Returning to the memoirs of General Belliard, Murat’s close friend and chief of staff, we have a letter from Caroline Murat to Belliard, written on 20 October 1812, two days after her husband’s defeat at the Battle of Tarutino. Caroline expresses her hope that the army will arrive in Moscow soon; Napoleon had just begun his retreat from the city on the 19th. Reading between the lines of Caroline’s letter, we can get a good idea of the contents of Belliard’s letter to her of the 5th of August she references at the beginning. Wracked with his perpetual paranoia, Murat had begun worrying about Caroline’s handling of matters in Naples as regent almost from the moment he had taken the field for the 1812 campaign, and from Caroline’s protestations here, it appears Belliard’s letter had made her aware of her husband’s anxieties (and perhaps Murat himself had asked Belliard to broach the subject?). Undoubtedly knowing Belliard would show her letter to her husband, Caroline tries to assure him of the purity of her intentions (and the independence of her actions).

Source: Mémoires du Comte Belliard, Vol I, 1842. Pages 121-123.

***
Caroline Murat to General Belliard
20 October [1812]

Monsieur Count, I have received your letter of the 5^th of August, of which I did not understand much; but it suffices for me to find there a testimony of your attachment for the King, so I am grateful to you. I do not forget that you are the King’s comrade in arms and glory. I saw with pleasure, both in the journals and in the King’s correspondence, how much praise he had for you, and I hope that on his return he will reserve for you near his person occupations that will be agreeable to you, and will make you forget the fatigues of a painful campaign. For me it would be a celebration to see beside the King the one who has shared his labors, and I forget nothing to prove to him the case I make. But I swear to you that I don’t understand at all what you mean by the flatterers and the ambitious, who seek to deceive and bring about changes, novelties; not at all, I’ve done nothing new, and have consulted no one, wanting only to do what could please the king and keep his kingdom tranquil in his absence, as indeed I have succeeded. If I was wrong about the means to achieve the best, it was not my intention, but my fault, because I did not consult anyone for what I did. Only seeking to do what I believed best, I might have deceived myself, but I have not been deceived by anyone, believe me. I hope that you will be in Moscow soon, and that your return then will not be long delayed; awaiting it, I advise you to take good care of the King; prevent him, as much it will be possible for you to, from exposing himself to dangers, and especially speak to him often of me, of his children and of my sincere attachment. 

Believe also, Monsieur Count, in the constant interest that I vowed to you, and which is further augmented by the care you give to the King, care he praises greatly, and for which I will have much pleasure in expressing to you my gratitude. 

Caroline  

***

[More from Belliard’s memoirs can be found here and here.]