MARSHAL NEY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 993, 7 December 1910, Page 5

MARSHAL NEY.

•STHE "BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE." .. [Br Lieut. Hurst, ' R.N.] On this date,, ninety-five years ago, Michel Ney, Marshal of France, was shot tn the Gardens of the Luxembourg, at Paris, for treachery to his Sovereign, Louis, xvni. Ney was born at Saarlonis on January JO, 1769, a year which also saw the birth if Napoleon and Wellington. The outbreak of the revolution found Ney a non-commissioned officer of a Hussar regiment. ' : . Ho eagerly embraced the popular cause, end his capacity and courage in the revolutionary and consular wars led to his being created a Marshal of tho Empire on Napoleon assuming the. Imperial title. The Marshal was one of the most devoted of Napoleon's lieutenants, and was entrusted with the command of the Boulogne troops of tho so-called "Army of England." ,

These troops, thanks to the British. Navy, were not destined to. see more of England than the white cliffs, which, on fine days, were clearly visible to the veterans of Italy and Egypt. Baffled, by the British sailors, Napoleon turned his attention to Austria, and Key's gallant conduct in storming the entrenchments at Elchingen 'materially assisted his Imperial master's campaign. •'■ For. these services, he was created Duke of Elchingen. He gained further. laurels at; Jena and Eylaii, though his impetuosity' at the former battle would have led less hardy troops than.thosa of the Grand Army into- serious diificulties. Spain, then the grave of many; French' military reputations,- hardly enhanced Ney's lame. He refused to!render obedience to his chief, Massena, and returned to France, though his conduct during the retreat from Portugal stamped him as an idmirable leader of a rearguard. .On the invasion of Russia in 1812, Ney :was given the command of the 3rd Corps, and for his gallantry at the bloody battle of Borodino was created Prince of theUoskwa: . ■:.'■■::'.

" The retreat from Moscow was, however, the occasion of Ney's finest feat of arms. _' With a few soldiers of various nationalities, .called by courtesy the rearguard, he saved-the remnant., of the G,rand Army. .. . :

„As the danger thickened so did Ney's qualities' shine .■' brighter, and ' his .red head, with its' foatherless •■ cocked hat, was the orifiamme on which the bravest 'spirits of the Grand Army rallied during those dreadful days. Seeing Ney's handful of men surrounded by apparently hopeless odds, -his ihivalrous Russian adversary proposed a capitulation, but received the noble reply, "A . Marshal of France . never., surrenders." ' '•■'A splendid painting by Tvon hangs in the gallery of Versailles, depicting Ney liomnianding tho; rearguard. •The Marshal was the last to leave Russian soil, which ihe did, musket in hand; shouting defiance' at his Cossack foes. ■ He fought with his usual courage in Napoleon's 1814 campaign and on' the Emperor's first abdiction gave in his'adhesion to tho Bourbons who loaded him with honours.,., . < ' ' ■ The veteran Was, however, not happy under the, Royalist Government. The tough soldier was more in his element Bating raw, horseflesh on the plains of Lithuania than in the atmosphere of the Court. .■■■■■.'.; On Napoleon's return from Elba, Ney was sent against his old<master, but unfortunately for his fame, his moral courage succumbed to the enthusiasm of tho troops for, their great leader, and Ney's fame was tarnished by treason. The Marshal regretted the act almost immediately, and, he who, during the dark' . days of the retreat from Moscow; could sleep like .a tired child now, found his nights' slumbers broken and disturbed, he had sacrificed at the altar of Napoleon .that, which he could never regain—his honour. Ho, eagerly sought death' on the fields of Quatre Bras and Waterloo, but it was not to be, and ho was reserved for a. more melancholy fate. A , pen picture of Ney, after the, collapse of the French at Waterloo, describes him as with his clothes torn, one epaulette gone,: waving a' broken sabre and howling at tho demoralised troops: •''Come and see how a Marshal of France can die.". / -. Ney was afforded opportunities to escape, as the restored Royalist Government had no wish to be embarrassed with his trial, but ho scorned, to fly and ■jvas arrested. . .■','.-. Ho made no attempt to deny Jiis "guilt and was sentenced to death by the Chamber of Peers. .

He met.his death with that fortitude Jie had ever displayed during his life. While the preamble to his sentence was ■Jjeing read recording the titles he had won during his glorious career. Ney in-, torrupted with: "Say only Michel Ney 'soon to be a little dust." • Ho himself gave the word to the firing party: "My comrades fire on me/', and pierced ■'by. ten bullets the bravest son of France was no more.' • Thus died Michel Ney at the early ago of forty-six, a man whose physical, courage has never been excelled. His statue now stands in the Gardens of Ihe Luxembourg on the site, where he was shot and it is no uncommon sight 'to see flowers placed on tho monument by the hero's admirers. >