Part 7 of excerpts from General Pépé's memoirs takes us to the beginning of Murat's final campaign. We left off with Pépé discussing Napoleon's departure from Elba and alleged communications with Murat, and Pépé's criticisms of Murat for indecisiveness and not having begun the campaign with a large enough force. Here, Pépé discusses (and deplores) …
“His eyes… were very similar to those of cats”
Returning to the memoirs of Louise Murat; Louise pauses from relating the events of the last days of her parents' reign in Naples, to provide some interesting perspectives on two well-known (and controversial) figures who visited the Kingdom in 1813 and 1814, respectively: Joseph Fouché, Napoleon's notorious former Minister of Police; and Louise's aunt, Pauline …
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“The fire of discord continually grew”
Anthony Boldewijn Gijsbert van Dedem, Baron van den Gelder, was a Dutch soldier and diplomat who would serve Louis Bonaparte, during his brief reign as King of Holland, as ambassador to Naples. Taking up his post in Naples in 1806, when Louis's older brother Joseph was its King, Dedem would continue to serve in this …
“He wasted his hours…”
Continuing on with Part 6 of excerpts from the memoirs of Neapolitan General Guglielmo Pépé. The atmosphere of uncertainty in Naples pervades through the winter of 1814-15; Pépé is critical of Murat's inactivity during this crucial time, when Naples and the rest of Italy are teeming with revolutionary sentiments. News of Napoleon's escape from Elba …
“Can you conceive all my unhappiness?”
The memoirs of Chateaubriand contain two letters from Murat--then under a sort of house-arrest near Toulon while Napoleon marched off to his final defeat at Waterloo--written to a woman whose name is not provided. Biographer Hubert Cole gives her name in The Betrayers as one Madame de Civrieux, whom he describes as Murat's "close friend and probably …
“One is not a king to obey.”
Hardly any letters from Murat to his wife Caroline still exist; Caroline was in the habit of destroying most of her received correspondence, and Murat rarely kept copies of the letters he sent her. In the eight volumes of his correspondence published by Paul Le Brethon, there is not a single letter from Murat to …
“The only happy hours of my life…”
Continuing on with Part 5 of excerpts from General Pépé's memoirs; here we see Pépé puzzling over whether Murat actually liked him or not. On the other hand, he has no doubt whatsoever as to how Caroline felt about him (an animus probably not improved by his disparaging comment about dancing, one of the royal …
Archive page added!
I finally got around to building the memoir & correspondence archive/index I mentioned back in March; it has been added as a separate page to the top menu. This should make it way easier to go back and find things. Check it out here: https://projectmurat.blog/archive-index/
“I have enough strength of soul to bear anything”
While remaining aboard the merchant vessel which had borne him to the bay of Cannes following his defeat at Tolentino, Murat wrote not only to Napoleon, whose orders he restlessly awaited, but also to his good friend Joseph Fouché. In this letter, he reiterates much of what he has told the Emperor regarding his failed …
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“The King’s anger had entirely passed away”
Part 4 of Murat-related excerpts from General Pépé's memoirs. When we last left off, Pépé and a number of his fellow generals had begun collaborating to push King Joachim to grant Naples a constitution. But the resolve of many of the generals began to waver, the collaboration soon unraveled, and word of the plan made …
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Project Murat 