A Hilliard Atteridge

The Bravest of the Brave: Michel Ney, Marshal of France Under Napoleon A Hilliard Atteridge

The life of one of the most notable of Napoleon's marshals

There are few students of the Napoleonic epoch who require much introduction to the character of Marshal Ney. In an empire of many courageous men who would stand at the emperor's side, Ney was one of the most charismatic and outstanding. Though he rose to the highest rank, he ever had the sensibilities of a cavalryman and with his raw courage, blunt manner, ruddy complexion and habit of exposing himself to the heart of the action he justifiably earned his sobriquet, 'the Bravest of the Brave.' As with most of the soldiers who were closest to Napoleon, Ney was present on many fields of conflict throughout the period of the Napoleonic Wars, but it is perhaps telling that for many it is the image of Ney standing in the snows of the disastrous retreat from Moscow, among the very last men of the rearguard fending off the harassing Cossacks, that resonates in the mind. Ney it was too who continually hurled himself among the futile waves of massed cavalry as they tried to sweep Wellington's infantry of the ridge at Waterloo. And it was Ney, of course, perhaps finally a victim of his own reckless impulses, who faced the firing squad for his volte face and support for Napoleon during the fateful 'Hundred Days.' This biography by Atteridge is a well regarded classic and an essential addition to any library of the Napoleonic era.
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