A stirring biography of the fiery marshal who led Napoleon’s forces—from his swift rise to fame to his tragic fall from grace and death by firing squad. A.H. Atteridge’s biography of Michel Ney, Napoleon’s most famous marshal, is a classic work of its kind. He describes Ney’s meteoric career in vivid detail, from his enlistment as a hussar in the army of Louis XVI, his rapid promotion through the ranks of the revolutionary armies and his long service under Napoleon. Ney’s pugnacious character and his capacity for inspiring leadership come across strongly in innumerable actions across 25 years of almost constant warfare. Particularly striking are the author’s accounts of Ney’s contribution to Napoleon’s most famous campaigns—Ulm and Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau and Friedland and the catastrophic march on Moscow. Ney’s last battle, Waterloo, and his subsequent execution by the returning Bourbons form the last chapter of this fascinating story.

Fought on 16 June 1815, two days before the Battle of Waterloo, the Battle of Quatre Bras has been described as a tactical Anglo-allied victory, but a French strategic victory. The French Marshal Ney was given command of the left wing of Napoleons army and ordered to seize the vital crossroads at Quatre Bras, as the prelude to an advance on Brussels. The crossroads was of strategic importance because the side which controlled it could move southeastward along the Nivelles-Namur road.Yet the normally bold and dynamic Ney was uncharacteristically cautious. As a result, by the time he mounted a full-scale attack upon the Allied troops holding Quatre Bras, the Duke of Wellington had been able to concentrate enough strength to hold the crossroads.Neys failure at Quatre Bras had disastrous consequences for Napoleon, whose divided army was not able to reunite in time to face Wellington at Waterloo. This revelatory study of the Waterloo campaign draws primarily on French archival sources, and previously unpublished French accounts, to present a balanced view of a battle normally seen only from the British or Anglo-Allied perspective.

Warfare for the Age of Napoleon Several of Napoleon's Marshals and senior officers wrote treatises on the waging of war based on their own experiences. For modern students of the history of that period these works give fascinating insights into the battlefield and campaign tactics of some of the most fascinating armies of comparatively modern times. Michel Ney fought during the Revolutionary Wars as a hussar and his early advances in rank were in cavalry commands. He received his marshal's baton in 1804 and fought many battles under the banner of the First Empire of the French including the fatal Russian Campaign and the Campaign of 1814 which led to the emperor's fall. Known as 'the bravest of the brave', Ney, having sworn allegiance to the restored Bourbon monarchy, then went over to his former master for the ill-fated 'Hundred Days', fighting at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. He was shot for treason in Paris in 1815. This book contains diagrams illustrating Ney's battle tactics and troop movements. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

Three men were born in 1769 who would influence the future and each other: Michel Ney, Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. They met only once, at Waterloo. On December 7, 1815, Marshal of France, Michel Ney, stood before a firing squad in Paris. Muskets crashed and he fell. Thirty-one years later he died in North Carolina. This is the dramatic story of Ney's probable escape from execution, of his dangerous early years in America, and his transformation into a highly respected educator. Execution Denied is also a tale of governmental deceit and attempted murder; of enormous courage and rock-solid loyalties across time and space. It imaginatively connects the many dots of historic evidence to create a carefully considered, but necessarily speculative story. In the absence of conclusive data, like DNA, we may never know the full truth. Still, I believe that this re-construction is close to what happened.