Michel Ney

Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen, 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, 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, Jena and Eylau. Ney commanded the French rearguard during the disastrous invasion of Russia, for which he was lauded "the bravest of the brave" by the emperor.