The New York herald., 1879-02-10
Marshal Ney i'm North Caroline.

Marshal Ney I'm North Carohh"'
A strange tale comes to the HERALD from
the Old North State. In the wilds OF Iredell
and Rowan counties. heretofore identified
only with moonshincrs, random volcanoes
and Mecklenburg Declarations. one ofour
correspondents has accumulated a mass OF
detail bearing upon the singular career OF
one Peter Stuart Ney, who for thirty years
taught school in that remote mountainous
region, and departed this life in 1916, leav-
ing upon his pupils and friends the general
belief that lie was none other than the
.'bravest Of the brave" Michel Ney, Mar
shal of France, Duke of Elchingen and
Prince of Moskva.
Stranger things than this have happened
and may happen again; but it must be con-
fessed that it will require somewhat stronger
evidence than that now submitted to the
public to reverse so well attested fact as
the execution Of Marshal Ney in the gar
dens of the Luxemb bourg on that melancholy
morning of December, 1915. The bronze
statue which now adorns the spot can tell
no tales, out may not the mortuary monu-
ment in Pere la Chaise, have some decisive
evidence to offer no less than the lonely
grave at Third Creek Meeting House? The
physical peculiarities of the Marshal are
too we'll authenticated to render difficult
the Identification of his remains.
! Rumors from North Carolina coupled
with the name of Ney have been OCCASION
ally heard for many years, but it is believed
that the letter to-day given to the public
by the HERALD narrates the first systematic
attempt to probe it to the bottom. That
there was in Iredell county mysterious
Frenchman calling himself Peter Stuart
Ney, that he had served in the Grand Army,
maintained an active correspondence with
France, received strange visits and allowed
it to be supposed by those around him that
he was the celebrated Marshal of the same
name, there can be ne doubt. The testi-
challenged. But it would seem that he
never deliberately asserted his identity,
even after the fall of the Bourbons and the
renewal of the Napoleonic legend under
the Citizen King would have made it ex-
pedient to do so. Even from q legal point
Of view It would have been perfectly safe
to return to France at any time after the
''three days Of July" which ushered into
existence the Orleans monarchy. Can it be
believed that consideration for his eldest son,
who through all those years bore the pater-
nal titles, and who was married to o daugh-
ter of Lafitte. would induce the real Duke
and Prince to conceal himself in the APP
palachinn Mountains? Whence came those
numerous letters, presumably forwarded
by King Joseph Bonapsrte from Borden
town, if not from his own family? And
would the inheritors of his titles and estates
in France have allowed him to languish in
poverty in his mountain homo when he
might have lived all those years in Europe
with his devoted wife and his four sons?
Nevertheless, the evidence before US is
not to be lightly dismissed. It will now be
in order.for the lovers of historical mystic
ries to adduce the evidence Of the shipmate
of 1916, still living in Western ''Soldiers'
Home" and to enlighten us as to tho
shadowy Myers, "member of the New York
Historical Society,"" who figures as the GUS
todian of the shorthand manuscripts Of the
deceased Marshal of France. There can at
the present moment be no difficulty in
finding the key to the cipher however in
tricate, and the contents will certainly re-
pay perusal.