again here is my evidence Ney was far from one in a crowd,
This is my attempt to show evidence that may or may not prove my point that Ney and Napoleon were on low personal terms with each other which may have began as far back as 1813 at Bautzen with Ney's failed outflanking manoeuvre.
The following are direct quotes from various sources I have which I feel paint a vivid picture as to the deteriorated personal relationship between these two great men. Napoleon was hurt by Ney's actions and words and revenged him with stony silence for 6 weeks before the crucial Waterloo campaign only to recall him once he realized he needed charismatic leaders to lead the easily impressionable men of the army. Napoleon knew Ney's charisma and love from the men and his leadership style bravery was second to none.
Despite his better judgment Napoleon took him back even after his actions and words not knowing what was to unfold. Ney, desired to redeem himself under his old master and show him just as he desired to show the King his loyalty and devotion however, Napoleon still kept the animosity going on the march into Belgium. Napoleon did not give Ney any command and as a result he was nothing more than a mere Aide d camp, Ney found this hard to swallow but honor and respect for himself forced him to bite his tongue. Eventually he was given command and the rest is history.
What I am trying to portray is by no means meant to put Ney in a bad light whatsoever, Ney was a brilliant field commander, it cannot be denied. Ney's problem was his lack of ability to use tact during non war situations, he readily said and did things that offended others and usually spoke before thinking. This is what I feel caused him trouble off the battlefield and created problems for all those around him. Ney simply could not help himself, he said it like it was, he was blunt and at times could be hurtful. Some might see that as a flaw and Ney himself said he had no interest in politics whatsoever which is probably a good idea seeing he had very limited restraint, tact and diplomacy.
I want to make it clear that personally to me Ney is one of my favorite Marshal's his qualities and leadership are second to none, his tactical skill and ability are brilliant and his tenacity on the battlefield are superb, it was his mouth and blunt way of speaking his mind which got him into trouble. This might do him well on the battlefield but in a social setting it leads to trouble and eventually enemies of which in the end it was proven he had many. Some of whom presided over his trial and subsequent death sentence.
Firstly it must be understood my feelings on this stem from the books I have read, the statements by authors of these books and their own opinions and conclusions drawn from the evidence they themselves present. I only add that based on this evidence I conclude that personally the two men at that point in time, 1814-1815 were on low personal terms with each other and this emanated down into the army and the actions, non-actions and decisions that were made in that crucial time.
I do not make excuses for the army's performance against the British or Prussians whatsoever, the battles fought and the decisions made, strategies used and tactics employed were directly as a result and consequence of high command namely Napoleon and Ney. Both men are to blame for what happened along with many other situations and problems which arose.
The following quotes will be punctuated with "……." To show that some test is not needed to be typed simply because it may be long winded and irrelevant to my points throughout the passages shown.
1st Book: Ney, Bravest of the Brave – A.H. Atteridge
Page 93 Authors comments Jena 1806 – "An incident of this day related by De Fezensac, who was then attached to Ney's staff, throws a strange light on his methods of command, and the whole machinery of the Imperial army. As a soldier of the Republic Ney had lived on terms of familiar friendship with those who were associated with him in the work of command. As a Marshal of the Empire he kept aloof from them. According to one account his confidence had been betrayed by an officer, who served with him at the Boulogne camps, and henceforth he protected himself by trusting no one"(Haughty and Aloof)….."Then Ney, eager for the fight, and regardless of the strict letter of his orders from the Emperor, brought his small force into action on the left of Lannes". – (Insubordination)
Page 95 – Jena 1806 – "Ney was anything but pleased at finding himself thus once more associated with Murat and under his orders, for as second on the list of Marshals and an Imperial Prince younger soldier was his senior in rank".
