Michel Ney

Marshal of the Empire Michel Ney Prince de la Moskowa
Portrait by François Gérard, 1805
Nickname(s)	Le Brave des braves Le Rougeaud
Born	(1769-01-10)10 January 1769 Sarrelouis, France (today Saarlouis, Saarland, Germany)
Died	7 December 1815(1815-12-07) (aged 46) Paris, France
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Buried	Père Lachaise Cemetery
Allegiance	Kingdom of France  Kingdom of the French  French First Republic  First French Empire  Bourbon Restoration
Branch	French Army
Service years	1787–1815
Commands held	Army of the Rhine VI Corps III Corps
Wars	War of the First Coalition War of the Second Coalition Napoleonic Wars War of the Third Coalition War of the Fourth Coalition Peninsular War French invasion of Russia War of the Sixth Coalition Hundred Days
Awards	Legion of Honour Order of the Iron Crown
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Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (pronounced [miʃɛl nɛ]; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815) was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

The son of a cooper from Saarlouis, Ney worked as a civil servant until 1787 when he enlisted in a cavalry regiment, right before the outbreak of French Revolution. Distinguishing himself as a cavalry officer in the War of the First Coalition, he quickly rose through the ranks and, by the Battle of Hohenlinden (1800), he had been promoted to divisional general. On Napoleon's proclamation of the French Empire, Ney was named one of the original 18 Marshals of the Empire. He played an instrumental role during Napoleon's subsequent campaigns, seeing action at Elchingen (1805), Jena (1806) and Eylau (1807). Ney commanded the French rearguard during the disastrous invasion of Russia, for which he was lauded "the bravest of the brave" by the emperor.

After Napoleon's defeat by the Sixth Coalition in 1814, Ney pressured the emperor to abdicate and pledged his allegiance to the restored Bourbon monarchy. He rejoined Napoleon during the Hundred Days but met defeat at the Battle of Waterloo (1815), after which he was charged with treason by the restored monarchy and executed by firing squad.