Was The Execution of Napoleon General Michel Ney A Sham ?
Hero of the Napoleonic War, Marshal Ney was shot after the Battle of Waterloo. But for the legend to live, there are rumors that his execution was in fact a sham.
In 1819, a man settled in Cherew, North Carolina. His name is Peter Stewart Ney. He speaks English, German and Scottish, says he cannot speak French, keeps abreast of news from Europe, receives mysterious letters, reads a lot, especially books devoted to the Napoleonic War, which he annotates in there. correcting many detail errors. On its activities, the testimonies are contradictory. Some say he is a simple teacher. Others, on the other hand, insist on his great culture: horseman, fencer and outstanding marksman, he also paints, writes poems, teaches both living and dead languages. Shortly before his death, which occurred on November 15, 1846, the enigmatic Peter Stewart revealed his "true identity" to relatives: he was Marshal Ney, shot in Paris on December 7, 1815.
The "Brave of the braves"
Thirty years after the fall of the Eagle, no one has forgotten the feats of arms of this legendary soldier. The Revolution opened up a career as an officer for this man of humble origin, his temerity did the rest. General in 1796, Michel Ney was promoted to marshal in 1804. Not hesitating to fight at the head of his men, he locked the Austrians in Ulm, precipitated the confrontation at Jena, blocked the Russians at Friedland, commanded the rear-guard which protects the retreat from Russia, which earned him the title of Prince of the Moskva.
When defeated, he changed sides and became a peer of France under the 1st Restoration. When Napoleon returned from Elba, he promised Louis XVIII to bring him to him "in an iron cage", but finally joined the emperor ... Finally, he was in Waterloo where he led furious charges of cavalry, perhaps hoping to be killed.
" Right in the heart! "
General Ney guesses that he will not escape the white terror that is befalling France. He agrees to go into exile in America, Fouché gives him a false passport for this, but the borders and ports are closed, so he takes refuge in the Lot, with his in-laws. A prefect flushes him out, even though Louis XVIII would have done without such a prisoner. Sentenced to death by the Chamber of Peers, Ney was shot on avenue de l'Observatoire and not at the Grenelle barrier, which reduced the risk of incidents as well as the number of witnesses.
The condemned man is left his hands free; he himself commands the fire, hits his chest and shouts "Soldiers, straight to the heart!". Instead of collapsing in half, shaking with jolts, he falls in one block, without a cry or a shudder. We spare him the coup de grace; no doctor verifies the death. The body is taken to a hospital and buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery, on the run, even in the absence of his wife.
Disturbing coincidences
Immediately, strange rumors circulated: General Michel Ney was not killed. The royalists, furious at these rumors, published the account of the execution. But, in 1827, a mistress of the Marshal, under the name of Ida Saint-Elme, published her Memoirs, in which she maintained that the firing squad fired blank. Ney reportedly used a bladder full of red fluid, there were accomplices in the hospital, and Père-Lachaise's coffin contains pebbles or another corpse.
Peter Stewart Ney would have said the truth? Was he the "brave of the braves" who would have escaped the peloton? Some think so, and disturbing coincidences do not leave indifferent: the father of the Marshal was called Pierre, and the surname Stewart, by sounding Scottish, recalls the origins of his mother.
