The story of
'The Road To Luxembourg'
On his deathbed, November 15th, 1846, Peter Stuart Ney, a teacher from Rowan County, North Carolina, repeated his amazing claim. He insisted he lived half his life in hiding, that in reality he was Marshal Michel Ney, Napoleon Bonaparte's most trusted commander, thought to be executed 30 years before, in 1815.
But was he really?
Michel Ney is known by many names; The 1st Duke of Elchingen, 1st Prince of the Moskva, the Marshal of France under Napoleon. Nicknamed "The bravest of the brave" by the emperor and Le Rougeaud by his men, he oversaw many battles throughout the French campaigns and was known among his soldiers and fellow commanders as a warrior with the heart of a lion.
Arthur Wellesley, The 1st Duke of Wellington. Most famously know for defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and stopping his advance, participated in 60 battles throughout his career, giving him a fearsome reputation both to his commanders and his enemies. Holding the title of Field Marshal, he became Prime Minister of Britain in
1828.
During the Big Pause of the COVID pandemic, Robert Plante decided to achieve a lifelong dream; to write, produce and publish his own Graphic Novel.
Being a lover of the stories of Moebius, Hergé,
Edgar P. Jacobs and many other illustrators from a very early age, he became inspired to make one of his own.
It was now or never!
As an extension to the Novel, Robert and his son Hugo are currently working at a intriguing
'Magic Cards' - like -
Napoleon cardgame.
The Novel has yet to be published.
Gunther Sierag, Colonel of the French 5th Regiment Hussars, who first met Marshal Michel Ney while defending the bridge of Kovno, literally the last skirmish of Napoleon's Grande Armee on Russian soil.
Gunther became Michel's stand-in and so the main protagonist of the plot in this fascinating story.
Why Michel
Ney?
The story of Marshal Ney is a strange one, even by historical standards. Executed in the gardens of Luxembourg, Ney was buried at Pere lachaise in Paris but just a year later, another man appeared down in South Carolina...
By the name of Peter Stuart Ney.
Not only was this man of French origin, he was also extremely knowledgable on Napoleon, red-haired like Michel and shared the same last name as the most trusted of Napoleon's Marshals.
From day one he claimed to be no one else than the Bravest of the Brave.
Though doubt lived among those who knew him personally, whether this man was really the person he claimed he was, they still wondered: how could there be so many similarities?
And if this truly was Michel Ney, how then did he get away and escape his fate?
The Atrevida from Malaspina.
This Spanish expedition vessel, launched on the 8th of April 1789, originally belonged alongside the Descubierta to the science and exploration fleet of Captain Malaspina. 27 years later it carried Peter Stuart Ney across the Atlantic to his faithful new life.
The man currently buried in the
lands of Cleveland holds
questions lost to time. However,
,for Robert Plante, this poses as nothing
more than an opportunity for a story about
a part of history close to his heart. Many
pages and sketches later, the story of Michel Ney and Gunther Sierag comes to life, and take you through an exhilarating journey filled with history, action, heartbreak and a single question:
Who was Peter Stuart Ney?
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
