The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1891-03-11
mistellanp.
Was He Marshal Ney?

The Ney myth comes to the front
once more and this time it is elabor-
ately set forth in book written by
Rev. James A. Weston of Hickory, N
g. Mr.. Weston is an Episcopal clergy
man, a scholarly gentleman, and he is
firmly convinced that the Peter Stuart
Ney, who taught school and died in
Rowan county, n. c., in 1916 was the
veritable Michael Ney, the marshal of
France, who was called by Napoleon
the bravest of the brave. in this
strangely interesting book we are told
the names and given the testimony of
many prominent citizens of the Caro-
linas who knew Peter Stuart Ney and
who were satisfied that he was the
great French soldier. From all &C.
counts the man was the very image of
the marshal. He was very reticent,
but occasionally took too much wine
and then made admissions tending to
show that he was Michael Ney. He
tried to commit suicide when be heard
of Napoleon's death. He told Colonel
Houston of Iredell county, n. c., that
when he marched to the place of exc
cution he found that the soldiers de-
tailed to do the work belonged to his
old command. He whispered to them
to aim high. They obeyed him, and
when the volley was fired he fell, was
pronounced dead and his body was
turned over to his friends. He went
secretly to Bordeaux, where he took a
vessel to Charleston, landing there in
January, 1916. Now, what are the
facts on the other side? The North
Carolina Ney was school teacher.
The real Ney was a man of hardly any
education. The North Carolina Ney
sometimes got drunk. The real Ney
was noted for his abstemious habits.
Why should any secrecy have been
necessary? If Ney had escaped, he
would have been free and perfectly
safe on these shores. He was not
obliged to remain in exile. Amnesty
was granted by Louis XVIII., Charles
X. and Louis Philippe, and il Ney had
been living he would have returned to
France under the reigns of either of
these sovereigns. But this is not all.
The story will not hold water Napo-
leon told his friends at St. Helena all
about Ney's execution. He at least,
would have been informed of his old
marshal's escape. Montholon in his
memoirs describes the execution. Bou-
rienne gives minute details. The
members of the Ney family have time
and again repudiated the North Caro-
lima Ney. And yet many of the best
and most intelligent people of the Caro-
linas have believed for the past sixty
years, and still believe, that Peter Stu
art Ney, the school-teacher, was the
famous hero of the First Empire. They
believed it because he looked like Ney,
lived life of mystery, and now and
then told friend in confidence that he
was Michael Ney. 1t is useless to
argue with people when they take up a
fad. Some people believe that Wilkes
Booth is alive. Some people believe
that the Rev. Eleazer Williams was
the son of Marie Antoinette, and some
believe that Brigham Young did not
die, but went off to live somewhere I'M
der an assumed name. After all, it is
well that the Ney myth has been made
the theme of a book. 1t will now at
tract more attention, and the evidence
against it will be presented in shape
that will dispose of the story forever
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