“See how the Marshal of France dies!” The life and death of Michel Ney
The fate of Marshal Ney - story incredible take-off, rapid military career, brilliant victories and life tragedy. Napoleon Bonaparte, who was destined to survive one of his most courageous marshals, called both the life and the death of Ney extraordinary. Why did the commander deserve such a high praise from the mouth of Bonaparte himself?
Both the origin and the early years of youth did not predict the incredible rise of Michel Ney. He was born on January 10 1769 in Saarlouis (now the land of the Saarland in Germany), where the bulk of the population were not French, but ethnic Germans. In the family of Pierre Ney (1738-1826) and Margaret Grevelinger Michel was the second son. Michel's father, Pierre Ney, worked as a cooper, but was able to learn his son in college. Young Michel worked for some time as a scribe in the office of a local notary, and then as a warden at a foundry. People of common origin, modest posts - could he even dream of reaching the highest military rank?
In December 1788, 19-year-old Michel Ney volunteered for a hussar regiment and was promoted to private. Such a choice was quite natural for a young man, since his father had once served in the army, who, after his dismissal from the service in which he received the rank of sergeant, engaged in the cooper trade.
The first years of service of Michel Ney were quite usual for a brave and executive soldier. He quickly became an excellent swordsman - one of the best in the regiment. Ney's career could have been hindered by poor knowledge of French, especially written language, which was due to the fact that Michel grew up in a German-speaking environment. 1 January 1791 of the year, two years after enrollment in the regiment, Michel Ney received the rank of brigadier-fourier, and a year later, in February 1792 of the year, the title of lieutenant. However, with the beginning of the revolutionary wars, the career of a hussar non-commissioned officer went uphill. 1 April 1792 of the year, just a month after 2 after receiving the rank of sergeant, Michel Ney was promoted to senior watchman, and after 2 of the month, 14 June 1792 of the year - ajüdany (warrant officers).
29 in October 1792, 23-year-old Ajudine Michel Ney, who had no military education, received the first officer rank of junior lieutenant, and a week later, 5 in November, was promoted to lieutenant. For comparison, Napoleon Bonaparte, the same age Michel Ney, who was educated at the Paris Military School, took more than five and a half years from junior lieutenant to artillery lieutenant. True, Bonaparte received his first officer rank in the “old” French army, and Lieutenant after the Great French Revolution.
Michel Ney, the son of a cooper, wouldn’t have a chance to get an officer rank in the “old” French army at all - only noblemen became officers, and people of non-noble origin could reach the rank of Ajüdan. That is the title, for example, after 14 years of service in the old French army, Andre Massena (in the image) retired, who after the revolution returned to military service and also rose to Marshal of France.
Michel Ney was wounded during the siege of Mainz, participated in many other military operations. 12 April 1794, at the age of 25 years, Michel Ney was promoted to captain, and on July 31 became a major in staff service. October 15 1794, Michel Ney was promoted to colonel, and August 1 1796 - to brigade generals. Thus, Nea was only one step behind his peer Napoleon Bonaparte - in March 1796, Napoleon became a divisional general.
The short-term Austrian captivity in which Ney was from April to May 1797, after the battle of Neuwied, did not interfere with his military career. Returning from captivity as a result of the exchange for the Austrian general, Ney continued his service in the cavalry and in March 1799, he received the rank of divisional general. In the same 1799 year, he was sent to help General Andre Massena to participate in the Swiss campaign.
3 December 1800 divisional general Michel Ney commanded a reserve group of troops at the Battle of Hohenlinden in Bavaria, where the French army clashed with the forces of the Austrian Empire. In this battle, the Austrians suffered a crushing defeat, losing about 8 thousands of soldiers and officers killed and 12 thousands of soldiers and officers prisoners. It is not by chance that historians like to compare the battle of Hohenlinden in scale with the battle of Austerlitz. Napoleon Bonaparte, however, reacted very negatively to General Jean Victor Moreau, who commanded the French army under Hohenlinden. He was charged with conspiracy and arrested. Apparently, Napoleon saw a dangerous rival in Moreau and preferred to remove him from the political field in time.
But General Neu was lucky. After peace with Austria, he was appointed inspector general of the French cavalry, in 1802 he served as an ambassador in Switzerland. The career of the 33-year-old divisional general went up rapidly. Napoleon was impressed by his peer, a man "of the people", who served the title of selfless devotion and personal courage. 19 May 1804 of the year 35-year-old General Michel Ney received the title of Marshal of France and Marshal's baton, entering the close circle of Napoleon Bonaparte.
I must say that the commander justified the confidence placed in him. Thus, during the war with Austria in 1805, he defeated the troops of the Archduke Ferdinand at the Battle of Günzburg, then forced the Austrian army to capitulate, and at the Battle of Jena he was able to crush the well-trained Prussian army. On Ney's account - the capture of Erfurt, Magdeburg, the victory in the battle of Fridland, for which he was nicknamed the "Brave of the Brave". In 1808-1811 Marshal Ney was in Spain and Portugal, where he also made a number of brilliant victories, but then he quarreled with Marshal Massena. who by that time served as commander of the French army in Portugal.
