Madame Louise Fusil relates a brief encounter with Murat during the 1812 campaign, prior to the crossing of the Berezina River as the French army was in retreat.

“The King of Naples held his horse by lash, and his hand was set on the door of my carriage. He spoke an obliging word when he saw me. His costume seemed to me most bizarre for such a moment and in the cold of twenty degrees. His collar was open, his velvet cloak thrown carelessly over one shoulder, his hair curled, his black velvet cap adorned by a white plume, giving him the air of a melodrama hero. I had never seen him so closely, and I could not tire of looking at him: when he was a little behind the car, I turned around to see his face. He noticed and gave me a graceful wave. He was very vain, and he liked women to watch out for him.”

Source: Madame Louise Fusil, Souvenirs d’une Actrice, Tome 2. Translated from the original French.