Marshal Ney: The Bravest of the Brave - Hardcoverby A. H. Atteridge (Author) Biography of a Marshal in Napoleon's army who referred to him as the "bravest of the brave." He was executed by French royalists six months after Waterloo. Michel Ney was born in Saarlouis in 1769 and died in front of a French (royalist) firing squad on 7 December 1815, six months after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. He began his army career in 1788 when on 6th December he enlisted in the 5th Hussars and took his first