Having transferred the command of the sixth corps to divisional general Loison, Marshal Ney returned to France. In general, he was an unsociable, ambitious man, did not like to obey anyone, but did not care much about the ranks and titles. Much more Ney was interested in pure military glory, without her expression in specific positions or privileges. Napoleon Bonaparte understood this perfectly and appreciated one of his most unique military leaders. Therefore, after returning from the Iberian Peninsula, Marshal Ney was appointed as commander of the third army corps, who, like most of the French army, was preparing for a military campaign in the Russian Empire.
When Napoleon's troops invaded Russia, the corps of Marshal Ney took part in most of the major battles, including the battles for Smolensk, near Valutina Gora and the Battle of Borodino. In the battle of Borodino, the corps of Ney, along with the corps of Marshal Davout and Murat's cavalry, attacked the left flank of the Russian army. It was Ney, with the support of Murat, who actively insisted that Napoleon throw the Imperial Guard into battle. Bonaparte’s reluctance to direct the guard into the thick of the battle caused a sharply negative reaction from the famous marshal, and he even said that if the emperor no longer wants to be a commander, but only wants to be the emperor, then let him return to the palace and give the military generals the opportunity to command the troops themselves.
After the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon promised her the title of Prince of Moscow. True, officially Marshal Michel Ney began to be called the Prince of Moscow only 25 March 1813 of the year. The inglorious Russian campaign, however, once again showed the personal and military qualities of Marshal Ney. The rearguard of the retreating French army, commanded by the marshal, was cut off from the main forces, but Ney managed at night to withdraw his forces from the encirclement in the Orsha region and joined the main units of Napoleon's troops.
Wanting to encourage the soldiers, the morale of which was getting lower and lower, Michel Ney walked with a gun in his hands. He showed his subordinates that first of all he was just a French soldier and only then a Marshal and Napoleon’s ally. By the way, the emperor himself and Marshal Murat threw their army and went to Europe on their own, and the main forces of the retreating French troops from Russia were taken by Marshal Ney.
In 1813, Ney participated in the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen, where he was wounded, then fought at Dresden, Leipzig, and Dennevitz. With all his might, Marshal Ney sought to block the path of allies to Paris, and only the capitulation of the French capital put an end to the brave resistance of the commander.
When the Bourbon monarchy was restored in France, Marshal Nei betrayed Napoleon - he swore allegiance to the new king Louis XVIII, receiving from him the title of peer. As soon as Napoleon fled from the island of Elba and gathered his comrades-in-arms for revenge, the frightened king Louis XVIII appointed Marshal Ney as the celebrated commander as commander of his army. Marshal Ney even kissed the king’s hand and vowed to prove his loyalty to Louis. But a month later, Marshal Ney went over to the side of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon appointed Ney as commander of 1 and 2 in the corps of his revived army, at the head of which the marshal fought in the battles of Catherbre and at Waterloo. In the Battle of Waterloo, Marshal Ney led the center of the French troops. Five horses were killed under the marshal during the battle, but Ney in a tattered uniform, without losing composure, rushed into battle, shouting: "Watch the marshal of France die!"
When Napoleon Bonaparte, having suffered defeat, was removed from power for the second time, Marshal Ney, fearing arrest, fled with a fake passport to Switzerland. His passport was provided by Talleyrand and Fouche. But in Switzerland, Ney was soon identified and arrested. He was taken to France and assembled to be brought before a military court as a man who swore allegiance to King Louis.
Marshal Monsey was appointed chairman of the military tribunal, the oldest of the Napoleonic commanders, but Marshal Moncey immediately refused this appointment, for which he himself received a three-month term of imprisonment. However, they did not want to judge Ney and other honored generals of the French army. Indeed, many of them were the marshal's comrades-in-arms, his brothers in arms, and did not imagine how they would pass judgment on the glorified commander. Therefore, the authorities decided to transfer the case to the Chamber of Peers.
In vain, the French public called upon King Louis XVIII and his inner circle to show mercy to the captive marshal and not sentence him to death. Royalists remained adamant. The English commander-in-chief, Duke of Wellington, did not intercede on Ney, although his signature was under a convention concluded in Saint-Cloud and urging not to punish anyone for his previous political activities.
However, Ney himself didn’t intend to "otmazyvatsya" and play up. When he was offered a chance to rescue - to refuse to consider himself a Frenchman, since the Saar, where Nei was born, was rejected by France by decision of the Allied powers, Nei rejected such an idea with indignation. He stated that he lived and wants to die a Frenchman.
At this time, the 161 people sat in the House of Peers. And only one of them decided to vote for the innocence of Marshal Ney. It was 30-year-old Duke Victor de Broglie, who only 9 days before the meeting of the House of Peers reached the age of thirty, which gave the right to participate in the meetings of the House. One hundred thirty-nine people were in favor of the immediate death penalty for the famous military leader, and for the execution without the right to appeal the verdict.
7 December 1815, Marshal of France Michel Ney was shot for treason. He was executed not far from the Paris Observatory. Marshal himself commanded his own execution. At the time of his death he was 46 years old.
Napoleon Bonaparte, having learned about the death of Marshal Michel Ney, wrote:
In the year 1853, when Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon III, was in power in France, a monument was erected at the scene of the execution of Marshal Michel Ney.
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