NEY, Michel, a marshal of the French empire, and one of the distinguished generals produced by the French Revolution, was born at Sarrelouis, on the 17th of January 1769. His father had been a soldier, but, after the Seven Years’ War, had retired to his native village, where he exercised the humble trade of a cooper. Young Ney received his education at a school kept by the monks of St Augustin, under whom he appears to have made considerable progress in his studies; but being fired with military ardour by the recitals of his father, he early enlisted into a regiment of hussars (pégiment du colonel-generaΓ), where he served for some time, and was a subaltern at the commencement of the Revolution. He then attained the rank of captain, in which capacity he made his first campaigns, acting as aide-de-camp to General de Lamarche, and afterwards as adjutant-general under the orders of Kleber. This latter employment afforded him several opportunities of distinguishing himself; and, in the official reports of the time, honourable mention is made of him at the passage of the Lahn in 1795, and also at the combats of Altenkirchen, Montabaur, and Wurtzburg. On the 8th of August 1796, he took Pfortzheim, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. In the campaign of 1797, he was again successful; but his horse having been killed at the combat of Steimberg, he fell into the hands of the enemy. Hoche, who admired his undaunted courage, earnestly solicited his exchange, and, as soon as he had obtained it, appointed him general of division. It was in this capacity that, in 1798, Ney commanded the cavalry of the army which, under the orders of Schaumbourg, executed the invasion of Switzerland. On this occasion he acted towards the inhabitants with as much generosity as circumstances would permit; and, the following year, he acquired a great reputation under Massena, particularly at the battle of Zurich. In the year 1800 he served with the army of Moreau, and greatly distinguished himself both at Moeskirch and at Hohenlinden. After the peace of Luneville, when Bonaparte wished to effect the entire subjugation of Switzerland, Ney was sent into that country with the title of minister plenipotentiary, and there conducted himself in a manner to deserve more and more the favour of his master. In 1804 he obtained the baton of marshal of the empire; and it was in this capacity that, in 1805, he gained, in Suabia, the victory which procured him the title of Duke of Elchingen. After the capitulation of Ulm, being ordered to occupy the Tyrol, he entered Innspruck on the 7th of November, at the head of the sixth corps of the grand army, which he also commanded the following year, in the contest with Prussia. Having contributed essentially to the victory of Jena, he appeared before Magdeburg, and, by a prodigy which still remains inexplicable, he, in less than twenty-four hours, received the capitulation of that redoubtable fortress, defended by a numerous garrison. In the beginning of 1807, he obtained a signal success before Thorn, where the whole Russian army had advanced to attack him, hoping to surprise him in his winter quarters; and, at a later period, he carried the town of Friedland at the battle of that name, which terminated the war in the north of Europe. But the war in which Napoleon found himself involved, if extinguished at one point, was assiduously kept alive at others. Scarcely had he concluded a peace with the Russians at Tilsit, when he hurried away to attack the Spaniards; and Marshal Ney, with his corps d’armée, was transported from the banks of the Niémen to those of the Ebro and the Tagus. The marshal, finding himself obliged to carry on a war of posts and of chicane in Galicia, lost a great number of men in this inglorious service, and with difficulty maintained his ground till the moment when he received orders to unite his corps with that of Massena, who had been sent in order to expel the English from Portugal. But this was found to be impracticable. It was judged that the lines of Torres Vedras could not be attacked with any prospect of success; and when Massena found himself constrained to retire before the Duke of Wellington, Ney commanded his rearguard, and, in that difficult retreat, displayed equal talent and courage. In 1812, he was recalled by Napoleon to assist in the approaching invasion of Russia, for which an army of more than four hundred thousand men had been assembled on the Vistula. At the terrible battle of Mojaisk or Borodino, Ney commanded the centre; and it was on this occasion, amidst the carnage of a conflict unequalled in modern times, that he earned the title of Prince of Moskwa. Nor did he display less valour and firmness in the disastrous retreat from Moscow, in which his corps almost entirely perished. Napoleon, who commonly called him the bravest of the brave, then designated him, in one of the bulletins of the army, as having a soul tempered with steel. In 1813, Ney participated in the indecisive victories of Lutzen and Bautzen; but he had the misfortune to lose the battle of Dennevitz, where he was defeated by Bernadotte and Bulow, with the loss of ten thousand prisoners and eighty pieces of cannon. This event made a deep impression upon his