1) Joachim Murat in 1792, as a 25-year-old sous-lieutenant in the 12th chasseurs-à-cheval, by Jean-Baptiste-Paulin Guérin. 2) In 1811, as the King of Naples, by Guillaume Deschamps.
“Your father was preserved…”
Murat wrote the following letter to his eleven year-old daughter Letitia in the aftermath of the Battle of Borodino on 7 September, 1812. (I've left my translation of it in all-lowercase, as is the original letter.) The signature initials are for Joachim Napoleon, the name Murat adopted as King of Naples. my beautiful and good …
“After swearing roundly in the French fashion…”
Neapolitan General Pépé, who served Murat during his reign in Naples, relates the following anecdote of the King: One day he was returning from the Campo di Morte, when a woman in tears, and holding a petition in her hand, stood forward to present it to him. His horse, frightened at the sight of the …
Continue reading “After swearing roundly in the French fashion…”
“From the prison to the tomb is but a short step…”
"Thus, I am offered a prison for asylum! From the prison to the tomb is but a short step: a king who cannot keep his crown has only the alternative of a soldier's death. You have arrived too late, my dear Maceroni, the dice are thrown; I've awaited three months, and constantly at the risk …
Continue reading “From the prison to the tomb is but a short step…”
“Voici mon cher ami Murat…”
Sketch of Murat by Antoine-Jean Gros, 1808. The text reads, "Voici mon cher ami Murat le Roi de Naples" ("Here is my dear friend Murat the King of Naples"). Murat had been, along with Marshal Berthier, a patron of Gros, and commissioned paintings of himself on two occasions. Gros' first painting featuring Murat was The …
“Nearly always in good taste”
Murat became famous--perhaps "notorious" would be a better word--for designing outlandish uniforms for himself, to make himself stand out not only on the battlefield, but wherever he went. While Constant, Napoleon’s valet, who liked Murat, charitably recalled that Murat was "the man in all France who dressed with the most care, and nearly always in …
“He had an excellent heart, a mediocre mind…”
A fairly balanced view of Murat from Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine, and adopted daughter of Napoleon. Murat was a good man. He was dashingly brave, and possessed military talents together with a great desire to please and to be admired. He sought to have good manners and overdid them. One saw by his …
Continue reading “He had an excellent heart, a mediocre mind…”
“I want to live another quarter of an hour…”
A recollection of Murat at the Battle of Leipzig (October 1813): "At that moment, a polished military staff arrived from the right, at the head of which was a superb horseman wearing a toque surmounted with a great plume, dressed in a sort of Brandenbourg tunic, his beautiful horse covered with a golden-clawed tiger skin. …
Continue reading “I want to live another quarter of an hour…”
Drawing of Murat derived from a painting by Andrea Appiani in 1803. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a picture of the actual painting anywhere so far.
“… I could not tire of looking at him.”
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 …
Project Murat 