1-625-422 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The execution of Marshal Ney, France, 1816. Ney (1769-1815) was made a Marshal of France in 1804. He commanded the French army at the Battle of Friedland (1807) and at Borodino and Smolensk (1812), after which Napoleon awarded him the title Prince of the Moskwa. Ney commanded the rearguard of Napoleon's epic retreat from Moscow, and the French centre at Waterloo (1815). He was shot for treason after the capitulation of Paris, giving the order to fire to the firing squad himself.