NEY, IVIICHEL, DUKE OF ELCHIN GEN AND PRINCE OF THE MOSKVA, peer and Marshal of France; born in Saarlouis, France, Jan. 10, 1769. His early years were devoted to the study of the law, but disliking the confine ment, he entered the army as a pri vate hussar in 1787. He distinguished himself in the first years of the Revolu tionary War, when serving with the army of the Rhine; and in 1796 he rose to the rank of Brigadier-General. On his marriage with Mlle. Anguli, the friend of Hortense de Beauharnais, Na poleon named him his envoy and min ister-plenipotentiary to the Helvetian republic; but in 1803 he was recalled to take command of the army intended to make a descent upon England. In the following year, Ney was created a marshal. After a succession of victories he obtained the additional title of Prince of the Moskva, and in June, 1814, he was invested with the dignity of a peer of France. He retired to his seat in the country, from which he was recalled in March, 1815, by information that Napo leon had quitted Elba. On taking leave
of Louis XVIII., he made many protesta tions of his zeal and fidelity to the king. Arriving at Besancon, Ney, how ever, found the whole country hastening to meet the returning emperor at Lyons. The troops he commanded shared the delirium; and Ney himself yielded his opinion, and went over with his army to his former friend and master. He again fought under his banner at the battle of Waterloo. After the conclusion of that eventful day, and the second abdi cation of Napoleon, Ney was advised to quit France. He refused and retired to the residence of a near relative; but he was soon arrested, and brought to trial; and his colleagues and companions in arms having declared themselves incom petent to form a court-martial whereby to judge him, the affair was carried to the House of Peers, by whom he was condemned. He was shot Dec. 7, 1815, in the garden of the Luxembourg, Paris.