Show WAS MARSHAL NEY EXECUTED I 1 rev james A weston of hickory N C has won considerable notoriety not notoriety oriet by asserting in the most positive daxion fashion that marshal ney was not shot as history alleges e g es but escaped to america and 1 died ed at a good old age in rowan county N C that there was a peter ney a schoolteacher school teacher is certain he appeared about 1818 and established his school in in a small village in western south carolina one day in the autum of 1819 89 says the new york recorder a number of french refugees came to the village and were introduced to the schoolteacher afterward they confessed that they had recognized ney agthe as the great marshal hearing of this ney hastily left the town and went to cheraw cheral where he be opened another school all went well until 1820 when ney rode on horseback to columbia riding in a procession through the streets ney attracted applause by his magnificent horsemanship As he passed along he was described by some french veterans in the crowd who shouted in uncontrollable able excitement it is marshal neyl ney it is marshal ney hearing their shouts ney rode rapidly forward telling his pupils to follow him and dropping from the line of th the parade an ab soon as possible he left the city in such haste that thai he fargot a gold watch which he had brought in to be re paired and moved into north carolina where for many years he taught school and finally died november 15 1846 at the house of mr osborn G foard of rowan county in that state says the baltimore news As is well known marshal father was named peter ney as was his brother who was killed in battle this may account for his choice of the name peter it is also well known that the great marshal himself was known as peter the red byais by his soldiers this name of the red and his other title of the red lion were given ney because of his fiery red complexion and hair the same red complexion and hair were noticeable characteristics of peter ney the schoolteacher school teacher napoleons death was a great grief to the schoolmaster he always admitted baving having been in in napoleons army and held firmly to the belief that napoleon would escape from st helena as he had done from elba after the death of napoleon it appeared the dream of peter life to see the young napoleon on the imperial throne from which the father had been driven when therefore the death of the young napoleon occurred in all the hopes of peter ney were blasted and those who knew him at the time say that his grief was terrible ible for three weeks he lay dangerously ill with fever and delirium and and when he finally recovered he declared again and again my life A lisl ended peter ney is described by those who knew him as a most lovable and exem plary man tut but he had one great fault he would occasionally drink to excess upon one occasion he be became overcome with drink and lay down by the roadside to sleep some friends laid him on tile the back of a horse to take him home waking up ney cried with indignation dig nation what put the duke of Elch Elc bing ingan on like a put me ine do down at oncel once it will be remembered that marshal ney held that title but most remarkable of all were peter words upon his deathbed lovin loving friends had gathered about his bis beds bedside m e when one of them said to him before you die mr ney tell us who you are with the stamp of death upon his brow and the light fast fading from his brilliant eye peter ney said slowly and decidedly 1 I am or was marshal ney of france and in ina a very short time was dead but history says that on the morning of De december dember 7 1815 marshal ney was taken to the luxemburg gardens there shot by a squad of soldiers his body taken to the hospital Mater nite near by and buried that night hon quentin dick by chance witnessed the supposed execution and wrote an account of it in his memoirs sir william frazier in his words on wellington quotes these accounts together with many other facts and states as his deliberate opinion that marshal ney was not shot yet frazier had never heard of peter ney As has been said before the fact stated and many others relating to the later life of the remarkable man peter ney are well known in the carolinas and it would be hard to find one of the many who knew him who doubts for an instant that peter ney and marshal ney were one and the same many of the books formerly belonging to peter ney are still preserved by his former friends in the carolinas some of these notable books of french history relating to the napoleonic wars contain many marginal notes in handwriting those who have examined carefully these se annotations declare unhesitatingly that they could only have been made by one who was not only an eyewitness eye witness of the scenes described but thoroughly conversant with napoleons plans |