Page 98 – Poland 1807 – "Jomini was carrying a letter to Ney from Napoleon written in a tone of severe censure, and was also charged with a verbal message for the marshal, and during the northward journey he told De Fezensas its purport. The Emperor had been seriously displeased at the news from Ney. "What is the meaning, he had asked, of these movements that I never ordered, which fatigue the troops and may even endanger them? To obtain supplies? To extend the occupation of the country and enter Konigsberg? But it is my business to direct the movements of the army and to provide for its needs. And who authorized Marshal Ney to conclude an armistice – a right that belongs to the Emperor alone as commander-in-chief? Generals have been brought before a court of inquiry for acts like this. Napoleon was angry, and Jomini was to express his displeasure to Ney". (Insubordination)
Pages 107-08 Spain 1808 – "Ney found himself isolated among enemies…..For the first time in his life Ney hesitated to advance, though his orders told him to do so……had he blindly obeyed Napoleon's orders and marched at once to Agreda he probably would have cut off Castanos" ……The Emperor was very disappointed at the news that Ney had failed to carry out his orders. He wrote blaming him for the halt at Soria though at the same time, he admitted that he had some cause for prudent hesitation". (Insubordination)
Page 110 Spain 1809 – "Ney curtly rejected a plan of campaign sent him by Marshal Jourdan. "This order, he wrote to Jourdan, is drawn up by someone who knows nothing of our business. The Emperor has given me an army to conquer with and not to capitulate. You may tell the King (Joseph) that I have not come here to play the part of Dupont". The state of mind manifested in such an utterance , the contempt for the puppet king and his major-general, the independence resulting from the difficulty of communications, all helped to produce a tendency to insubordination towards authority,……Ney's action in the crisis that later on brought to an abrupt end his command in the Peninsula". (Insubordination)
Page 111 Spain – "The Emperor was very angry with Marchand, and ordered Marshal Ney to return post-haste to Slamanca. Ney arrived there in very bad humour. He had a quarrel with Jomini whom he blamed for the mischance that had so abruptly cut short his leave of absence. The Switzer resigned his place as chief of the staff,……" (Anger and Short Temper)
Page 111 Spain – "Then came Ney's first open quarrel with Massena. Massena sent a letter to Ney directing him to assign Junot's engineer officer Lt.-Col. Valaze as head of the siege operations of Cuidad-Rodrigo. Ney was indignant at what he regarded as a plan for giving to a protégé of Junot the credit for taking the fortress, after his own officer had done the hardest part of the work…..Massena was furious, and talked of removing Ney from his command and sending him back to France….Massena – "You will see that this proud fellow will upset all our plans with his stubborn self-will and foolish vanity". (Insubordination)
Valaze was sent back to Massena only two days later with a letter from Ney to Massena – The contents of this letter are long winded but include words like, "your title is of no importance outside the Tuileries" and "I will no more listen to your orders than I fear your threats". The letter goes on and is pretty scathing and insulting to say the least. (Insubordination)
Massena replies to Junot – "You see it is impossible to do anything with that man".
Page 113 Spain – "Ney's resentment of Massena still rankled in his mind"…..Ney, who had had from the first been on the point of a quarrel with Massena, refused to obey, and declared that he would lead 6th corps by Almeida into Spain. Massena's patience was now exhausted….." Ney was sacked. Napoleon sent Ney a strong censure and told him to go home to Coudreaux". (Insubordination)
Page 132-133 – Russia 1812 – "Ney was excited and angry. Davout, he said, should have held on at Krasnoi until the 3rd Corps could reach the place, or if he could not do that he should have sent him a timely warning, instead of allowing him to march into a trap. He continued speaking in this strain during the night march back to Orsza. There he met Davout. The Marshal tried to explain his retirement from Krasnoi and his failure to warn him. Ney gave him an angry look and replied, "As for me, Monsieur Le Marechal, I do not reproach you. God sees us and will judge us". (Anger and Short Temper)
Page 147 – Bauetzen 1813 – "From Ney's failure to carry out Napoleon's plan at Bautzen dates the beginning of the final stage of the Emperor's downfall". (Failure to carry out orders)
Page 148 – 1813 "His mistake at Bautzen was not allowed to count against him, but he did not escape the ill fortune that was now linking with defeat so many names that hitherto had been held to mean unfailing success". (Noticed for his failures now)
Book: – Memoirs of an Aid-de-Camp of Napoleon – General Count Philippe de Segur
Page 175 – Ulm – Marshal Lannes words – "Sire! What are you thinking of" You are sleeping, while Ney, single-handed, is fighting against the whole of the Austrian army? – Why has he engaged them? Answered the Emperor. I told him to wait; but it is just like him; he cannot see the enemy without falling upon them! – That is very well, retorted Lannes, but one of his brigades has been repulsed". (Insubordination)
Page 182 – Ulm – Segur again – "On this General Mack complained of Marshal Ney's rudeness towards the bearer of a flag of truce to whom he would not listen. I took advantage to say that this Marshal was indeed of a most hot-headed and impetuous disposition and incapable of self-restraint". (Anger and Short Temper)
