, where he was wounded (October 16-19, 1813). After the defeat he judged that Napoleon's ambition was the main cause of the disaster. In April of 1814 he was one of those who asked the emperor to abdicate, one of those who carried the act of abdication to the czar.

Upon the return of the king Ney swore allegiance to him. Louis XVIII gave him a good reception and named him commander of the royal guard and Peer of France. Ney led the life of a courtier, but he was hurt by the coldness with which he was treated because of his lowly origins and ended by retiring to his estate. When the news of Napoleon's return reached Paris Ney offered to bring Napoleon to the King "in an iron cage". On the way he discovered a Bonapartist France.When he met Napoleon he again joined his cause. He took part in the campaign in Belgium in June, 1815, by the side of his old master. At Quatre-Bras on June 16, 1815, his attacks lacked vigor. At Mont Saint Jean (June 18) his charges were poorly organized, directed to the wrong places. Soon it looked as though Ney was trying to get killed.

After the defeat he went to the Chamber of Peers to try to justify himself. In spite of the passport furnished by Fouche he refused to flee. Taking refuge in a village, he left the Turkish saber given him by the Emperor as a wedding gift showing; Because of it he was recognized and arrested (August 3, 1815). The jury charged with judging him, made up of marshals, a good number of whom had done as he did, declared itself incompetent. The Chamber of Peers took the affair in hand and decreed the capital punishment (with Chateaubriand one of those voting). When they awakened him in his cell to read him the sentence, Ney understood. He interrupted the long enumeration of his titles. Get on. Say Michel Ney and soon a little dust." On December 7 he was not executed on the plain of Grenelle, as was usual; he was led to the avenue of the observatory to avoid movements of the crowd. Ney refused a blindfold, thundered, "Soldiers, straight to the heart!" and fell, shot. The monarchy had made an example.

Four years later it pardoned the other marshals.