Michel Ney | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byFrançois Gérard, 1805 | |
| Nicknames |
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| Born | (1769-01-10)10 January 1769 |
| Died | 7 December 1815(1815-12-07) (aged 46) Paris,Kingdom of France |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | French Army |
| Service years | 1787–1815 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Empire |
| Commands | |
| Wars | |
| Awards | |
| Signature |  |
Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (pronounced[miʃɛlnɛ]; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander andMarshal of the Empire who fought in theFrench Revolutionary Wars and theNapoleonic Wars.
The son of acooper fromSaarlouis, Ney worked as a civil servant until 1787 when he enlisted in a cavalry regiment, right before the outbreak ofFrench Revolution. Distinguishing himself as a cavalry officer in theWar of the First Coalition, he quickly rose through the ranks and, by theBattle of Hohenlinden (1800), he had been promoted todivisional general. OnNapoleon's proclamation of theFrench 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 atElchingen (1805),Jena (1806) andEylau (1807). Ney commanded the French rearguard during the disastrousinvasion of Russia, for which he was lauded as "the bravest of the brave" by the emperor.
After Napoleon's defeat by theSixth Coalition in 1814, Ney pressured the emperor to abdicate and pledged his allegiance to therestored Bourbon monarchy. He rejoined Napoleon during theHundred Days but met defeat at theBattle of Waterloo (1815), after which he was charged withtreason by the restored monarchy and executed byfiring squad.
Ney was born in the town ofSarrelouis, in the French province ofLorraine, along the French–German border. He was the second son of Pierre Ney (1738–1826), amastercooper and veteran of theSeven Years' War, and his wife Marguerite Greiveldinger.[1][2]
His hometown at the time of his birth was aFrench enclave in the predominantlyGerman region ofSaarland, and Ney grew up bilingual, due to his German roots.[3] He was educated at the Collège desAugustins 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.[4]
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Life as acivil servant did not suit Ney, and he enlisted in the Colonel-General Hussar Regiment in 1787.[2] Under the Bourbon monarchy, entry to theofficer corps of the French Army was restricted to those with four quarterings of nobility (i.e., two generations of aristocratic birth). However, Ney rapidly rose through thenon-commissioned officer ranks.
Following the French Revolution, Ney continued to serve in what was now theFrench Revolutionary Army, in theArmy of the North. In September 1792 he saw action at theBattle of Valmy and in October was commissioned as an officer under the Republic. As an officer he participated in theBattle of Neerwinden in 1793 and was wounded at theSiege of Mainz, also in 1793. In June 1794, he was transferred toArmy of Sambre-et-Meuse.
Ney was promoted to brigadier general in August 1796, and commanded cavalry on the German fronts. On 17 April 1797, during theBattle of Neuwied, Ney led a cavalry charge against Austrian lancers trying to seize French cannons. The lancers were beaten back, but Ney's cavalry were counter-attacked by heavy cavalry. During the mêlée, Ney was thrown from his horse and captured in the vicinity of the municipality ofDierdorf; on 8 May he was exchanged for an Austrian general.[5] Following the capture ofMannheim, Ney was promoted togénéral de division on 28 March 1799 and was given brief command over theArmy of the Rhine from 25 September to 23 October.[6][7] Later in 1799, Ney commanded cavalry in the armies of Switzerland and the Danube.[6] AtWinterthur, Ney received wounds in the thigh and wrist. After recovering he fought atHohenlinden under GeneralJean Victor Marie Moreau in December 1800.[6] From September 1802, Ney commanded French troops in Switzerland and performed diplomatic duties.
