Ney

NAME:  Ney,  Michel

ACHIEVEMENTS:   One of Napoleon’s best known generals.

NICKNAME/ALIAS:  None.

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:  10th January, 1769 in Saarlouis, France

DATE/PLACE OF DEATH/AGE AT DEATH:  7th December, 1815 in Paris, France.  Aged 46

DISCIPLINE:  Military

FIELD:  Leadership

LANGUAGE:  French

PARENTS:   Father, Pierre Ney;  Mother, unknown

SIBLINGS:  at least one brother

SPOUSE:  Aglaee Louise Auguiee

CHILDREN:  unknown

EDUCATION:  College des Augustins, Saarlouis

MAJOR WORK:

Battle of Elchingen, 1805

Battle of Eylau, 1807

Battle of Friedland, 1807

Battle of Borodino, 1812

Rear guard on retreat from Moscow, 1812-13

Battle of Montmirail, 1814

Battle of Quatre-Bras, 1815

Battle of Waterloo, 1815

LIFE AND TIMES:

Living near the German provinces, Ney grew up bilingual and was educated to work in the civil service.  In 1787 he enlisted as a hussar in the French Army of Louis XVI.  By the time the French Republic declared war on Austria in 1792 he was a regimental sergeant major. 

He was quickly promoted to the officer ranks and over the next few years made a name of himself for his leadership in battle.  In 1798 he became known when he tricked the city of Mannheim into surrender with only 150 men under his command.  For this action he was promoted to major general. 

Although he was an avowed Republican, when <served under> Napoleon* became First Consul he backed the new regime fully.  His continued success in the field earned him the attention of Napoleon and the two became friends.  That friendship, in turn, lead Ney to his future wife through an introduction. 

During the brief Peace of Amiens, Ney became Ambassador to Switzerland but was soon recalled to help prepare for what turned out to be an aborted attempt at an invasion of Britain.  During that time Ney first met <influenced by> Jomini*, the young Swiss military strategist.  Ney was so impressed with Jomini’s Treatise on Grand Military Operations that he hired him to be a member of his staff and also helped fund publication of the work. 

The next few years brought Ney his greatest successes in the field, first against the Austrians (Elchingen), then the Prussians (Magdeburg), and finally the Russians (Eylau, Guttstadt, and Friedland).  But this period of triumphs – for which he was made a Duke – ended when he was sent to Spain in 1808.  For the next three years he had some success but many failures. 

He found it especially difficult to accept a subordinate position to Massena, another of Napoleon’s Marshals.  The two fought so often that eventually Napoleon relieved him of his duties in Spain and brought him back to France.  Once there he was ordered to prepare an army corps for the planned invasion of Russia.  In the field once more under the direct command of Napoleon his fortunes improved once again. 

He fought in the storming of Smolensk, receiving a bullet wound to the neck.  But that did not stop him from having a critical role in the Battle of Borodino, where his attack upon the fortified Russian redoubt carried the day.  After Napoleon first captured and then abandoned the Russian capital, Moscow, he earned further fame for his tactical brilliance in leading the rear guard actions against the pursuing Russians. 

It is here, at the last crossing of the river Berezina, that it is thought he might have fought directly against <fought> Clausewitz*, the Prussian general and famous military strategist.

In 1813 and 1814 he fought bravely and tenaciously (at Lutzen, Bautzen, Dennewitz, and Liepzig) in support of Napoleon’s vain attempt to maintain his Empire.  It was at the Battle of Dennewitz that he unsuccessfully fought against a former Napoleonic marshal, now King of Sweden, <fought> JBJ Bernadotte*. 

It was in that same battle that the reformer of the Prussian army, Scharnhorst, was killed.  Wearied by the ceaseless fighting and the prospect of having to lead his army against Paris (occupied by the Prussians at the time), he lead the famous mutiny of the marshals at Fontainbleau that lead directly to Napoleon’s abdication and exile to the island of Elba. 

Upon the coronation of Louis XVIII, many of Napoleon’s former marshals found continued employment under the new regime.  This was also true for Ney, who became a member of the Council of War and the overall commander of cavalry.  As a result, it was Ney would was asked by Louis to arrest Napoleon when he broke his exile and returned to France. 

However, once in the presence of his old commander he turned himself and his troops over to Napoleon, in effect ending Louis’ first reign.  However, he fought ineffectively for Napoleon first at Quatre-Bras and then at Waterloo, helping to doom the short-lived second reign of the Emperor, now referred to as The Hundred Days.  

Refusing to leave the country after Napoleon’s second and final exile, he was tried by a court of his peers – other former marshals – and condemned to death.  He was executed on a back street in Paris – to avoid the possibility of an angry mob – on 7th December, 1815. 

Within four years all the other marshals were exonerated by the king for their fickleness.  Clearly, Ney had insulted and embarrassed the king too directly to be forgiven.

Despite his checkered experiences, Ney is often regarded as the greatest of Napoleon’s marshals.  Napoleon himself referred to Ney as “the bravest of the brave.” 

ASSESSMENT:  A brilliant tactician but a weak strategist, he worked best under the direct command of Napoleon.

EXTRA CONNECTIONS:  None

ONELINER: Marshal Ney, great Napoleonic commander

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Chandler, David G., ed.  Napoleon’s Marshals.  Macmillan, New York.  1987.  560pp.

Schom, Alan.  Napoleon Bonaparte.  HarperCollins.  1997.  888pp.

http://www.napoleonseries.com/articles/biographies/marshals/ney.cfm