mind. Napoleon testified the most marked displeasure; and Ney, dissembling his chagrin, returned to Paris in a sort of disgrace. Nevertheless, he was again employed in the beautiful but [7:16:198]unfortunate winter campaign of 1814; and he was at Fontainebleau when Napoleon was compelled to abdicate. Ney contributed materially to bring about this event, and he was one of the first generals who submitted to the Bourbons. Having presented himself before Monsieur on the 12th of April, he said to that prince, “Your royal highness will see with what fidelity we can serve our legitimate king.” He also went to pay his respects to the king at Compiègne, and was there most favourably received. Louis XVIII. himself received his oath as a chevalier of the order of Saint-Louis, confirmed to him all his titles and pensions, and created him a peer of France. Marshal Ney was living at his estate of the Coudreaux when Napoleon, having escaped from the island of Elba, landed on the coast of France in February 1815; and he there received orders from the minister of war to repair to his government of Besançon. He immediately proceeded to Paris, and presenting himself before the king, made great protestations of devotion, and, kissing the hand of Louis, declared to him that he would bring back the disturber of Europe in an iron cage. He then set out for the eastern frontier, assembled some regiments at Besançon, and placing himself at their head, proceeded towards Lyons. At Lons-le-Saulnier, however, he learned that Napoleon had already entered Lyons; and from this time great agitation manifested itself amongst the troops. Nevertheless, the marshal himself still appeared faithful to the king, and even exerted himself to calm the excitement which prevailed amongst the troops; but in the night between the !3th and 14th of March, an emissary sent by General Bertrand brought him proclamations and letters from Napoleon, who made him brilliant promises, and styled him, as formerly, the bravest of the brave. The marshal could not resist the seductions of his old master, and next day he read to the troops his famous proclamation, beginning with these words: “The cause of the Bourbons is for ever lost. It is the Emperor Napoleon, our sovereign, who is alone entitled to reign.” His whole conduct during the hundred days was a consequence of this step. Napoleon sent him as extraordinary commissioner to survey the frontiers of the North, and also appointed him a member of his chamber of peers. In the short but decisive campaign of Waterloo, he displayed none of the military qualities for which he had been distinguished, except courage. At Quatre-Bras he acted with unaccountable hesitation, paralysing a force sufficient to turn the scale on either side, but which, in reality, effected nothing of the least importance. After the defeat of the French army at Mont St Jean, he returned to the capital, and in the chamber of peers gave a most alarming picture of the disaster which had befallen it. When Paris capitulated, Ney, having no hopes of finding favour with the Bourbons, took refuge in Auvergne, where he was arrested in consequence of the ordonnance of the 24th of July, in which he was described as one of the authors of the revolution of the 20th March. Being conducted to Paris, he was confined in the Conciergerie, subjected to several interrogatories, and at length brought before a court-martial, composed of marshals of France and lieutenant-generals, to whose competency he objected. His counsel insisted much upon this point, in which they were ultimately successful; the members of the court being glad to escape from an embarrassing position, by pronouncing their own incompetence to try the prisoner. By an ordonnance of the king, Ney was then brought before the court of the peers, whose competency was not disputed. But his counsel remonstrated warmly against the expressions employed by the ministers, who had declared that it was “in the name of Europe” that they demanded his trial; and the same learned persons appealed with much force and eloquence to the conditions of the capitulation of Paris, which guaranteed to all who were within the walls of the capital that they should neither be disturbed nor sought after on account of their political conduct. All their efforts to save their client were, however, unavailing. After fifteen sittings, Marshal Ney was condemned to death, on the 6th of December 1815, by a majority of 160 to 119; and the following day the sentence was carried into execution. Having received all the consolations of religion from the curate of Saint-Sulpice, he was shot by a platoon of veterans, near the palace of the Luxembourg, where he had been condemned, and displayed in his last moments the same heroic courage which had so often distinguished him in the field of battle. His body was given to his friends, and conveyed to the cemetery of Père la Chaise, where his tomb may now be seen. Marshal Ney and Colonel Labédoyère were the only victims of a revolution where it is evident that neither played the principal part, and that both were led away by the force of circumstances, and the spell which Napoleon exercised over the minds of the officers as well as the common soldiers of the army. (a.)