"“The Bravest of The Brave” – Marshal Ney and ..." Topic

…"The Hundred Days"

"My name is Michel Ney. I was born at Saarlouis on 10 January 1769. I am the Duke of Elchingen, Prince of the Mosowa and Marshal of France, a Chevalier of the Order of St Louis, I wear the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour, also the decorations of the Iron Cross of Italy and the Order of Christ" (From the transcript of Ney's court martial)

He is the most celebrated and most tragic of Napoleon's Marshals; Fearless, impetuous, hot tempered, dramatic; The barrel-coopers son who rose from the ranks to be a Marshal of France, a Duke and a Prince; A brilliant front line commander loved by his troops; Tall, magnificently built, red haired, Ney "The Bravest of the Brave" as Napoleon dubbed him or by the adoring rank and file simply "La Rougeaud" was a symbol for heroism and inspiring battlefield leadership in nearly 23 years of constant warfare from the "Cannonade of Valmy" to Waterloo until he finally faced his end not on the battlefield but as a condemned traitor in front of a firing squad of his fellow countrymen.

Michel Ney was born the second son of an old soldier who had made a living for himself as a barrel-cooper and blacksmith in the now German town of Saarlouis. He was apprenticed to a local lawyer and employed as a civil servant until in February 1787 Ney, aged 18, enlisted as a trooper in the crack "Regiment Colonel General of Hussars" in the army of King Louis XVI…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Thank you I enjoyed that.

He grabbed my attention as a teenager with the movie "Waterloo" and he's one of the most interesting of the marshals.

One of the Marshals of the Empire who had problem with independent command. He was would follows orders, indeed Arnold in "Napoleon 1813; Decision at Bautzen" he followed Napoleon's orders to the letter at Bautzen, capturing Preititz according to the schedule set down by the Emperor. The fact that he did not follow the spirit of the order shows his limits as a field commander.

Where another, more competent commander could have taken Berlin in the fall of 1813 is another matter. Neither Ney nor Oudinot could march 75 miles and take the city.

The Hundred Days clearly shows his limitation.

Probably should not have been employed after the Russian Campaign because he's showing suffering from combat stress. Which is hardly surprising.

Plus brave des braves et les plus folles des imbéciles .

Glad you enjoyed it my dear cousin.

Agree about his limitations.

In Spain, under Massena, he performed low too.

But what we did in the Russian retreat… man!. He was a trully warrior!.

Sad he ended in the in the execution wall.

A brave man who deserved another end.

Amicalement
Armand

Tango01: Still my favorite Marshal, thanks for the posting. John Miller

A votre service mon ami!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

There is a silly legend in North Carolina that the execution was a sham and he lived till the 1840's south of Charlotte.

The legend is not confined just to North Carolina--it was begun elsewhere. Supposedly Ney morphed into Peter Stuart Ney, a schoolteacher in Salisbury. There is even a grave marker, which attracts the curious.

The legend has always attracted its adherents, who like many of those fond of conspiracies, find bits and pieces of information that can be interpreted to suit them

Rather like the dauphin being smuggled out of the Temple or Conciergerie in a basket of laundry and raised somewhere in Normandy or Brittany.

Initially he didn't have problems with indipendent command, in 1805 he was one of the few who saw the overall view better than Napoleon – about where Mack was placed, without him and Dupont Mack would have escaped.
He was made a lacky by becoming a stupid receiver of orders due to N's system of total obedience