The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-02-24
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after nonapafts regarded him as one ~ %
| slralses~i fftllars 81 has ghfune. ln fse- ~
ioincd the Array Ira spain. where BE &c
MANNED tiii caiis-d Ga take part in the ex
pcdition te Russia.
/ AHgf e. ft.iaFe 81 this. ne fasseht al
( EiatsIrrn liss=sisn and irirlsfc and 80 th'
I SOL rf iEure in ssiu1a~f every rrsat battle
4 atih hrs accustomed bfasfrg uuhlS sfrtE
CLING o. the last b. save his country frou
the feet "a invaders, and az Waterloo de
liVcfed his last stroke FER the Empire.
The three distinguishing characteristics
of Ney were great personal bravery almost
unparalleled GOODNESS in the hour oi peril,
and AN excellent judgment. I'm the first
two all writer's are agreed, while the last IL
not generally conceded To him. No man
can deny lac was brave, for there can be
no appeal from the decision Of an army of
heroes who named him "Bravest of the
Brave. Such a distinction among the
| men and in the times he lived, was not
| won by ordinary actions. In an army
where DaVoust, .lunot Macdonald, Murat,
| and Lannes, commanded, 10 be crowned
BraVeSt OF the Brave. was the highest
honor a military Chieftain could desire.
Napoleon when at ST. Helena sand, "Ney
was the braveSt man / ever saw But
his courage was not the rashness Of head
| long excitement. like that of Junot and
Nlurat. The enthusiasm born in the hour
of battle amid the tossing OF plumes, the
tramping OF the host, the shout of trum
pets and roar of cannon, has always been
found sufficient to hurl men into any
scene of horror or Of peril. Junot could
cooliy sit and write to Bonaparte' dICta-
ton, while the shot whistled around him,
and laughinGly shake the paper as a can
non hall blowing past him threw the dirt
over it, with the exclamation, This is
lucky, shall have TO need OF sand"
Murat could ride on his magnificent
Steed Up 10 n whole company OF CoSSackS,
and disperse them hy n single wave OF the
hand. Lannes could FORAGE like lion amid
the foe at Monticello while the cannon
shot wasted so awfully around him, that
he himself said afterwards: II could hear
the bones crash in my division like hail
stones against a window" Yet each of
these was but one among a thousand
heroic acts, and gained for their authors
no such title as that given to Ney.
NEY's COURAGE.
There was a reason for this Theirs was
herOism called forth by sudden emergen-
cieS, and such as the cOmmonest soldier
often exhibits in the heat OF battle. Ney's
courage was something more and greater:
il dared Just as much without the least
apparent excitement. His thoughts were
just as clear, and his eye as quiet amid
the falling ranks, as If he were standing on
some far observatory and looking over the
scene OF slaughter.
He would sit almost within the blaze OF
IOU cannon, ana WnIle MS horses were
sinking under him, and whole companies
melting like trost-work before his eyes,
give orders as calmly as though manuver-
ing III a grand review
Ii was his wonderful, almost marble
calmneSs in the most sudden and extreme
danger, that struck even heroes with
establishment.
He would stand within musket-shot of
most terrific and hotly-worked battery,
and while the storm of bullets swept where
he stood, eye all its operations, and scan
its assailable points with imperturbable
quietneSS The fierce shock of cavalry,
and the steady charge of English baycnets,
could not for one moment divert his gaze or
disturb the clear and natural operations OF
his mind
The alarming cry through his own ranks,
"Sauve qui peut," or the full belief that all
was lost, could not shake his steadiness
One would have thought him an iron man.
and strung with no ordinary nerves. had
they not seen him in a desperate charge
Then his eye glanced ike an eagles, ard
with his form towering amid the smoke of
battle and flash of sabers, he seemed an
embodied hurricane, sweeping over the
field.
Much Of this doubtless was constitu-
tional, and much was owing to his wonder