On 19 May 1804, Ney received his marshal'sbaton, emblematic of his status as aMarshal of the Empire, the Napoleonic era's equivalent ofMarshal of France.[8] In the 1805 campaign, Ney took command of the VI Corps of theGrande Armée and was praised for his conduct atElchingen.[8] In November 1805, Ney invaded Tyrol, capturingInnsbruck fromArchduke John. In the 1806 campaign, Ney fought atJena and then occupied Erfurt. Later in the campaign, Ney successfullybesieged Magdeburg. In the 1807 campaign, Ney arrived with reinforcements in time to save Napoleon from defeat atEylau. Later in the campaign, Ney fought atGüttstadt and commanded the right wing atFriedland. On 6 June 1808, Ney was madeDuke of Elchingen.[8]
In August 1808, he was sent to Spain in command of the VI Corps and saw action in a number of minor engagements. In 1809, he skirmished with a Luso-Spanish force underSir Robert Wilson atPuerto de Baños. In 1810, Ney joined MarshalAndré Masséna in the invasion of Portugal, where hecaptured Ciudad Rodrigo andAlmeida, and saw further action on theRiver Côa, and a defeat at theBussaco. The French army followed the retreating allies to theLines of Torres Vedras, ascorched earth trap prepared by Wellington in absolute secrecy. After losing 21,000 men of 61,000 in several months of hunger, Masséna and Ney were forced to retreat due to lack of food and supplies, see alsoattrition warfare against Napoleon.[9] Ney engagedWellington's forces in a series ofrearguard actions (Pombal,Redinha,Casal Novo, andFoz 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.[8]
Ney was given command of theIII Corps of theGrande Armée during theinvasion of Russia in 1812. AtSmolensk, Ney was wounded in the neck but recovered enough to later fight in the central sector atBorodino. During the retreat from Moscow, Ney commanded the rearguard (and was known as "the last Frenchman on Russian soil" when he passed theNiemen on 14 December). After being cut off from the main army during theBattle of Krasnoi, Ney managed to escape in a heavy fog over theDnieper River, but not without heavy losses, and to rejoin it inOrsha, which delighted Napoleon.[8] For this action Ney was given the nickname "the bravest of the brave" by the emperor.[8]
Ney lost more than half his strength; almost all the cavalry and all the artillery, with the exception of two guns, had disappeared.[10] The terrible defeat of the III Corps was thorough enough to induce the chivalrous Miloradovich to extend another honorable surrender to Ney.[11] In the early evening during a heavy fog Ney decided to draw back with 3,000 men.[12] 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 theDnieper, supposedly near the remote hamletAlekseyevka at a spot which could be used in summer to cross the river but with an almost vertical slope.[13] Ney literally got down on all fours.[14] One by one, but not without heavy losses, leaving guns, horses, part of thedetachment and wounded who could not go on.[15] The river, 110 m wide and of a depth that could reach up to 2 m, was only frozen for a couple of days, leaving it fragile, and the ice broke in several places. When Ney and his men reached the other bank, they had to climb a twelve-foot (3.7 m), very steep slope.[14] The elements and the Cossacks reduced Ney's contingent to only 800 (900, 2,000?) diehards.[16][17] In the previous 24 hours, 3,000 armed men and 4,000 stragglers had either died or strayed from its ranks.[18] Armand de Briqueville increased the number of abandoned cannons to 6 and increases the number of people who cross to 5–6000.[14]
Ney ordered everyone to move to the Dnieper in the hope of crossing to the opposite bank on the ice. Everyone, from soldiers to officers, was amazed by this decision. To surprised and incredulous stares, Ney declared that if no one supported him, he would go alone. And the soldiers knew very well that this was not posturing. When, finally, the lucky ones reached the opposite shore and already considered themselves saved. To get to the shore, they had to climb another steep icy slope. Many fell back on the ice. Of the three thousand soldiers who accompanied Ney, 2,200 drowned during the crossing.[19][20]
Ney fought at theBerezina and helped hold the vital bridge at Kovno (modern-dayKaunas), where legend portrays Ney as the last of the invaders to cross the bridge and exit Russia.[8] On 25 March 1813, Ney was given the title ofPrince de la Moskowa.[8] During the 1813 campaign, Ney fought atWeissenfels, was wounded atLützen, and commanded the left wing atBautzen. Ney later fought atDennewitz andLeipzig, where he was again wounded. In the1814 campaign in France, Ney fought various battles and commanded various units. AtFontainebleau, Ney became the spokesperson for the marshals' revolt on 4 April 1814, demanding Napoleon's abdication. Ney informed Napoleon that the army would not march on Paris; Napoleon responded, "the army will obey me!" to which Ney answered, "the army will obey its chiefs".[21]
When Paris fell and theBourbons reclaimed the throne, Ney, who had pressured Napoleon to accept his first abdication and exile, was promoted, lauded, and made aPeer of France by the newly enthroned KingLouis XVIII. Although Ney had pledged his allegiance to the restored monarchy, the Bourbon court looked down on him because he was a commoner by birth.[15]
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 theBattle of the Moskowa."[22] On 14 March, on the main square inLons-le-Saulnier (Jura) Ney joined Napoleon with a small army of 6,000 men.[23] 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 atQuatre Bras (and received criticism for attacking slowly)[24] while Napoleon attacked MarshalBlücher's Prussians atLigny. 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.[25] At Ligny, Napoleon ordered GeneralJean-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.[26]
