Michel Ney

Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

The son of a cooper from Saarlouis, Ney worked as a civil servant until 1787 when he enlisted in a cavalry regiment, right before the outbreak of French Revolution. Distinguishing himself as a cavalry officer in the War of the First Coalition, he quickly rose through the ranks and, by the Battle of Hohenlinden (1800), he had been promoted to divisional general. On Napoleon's proclamation of the French Empire, Ney was named one of the original 18 Marshals of the Empire. He played an instrumental role during Napoleon's subsequent campaigns, seeing action at Elchingen (1805), Jena (1806) and Eylau (1807). Ney commanded the French rearguard during the disastrous invasion of Russia, for which he was lauded as "the bravest of the brave" by the emperor.

After Napoleon's defeat by the Sixth Coalition in 1814, Ney pressured the emperor to abdicate and pledged his allegiance to the restored Bourbon monarchy. He rejoined Napoleon during the Hundred Days but met defeat at the Battle of Waterloo (1815), after which he was charged with treason by the restored monarchy and executed by firing squad.

Early life

thumb|left|Ney's birthplace in [[Saarlouis]]

Ney was born in the town of Sarrelouis, in the French province of Lorraine, along the French–German border. He was the second son of Pierre Ney (1738–1826), a master cooper and veteran of the Seven Years' War, and his wife Marguerite Greiveldinger.

His hometown at the time of his birth was a French enclave in the predominantly German region of Saarland, and Ney grew up bilingual, due to his German roots. He was educated at the Collège des Augustins in Sarrelouis until 1782, when he began working as a clerk in a local notary's office, and in 1784 was employed in mines and forges.

Military career

French Revolutionary Wars

thumb|left|Michel Ney as a [[sous-lieutenant in the 4th Hussars in 1792 by Adolphe Brune, 1834]]

Life as a civil servant did not suit Ney, and he enlisted in the Colonel-General Hussar Regiment in 1787. Later in 1799, Ney commanded cavalry in the armies of Switzerland and the Danube. At Winterthur, Ney received wounds in the thigh and wrist. After recovering he fought at Hohenlinden under General Jean Victor Marie Moreau in December 1800. From September 1802, Ney commanded French troops in Switzerland and performed diplomatic duties.

Napoleonic Wars

thumb|Ney at the [[Battle of Eylau]]

thumb|Heraldic achievement of Michel Ney as Duke of Elchingen

On 19 May 1804, Ney received his marshal's baton, emblematic of his status as a Marshal of the Empire, the Napoleonic era's equivalent of Marshal of France. In November 1805, Ney invaded Tyrol, capturing Innsbruck from Archduke John. In the 1806 campaign, Ney fought at Jena and then occupied Erfurt. Later in the campaign, Ney successfully besieged Magdeburg. In the 1807 campaign, Ney arrived with reinforcements in time to save Napoleon from defeat at Eylau. Later in the campaign, Ney fought at Güttstadt and commanded the right wing at Friedland. On 6June 1808, Ney was made Duke of Elchingen. Ney engaged Wellington's forces in a series of rearguard actions (Pombal, Redinha, Casal Novo, and Foz de Arouce) through which he managed to delay the pursuing Coalition forces long enough to allow the main French force to retreat in 1811. He was ultimately removed from his command for insubordination. The terrible defeat of the III Corps was thorough enough to induce the chivalrous Miloradovich to extend another honorable surrender to Ney. In the early evening during a heavy fog Ney decided to draw back with 3,000 men. Ney escaped passing around the Russian at Mankovo, following the brook Losvinka for two hours, about 13 km north. At midnight he was informed that the enemy was approaching. In the middle of the night Ney decided to cross the Dnieper, supposedly near the remote hamlet Alekseyevka at a spot which could be used in summer to cross the river but with an almost vertical slope. Ney literally got down on all fours. One by one, but not without heavy losses, leaving guns, horses, part of the detachment and wounded who could not go on.  In the previous 24 hours, 3,000 armed men and 4,000 stragglers had either died or strayed from its ranks. Armand de Briqueville increased the number of abandoned cannons to 6 and increases the number of people who cross to 5–6000.

Ney fought at the Berezina and helped hold the vital bridge at Kovno (modern-day Kaunas), where legend portrays Ney as the last of the invaders to cross the bridge and exit Russia.

Hundred Days

thumb|Ney leading the cavalry charge at Waterloo, from [[Louis Dumoulin's Panorama of the Battle of Waterloo]]

thumb|A public proclamation by Ney, dated March 1815, urging French soldiers to abandon the king and to support [[Napoleon]]

When he heard of Napoleon's return to France, Ney, determined to keep France at peace and to show his loyalty to Louis XVIII, organized a force to stop Napoleon's march on Paris. Ney also pledged to bring Napoleon back alive in an iron cage. Aware of Ney's plans, Napoleon sent him a letter which said, in part, "I shall receive you as I did after the Battle of the Moskowa." On 14 March, on the main square in Lons-le-Saulnier (Jura) Ney joined Napoleon with a small army of 6,000 men.

Ney's reconciliation with Napoleon was a body blow to the monarchy's hopes of retaining control of the army and with it, France, and the King abandoned Paris just two days after Ney's 'treason' became known in the capital.

