Michel Ney

French military leader

• Born: January 10, 1769
• Birthplace: Saarlouis, France
• Died: December 7, 1815
• Place of death: Paris, France

Ney was arguably the most celebrated of the twenty-six marshals who served the French Empire throughout the Napoleonic Wars. He is primarily remembered for his leadership during the retreat from Moscow and at Waterloo.

Early Life

Michel Ney (nay) was born twenty years before the outbreak of the French Revolution. The second son of Pierre Ney, a cooper, and Marguerite Grevelinger, he was trained as a notary public and as an overseer of mines but discovered that his inclinations lay in martial pursuits. In 1788, one year before the revolution, he joined the light cavalry and from 1789 fought in the French republican armies.

Ney underwent his baptism of fire from 1792 to 1794, when he rose to the ranks of sergeant major and subsequently of captain. The tall, sturdily built, blue-eyed Ney was already a superb horseman and swordsman and was skilled in drill and maneuver. He had also acquired the reputation for reckless courage and a hot temper, which, combined with his flaming red hair, earned for him the nickname of “Le Rougeaud,” or “the red-headed one.”

From 1794 to 1799, Ney advanced steadily to the rank of general of division. His military talent was complemented by an immense personal charisma. He led his men from the front rank, an exposure to danger that endeared him to the soldiery of France. Already, he had been wounded three times and had been temporarily captured. In 1800, Ney contributed to the French victory at Hohenlinden. Thereafter, the future emperor of France, Napoleon, took an interest in him. In 1802, Ney was further connected to Napoleon through marriage to Aglaé Louise Auguié, a friend of Napoleon’s wife. When Napoleon was crowned in 1804, he elevated Ney to the distinguished position of marshal.

Life’s Work

From 1804 to 1815, the French Empire under Napoleon fought successive wars against seven coalitions of enemies. The foundation of Napoleon’s rule was the military, and at the top of the military was his personally created body of twenty-six marshals. Ney was France’s most celebrated marshal and the one most remembered by posterity, even if he was not its most consistently talented member. During the 1805-1807 campaigns in Central Europe, Ney demonstrated both his talents and his weaknesses. One of his greatest victories was the Battle of Elchingen, during which he surrounded an Austrian army at Ulm. Ney then subdued the Austrian Tyrol.

Against the Prussians at Jena, however, he attacked too precipitously, nearly cutting off his VI Army Corps. The impetuous Ney then provoked a foraging incident in eastern Prussia in January, 1807, which developed into the Battle of Eylau. Eylau was the first real check to Napoleon’s Imperial Grand Army, but Ney partially redeemed himself by staving in the Russian right flank and causing their withdrawal. Ney’s redemption was completed after the Battle of Friedland, wherein his advance led to a decisive defeat of the Russian army and directly to the Treaty of Tilsit. Out of gratitude, Napoleon created Ney duke of Elchingen in June, 1808.

Ney’s years in Spain, from August, 1808, to March, 1811, were less happy. Spain, the scene of a bloody guerrilla war, damaged many French officers’ reputations, and Ney’s was no exception. Initially, Ney led his VI Army Corps to minor victories, and in 1810 he participated in the invasion of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna. Ney captured the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo and fought, indecisively, at Bussaco. The French high-water mark was reached at Torres Vedras, and, thereafter, the British, Spanish, and Portuguese armies slowly rolled back the French. Ney’s gallantry and inspiration held the exposed rear guards together, but another side to his personality was revealed: a general lack of cooperation with his fellow marshals and with his superior. That situation resulted in his being dismissed by Masséna in 1811.

Napoleon, however, was seldom disturbed when his marshals drew daggers against one another, and he lost no time in appointing Ney head of the military camp of Boulogne, a post he held from August, 1811, to February, 1812. In April, 1812, Ney was put in charge of the III Army Corps in the greatest French army yet assembled, which was preparing to invade Russia and bring Czar Alexander I back into an economic line more favorable to Napoleon’s continental system. Instead, it was the French who were brought to heel in the beginning of the end for the French Empire.

Conversely, however, Ney’s reputation prospered. On August 17, Ney was the first to go into Smolensk, where he was again wounded; at Borodino, on September 7, he pushed back Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration’s troops. The French occupied Moscow a week later. However, the Russian field army had not been decisively beaten, and the czar would not come to terms. Moreover, a mysterious fire in Moscow robbed the French of their winter quarters. The cataclysmic French retreat began on October 19. As in Spain, Ney was placed in command of the dangerous rear guard. There, amid snows, harassed by Cossacks, and low on supplies, Ney led by such heroic personal example and élan that Napoleon respectfully named him “the bravest of the brave.” Ney was reportedly the last Frenchman to have left Russian soil. Next to Napoleon, Ney had emerged the most renowned soldier of France. In recognition, Napoleon created Ney Prince de la Moskowa, in March, 1813.

After the disaster in Russia, much of Europe rallied against the French, and Ney fought a series of battles in German states in 1813. After receiving yet another wound and achieving an indecisive victory at Lützen, Ney blundered at Bautzen, where he had been in command of several corps. Briefly recovering at Dresden, Ney was defeated at Dennewitz and failed to take Berlin. His critics would note that his effective span of control was one corps and that he was not usually successful with a larger body. Defeated at last in 1813, Napoleon and Ney fell back on France, engaging in some of their most classic if smaller battles in an effort to keep their country from being overrun. Sensing the end, Ney was one of the first marshals to call for Napoleon’s abdication. That fact set the stage for Ney’s increasing political involvement, which went so much against his temperament and natural ability.