AtWaterloo 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-proofsquare 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.[24] Debate continues[citation needed] as to the responsibility for the cavalry charge and why it went unsupported. Ney's cavalry also failed to spike the enemy cannons (driving iron spikes into thefiring holes) while they were under French control (during the cavalry attack, the crews of the cannon retreated into the squares for protection, and then re-manned their pieces as the cavalry withdrew). Ney's cavalry carried the equipment needed to spike cannons, and spiking the cannons would probably have made them useless for the rest of the battle. The loss of a large number of cannon would have weakened the army and could have caused the Anglo-Allied Army to withdraw from the battle.[27] Ney was seen[15][28] during one of the charges beating his sword against the side of a British cannon in furious frustration. During the battle, he had five horses killed under him,[29] and at the end of the day, Ney led one of the last infantry charges, shouting to his men: "Come and see how a marshal of France meets his death!"[30] It was as though Ney was seeking death, but death did not want him, as many observers reported.[15][31]
When Napoleon was defeated, dethroned, and exiled for the second time in the summer of 1815, Ney was arrested on 3 August 1815. MarshalMoncey was ordered to assume the presidency of a court-martial convened to try Ney but the marshal declined and was for a time imprisoned for it. The King's government then appointed MarshalJourdan as president and when it finally convened on 9 November 1815, the court-martial comprised the marshals Jourdan,Masséna,Augereau, andMortier, and the generalsGazan de La Peyriere (instead ofMaison who refused),Claparède andVillatte. After long deliberation, the court-martial voted 5–2 to declare itself "non-competent".[32]
After the court-martial decided on 11 and 12 November that it did not have jurisdiction, Ney was tried on 16 November fortreason by theChamber of Peers.[23] Key evidence in the trial was supplied by Ney's subordinate commanders GeneralsBourmont, an arch royalist, and GeneralLecourbe, a republican who had fallen out of favour during the empire and was now in service to the King. Bourmont testified that Ney had been a keen supporter of Napoleon and gave evidence such as the accusation that Ney was wearing an Imperial Eagle decoration minutes after his decision to switch sides, suggesting some element of planning. Ney responded with outrage:[15]
Monsieur de Bourmont accuses me to clear his own conduct. It seems that he prepared his denunciation of me months ago at Lille witness in another place. He flattered himself perhaps that we would never meet again face to face. He thought I would have short shrift like Labedoyere. I have no oratorical talent, but I come direct to the fact. It is unfortunate for me that General Lecourbe is no longer living. But I call Him [pointing upwards with his right hand] against these depositions, I appeal to a higher tribunal, to God who hears us all, to God who —you and me, Monsieur de Bourmont!— will judge us.
No other witness corroborated Bourmont's claim that Ney had been wearing an Imperial eagle decoration. While Lecourbe had died, testimony he'd given to a magistrate was read at the trial, showing Lecourbe thought the royalist situation lost and that Napoleon's 14,000 men could not be practically resisted by the 5,000 men of dubious loyalty under Ney's command.[15]
In order to save Ney's life, his lawyerAndré Dupin declared that Ney was nowPrussian and could not be judged by a French court for treason, as Ney's hometown ofSarrelouis had been annexed by Prussia according to theTreaty of Paris of 1815. Ney ruined his lawyer's effort by interrupting him and stating: "Je suis Français et je resterai Français!" ("I am French and I will remain French!").[33] 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 theDuc de Broglie, was for acquittal.[34] On 6 December 1815, he was condemned.
On 7 December 1815, Ney was executed byfiring squad in Paris, near theLuxembourg Gardens. He refused to wear a blindfold, stating: "Are you unaware that I've spent twenty-five years staring down at cannonballs and bullets?".[35] He 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![36]
Ney's body is buried in Paris at thePère Lachaise Cemetery.
Ney marriedAglaé Auguié (Paris, 24 March 1782 – Paris, 1 July 1854), daughter of Pierre César Auguié (1738–1815) and Adélaïde Henriette Genet (1758–1794, sister ofHenriette Campan andCitizen Genêt), atThiverval-Grignon on 5 August 1802.[37][38] they had four sons:[citation needed]
It is questionable ifIda Saint-Elme, 'Courtisane de la Grande Armée', was a lover of Michel Ney.[39]
He was portrayed byJohn Hollingworth in the 2023 filmNapoleon.[41]
Records inCharleston, 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",[42] 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,[43] is not known to have spoken English. One researcher claims evidence exists that Peter Stewart Ney was one Peter McNee, born in 1788 inStirlingshire, Scotland.[44]
| French nobility | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title | Prince de la Moskowa 1813–1815 | Succeeded by |
| Duke of Elchingen 1808–1815 | Succeeded by Michel Louis Félix Ney | |
Marshals of theFirst French Empire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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