On 15 June 1815, Napoleon appointed Ney as commander of the left wing of the Army of the North. On 16 June, Napoleon's forces split up into two wings to fight two separate battles simultaneously. Ney attacked the Duke of Wellington at Quatre Bras (and received criticism for attacking slowly) while Napoleon attacked Marshal Blücher's Prussians at Ligny. Although Ney was criticized for not capturing Quatre Bras early, there is still debate as to what time Napoleon actually ordered Ney to capture the town. At Ligny, Napoleon ordered General Jean-Baptiste d'Erlon to move his corps (on Napoleon's left and Ney's right at the time) to the Prussians' rear in order to cut off their line of retreat. D'Erlon began to move into position, but suddenly stopped and began moving away, much to the surprise and horror of Napoleon. The reason for the sudden change in movement is that Ney had ordered d'Erlon to come to his aid at Quatre Bras. Without d'Erlon's corps blocking the Prussians' line of retreat, the French victory at Ligny was not complete, and the Prussians were not routed.

At Waterloo on 18 June, Ney again commanded the left wing of the army. At around 3:30 p.m., Ney ordered a mass cavalry charge against the Anglo-Allied lines. Ney's cavalry overran the enemy cannons but found the infantry formed in cavalry-proof square formations which – without infantry or artillery support – he failed to break. The action earned Ney criticism, and some argue that it led to Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. It was as though Ney was seeking death, but death did not want him, as many observers reported.

After the court-martial decided on 11 and 12 November that it did not have jurisdiction, Ney was tried on 16 November for treason by the Chamber of Peers. On 4 December, when the Peers were called to give their verdict, 137 voted for the death penalty and 17 for deportation; five abstained. Only a single vote, that of the Duc de Broglie, was for acquittal. On 6 December 1815, he was condemned.

On 7 December 1815, Ney was executed by firing squad in Paris, near the Luxembourg Gardens. He refused to wear a blindfold, stating: "Are you unaware that I've spent twenty-five years staring down at cannonballs and bullets?". He was allowed the right to give the order to fire, reportedly saying:

Ney's body is buried in Paris at the Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Family

thumb|Portrait of Aglaé Ney by [[François Gérard, 1810s]]

thumb|Ney's three eldest sons, painted by [[Marie-Éléonore Godefroid in 1810]]

Ney married Aglaé Auguié (Paris, 24 March 1782 – Paris, 1 July 1854), daughter of Pierre César Auguié (1738–1815) and Adélaïde Henriette Genet (1758–1794, sister of Henriette Campan and Citizen Genêt), at Thiverval-Grignon on 5 August 1802. They had four sons:

Joseph Napoléon, 2nd Prince de la Moskowa (Paris, 8 May 1803 – Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 25 July 1857). He married Albine Laffitte (Paris, 12 May 1805 – Paris, 18 July 1881) in Paris on 26 January 1828. Albine was the daughter of Jacques Laffitte, Governor of the Bank of France. They had two children, whose male blood line ended. Joseph also had an illegitimate son who was married and died childless.
Michel Louis Félix, recognized as 2nd Duc d'Elchingen in 1826 (born 24 August 1804 in Paris – died 14 July 1854 at Gallipoli, during the Crimean War). He married Marie-Joséphine (Lubersac (20 December 1801 – Versailles, 1 July 1889), daughter of Joseph Souham, in Paris on 19 January 1833.
Eugène Michel (Paris, 12 July 1806 – Paris, 25 October 1845). He died unmarried.
Edgar Napoléon Henry, recognized as 3rd Prince de la Moskowa 1857 (Paris, 12 April 1812 – Paris, 4 October 1882). He married Clotilde de La Rochelambert (Saint-Cloud, 29 July 1829 – Paris, 1884) in Paris on 16 January 1869. Their marriage was childless and the title of Prince de la Moskowa then reverted to the descendants of Michel Louis Félix.

It is questionable if Ida Saint-Elme, 'Courtisane de la Grande Armée', was a lover of Michel Ney.

In literature and the arts

Ney appears in Miloš Crnjanski's novel A Novel of London, where the protagonist, a Russian aristocrat Count Repnin praises Ney in contrast with Napoleon.

He was portrayed by Dan O'Herlihy in the 1970 film Waterloo, and by John Hollingworth in the 2023 film Napoleon.

Records in Charleston, South Carolina indicate the arrival of one "Peter Stewart Ney" the year following Michel Ney's execution (Michel Ney's father was named Peter, and his mother's maiden name was Stewart). Peter Ney served as a school teacher in Rowan County until his death on 15 November 1846. According to legend, Peter Ney slashed his throat and almost died upon hearing of the death of Napoleon in 1821. His last words upon his death were reportedly "I am Ney of France", However, there was evidence contradicting this legend, the main being that the execution of Michel Ney is well documented and verified. And Marshal Ney, though fluent in German, is not known to have spoken English. One researcher claims evidence exists that Peter Stewart Ney was one Peter McNee, born in 1788 in Stirlingshire, Scotland.

Early life

Military career

French Revolutionary Wars

Napoleonic Wars

Hundred Days

Family

In literature and the arts

See also

Notes

References

Further reading