When Napoleon was exiled to Elba, the returned Royalist government under Louis XVIII eagerly employed such a preeminent marshal as Ney on its own behalf. Complicating events, Napoleon escaped in February, 1815, and began raising a new army with which to conquer France and, ultimately, Europe. That situation put Ney in a terrible quandary, for he owed Napoleon his career and owed nothing to the aristocrats, who looked upon him as a mere upstart. Although Napoleon’s chances seemed dim, Ney could see that the army rank and file largely longed for a return to the former days of glory. Ney deserted to Napoleon, an act for which he would later pay with his life.

During the Waterloo Campaign in June, 1815, Ney commanded the left wing in the Battle of Quatre-Bras. Uncharacteristically, Ney’s actions on June 16 were dilatory. He incorrectly assessed the situation and failed to take the strategic crossroads. Napoleon’s own choice of ground at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18 was unfortunate, and his method of frontal attack was equally so. Further, even though Ney’s capabilities in the grander scale had already been tested and found not to be his strongest feature, Napoleon chose to entrust to him the conduct of the main assault at Waterloo.

Repeatedly and courageously, Ney charged against the well-prepared British defenses, exhausting the French cavalry. Unable to break through to Brussels, the French were themselves struck in the right flank by the Prussians. As a word, “Waterloo” has become synonymous with defeat. Napoleon was exiled to the remote island of St. Helena, and Ney was tried and executed by the Bourbon Royalists on December 7, 1815. Out of respect for France’s hero, “the bravest of the brave” was allowed to conduct his own firing squad beside the wall of the tranquil Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.

Significance

Michel Ney’s life may be considered a failure if one only reflects that the cause he served failed. If, above all, the age symbolized the drift away from monarchy, the seeds had at least been planted. From a personal view, Ney’s career was spectacular. Few have risen from completely obscure origins to become a marshal and a prince. Ney was a successful man before Napoleon chose him as one of the elect, but Ney largely owes his historical reputation to his service in Napoleon’s French Empire while under the banner of the Imperial Grand Army. Had there been no Napoleon, Ney might well have been marked by posterity as no more than one of the many newly promoted republican generals.

Ney’s career as a marshal of France was made more because of his outstanding bravery than from any qualified skill as a military strategist. That judgment is not to belittle Ney’s overall martial talent. Ney’s personal example, energy, charismatic inspiration, and willingness to share risks made him an exceptional leader of men and France’s greatest period soldier second only to Napoleon.

From 1815 to 1848, France struggled between its traditions of monarchy and its increasingly republican leanings. The Bourbons understandably forbade the erection of a statue to Ney’s memory, until their own downfall in 1848. In 1852, however, the nephew of Napoleon secured by plebiscite the mantle of hereditary emperorship, and the following year a statue of Ney was commissioned. The statue stands in the Carrefour de l’Observatoire in Paris as an eternal tribute to a national military hero of France.

Bibliography

Chandler, David G. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: Macmillan, 1966. This work is the best single-volume work on the period. Ney appears in the index, and his name covers an entire column of entries. Invaluable for understanding Ney’s position in the Imperial Grand Army. Excellent maps indicate where Ney fought. Although it is appreciative of Ney’s role throughout, the chapters concerning Russia and Waterloo are especially rewarding.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Macmillan, 1979. The entry on Ney fills approximately two pages and includes a picture. The subject is covered chronologically. Key events are set off by asterisks, which permit cross-referencing and therefore a more complete explanation.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗, ed. Napoleon’s Marshals. New York: Macmillan, 1987. This is the best account of the twenty-six marshals so far published. Each marshal is presented in a separate section authored by a separate period scholar and includes a picture of the subject. Ney is covered by Peter Young. A map and analysis of the Battle of Elchingen help to explain Ney as a commander. His talents may be easily compared and contrasted to those of his fellow marshals.

Delderfield, R. F. The March of the Twenty-Six: The Story of Napoleon’s Marshals. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1962. The book is illuminating because it deals with the interactions of the marshals in a chronological sequence. Thus, it is complementary to works that adopt a sectional subject approach. Ney is indexed throughout the text.

Esposito, Vincent J., and John Robert Elting. A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1964. The atlas is without doubt the best military atlas on the Napoleonic period and, because of the rising cost of publication, may stand indefinitely as the definitive work. The maps offer a complete understanding of Ney’s positions during the campaigns. Coverage is comprehensive, and each map is supported by an oversize page of linking narrative.

Horricks, Raymond. Military Politics from Bonaparte to the Bourbons: The Life and Death of Michel Ney, 1769-1815. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1995. Comprehensive biography, describing Ney’s life and military career within the context of French politics during and after the reign of Napoleon I.

Marshall-Cornwall, Sir James. Napoleon as Military Commander. London: B. T. Batsford, 1967. This book offers a literate exposition that is well illustrated with detailed maps and a chronological table. Presents a balanced account of Napoleon’s career. Ney is frequently referenced in the index and may be briefly related against the larger background of his leader.

Morton, John Bingham. Marshal Ney. London: Arthur Barker, 1958. Only two chapters cover the 1812-1815 period. Three chapters review the politics of the second restoration or the events surrounding Ney’s trial. The work adequately portrays the ineptitude of Ney in the climate of shifting politics.

Young, Peter. Napoleon’s Marshals. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1973. The section on Ney is not as comprehensive or informative as Young’s section in Chandler’s edited Napoleon’s Marshals. Four pictures of Ney and a color plate of the marshal in uniform provide the finest single, illustrative coverage, but the Chandler book is to be preferred in most respects.