Book: Napoleon's Marshals – David Chandler
Page 362 – Spain 1808 – "….a period of misfortune for the French arms and one that revealed Ney in a bad light: thoroughly insubordinate to any commander but the Emperor himself, besides being unreasonably touchy, quarrelsome, and uncooperative". (Insubordinate and Quarrelsome)
Page 362 – Spain 1808 – A letter from Napoleon to Joseph – "Ney has allowed himself to be imposed upon by the Spaniards, and rested for the 22nd and 23rd at Soria, because he chose to imagine that the enemy had 80,000 men and other follies. If he had reached Agreda on the 23rd, according to my orders not a man would have escaped……" (Insubordinate)
Page 364 – Spain – Authors words – "But if the marshal was a generous foe, he could be the most uncooperative of colleagues. Both Soult and Massena were to discover this to their cost….." (Uncooperative)
Page 368 – 1813 – Ney's own words were that he could not believe that the Emperor could be so mad as to recommence hostilities when he no longer had an army: "the machine no longer has either strength or cohesion: we need peace to reorganize everything…It would be folly to ensconce ourselves in Germany" Ney's views could not be faulted from a strategic point of view". (Critical of Napoleon)
Page 368 – 1813 words of General Van Dedem van der Gelder – "Ney was a man of much courage and energy on the battlefield; otherwise he was was feeble and indecisive, permitting himself to be led by other's councel. Deeply detesting Napoleon, on bad terms with the Prince of Neuchatel, jealous of other Marshals, he was on good terms only with Macdonald. Uncommunicative, reserved, he saw little of the generals who served under him". Gelder goes on to say, "….Ney was tormented with jealousy over his wife and had a poor opinion of the ladies with whom she was intimate, particularly Queen Hortense. In addition, Ney foresaw early on the unfortunate end of the 1813 campaign". (Very damming evidence from one close to him)
Page 369 – Battle of Bautzen – "….All went well at first but one of Napoleon's hastily scribbled pencil notes was misunderstood by Ney, who halted when, by pushing on, he might have cut the allies line of retreat. Once again the Emperor had won, but it was a fruitless victory. Ney had clearly demonstrated that he was not really capable of commanding more than a single corps. There were those who said that Ney had taken a village (Prostitz) – and had lost an empire".
Page 369 – Promotion of Jomini – "Ney chose this moment to recommend Jomini for promotion to general of division, but the jealous Berthier managed to prevent this by arresting the Swiss pundit for not submitting his strength returns on time. On August 15 the wily Swiss went over to the Tzar…." (Ongoing conflict with Berthier – tit for tat between the both of them)
Page 369-370 – Dennewitz saga – "Ney's dislike of Napoleon, which, in view of his changeable nature, should not be exaggerated, dates from the days following the disaster at Dennewitz. The Emperor's Corsican suspicions were aroused when he learned that Bernadotte had corresponded with Murat, Berthier, Ney, Oudinot, and Macdonald. There was a furious row. Ney spoke for them all, but the others came to his support. Napoleon called his brother-in-law a traitor, whereupon Murat laid his hand on the hilt of his saber. Berthier tried to speak of his duty as a French prince, and Napoleon turned on him savagely: You too, old imbecile, what are you meddling in? Be quiet! To such a pass had things come".
Page 370 – Abdication 1814 – "When the last of the corps commanders found that they could no longer hold the allies with the few thousand exhausted men that remained, it was Ney who spoke for the other Marshals at Fontainbleau, demanding the Emperor's abdication".
Okie, as I stated at the very beginning, I am not on a crusade to destroy Ney's reputation. However, I have noticed over many years of reading about the Napoleonic period a constant theme regarding Ney. His apparent habitual habit of fighting against authority from the period of 1804 onwards is very noticeable. Before this time Ney was a hard working tough fighting man who was both loyal to the cause and subservient to those he respected above him in rank. But after his inclusion to the new rank of Marshal of the Empire in 1804 he changed. He no longer bowed to those above him but instead questioned them at every turn. He felt no other man had the right to have any authority over him with the exception of the Emperor and even then he began to show a mind of his own which over the years became more and more prevalent.
On the battlefield and amongst the men he commanded he was as brave as could be, he was at home when the guns began to roar but away from the actual battlefield he was totally insubordinate, haughty, rude, arrogant and totally disrespectful to all those around him. This is plainly obvious. He answered to no one, or so he felt and only one person would he bow to. But even then he showed signs over the years of disliking taking orders from Napoleon so much so that he became blatantly insubordinate to the Emperor himself. It is a wonder Napoleon suffered his tantrums and total lack of respect for his authority for so long and we can see many cases of Napoleon becoming more than a little annoyed with Ney's behavior. Yes they were friends from time to time, yes they had a relationship and yes there were many times of cooperation to get the job done but the occurrence of this insubordination increased as the years progressed especially in the late empire when Ney worked under Napoleon's eye from 1813 onwards.
There were times when Napoleon showered Ney with accolades, there were times when Napoleon embraced Ney and even times when Napoleon exclaimed him the Bravest of the brave. Napoleon once called him a Lion, but these occurrences were but small windows in time and for fortunes of war come and go and with them the attitudes and moods of those involved also change.
When a relationship that starts off great begins to decline it is seldom that it will be retrieved. A person may perform 100 acts of valor or positive actions etc but he will be remembered more so for a single act or deed against those in positions of authority. A single negative act or mistake or misdeed is often what is remembered and becomes a thorn in the side of a relationship especially one involving war and with Ney there were plenty. He showed a consistency for producing negativity for those around him and the only reason he was so tolerated was due to his on field performances. If he was not as brave or charismatic or tactically gifted as he was Napoleon would have long ago gotten rid of him. Even in 1811 when dismissed from Spain Napoleon put him in semi-retirement until he was called back to fight in Russia.
Of all the major leaders and generals of the French army between 1804 to 1815 there is only one who shines out above all others for his negative attitude towards others around him and that is Ney. I feel he was an anti-social type and distained people at first meetings. He, I feel was the kind of person who not give you the time of day and it showed in his personality. His aloofness, haughty attitude was prevalent with his dealing with many of the other Marshals and only Macdonald did he share any great friendship. Even his own staff and subordinate generals under him felt this; Ney often remained distant towards them and took advice or remarks from no one it seemed bar Jomini.
I feel Ney suffered from an inferiority complex and probably had a mental problem dealing with others. He was anti-social and felt insults or slights easily. He tended to over react to others around him and coupled with his short temper made him angry way to quickly to give sound and considered instructions. He often for example sent Aide-de-camps off with messages to other commanders without aid of maps or even instructions as to where the recipient may be. He was once quoted as saying is such an episode, "no remarks, I hate them" to one such aide. He had zero patience and those who pressed him on matters he did not wish to get into felt the fire of his personality severely.
Ney, as I stated had an inferiority complex and a very low respect for others and probably himself also. This is very noticeable in his early career in Germany in the 1790's. He knocked back 5 promotions because he felt he was not up to or worthy of the honor of the promotion. He might have had a kind of self loathing for some reason which coupled with his anger and short temper manifested itself in distain for others around him. He was definitely the kind of person who, at first glance at others felt either nothing or at worst total distain, history proves this. People like this in social settings often are gifted in one way or another as they focus on one aspect of their lives and try to shut down or turn a blind eye to their failings. Ney would have been acutely aware of his personality failings but felt after his baton that he no longer had to hide it or be ashamed of it. He was becoming open about it without admitting it.
He was a jealous man as is clearly recorded and even towards his wife. He did not like his wife's lady companions she consorted with back at home and probably gave her a hard time about it. It is also documented clearly that in the restoration he roared into the royal court and lost his temper at apparent insults which made his wife cry. Ney was a very passionate man I feel towards his wife and was very family orientated. He often raced home for leave every chance he could get. Being passionate he would have shown great love and feelings towards his wife probably because he felt life at home was a sanctuary. No one to judge him or take orders from, he was his own lord at home and desired nothing more than to remain home and do nothing more than inspect troop garrisons from time to time.
Ney loved action and being in the thick of the fighting. To command and fight battles where he was master of all and subordinate to no one. He bucked when placed under other marshals and genuinely felt insulted to be placed under orders of fellow marshals. He longed to be in command as commander-in-chief but failed in those rolls as he was not up to the task. This is proven on several occasions and I think Ney, in the end, knew it. This goes a long way to explain his innate and impulsive style of command on the battlefield but his lack of decision, frustration, lack of focus and focus in semi-independent command.
As for Napoleon, he was supreme leader and in total command, Ney had no choice but to bow to Napoleon like any other Marshal during those long years but it was obvious that while other marshals were following orders from Napoleon to a tee, Ney at times did not and either acted on his own or disregarded blatantly orders given to him from Napoleon at times. He was lucky to remain a marshal at times and napoleon reminded him of that on at least one occasion. Ney was a lose cannon not only in the eyes of most of the other Marshals but to Napoleon as well.
Ney, deep down probably knew his personality faults and how people reacted to his short temper and abrupt manor but eventually thought to himself, "oohh well, if everyone knows my personality faults why continue to hide it? I don't care anymore; they can think of me what they like. I am Marshal Ney!!"
Regards,
Shane
goes to sea with the Terrain Mat.
