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 …
Tag: 19th century
“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 …
“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 …
“She rushed into the midst of the flames”
Towards the end of the months of festivities and celebrations following Napoleon's marriage to Marie-Louise, yet another ball was held in honor of the Emperor and his new Empress, on 1 July 1810, this time by the Austrian ambassador, the Prince of Schwarzenberg. A fire broke out, caused by a drooping candle setting one of …
“Pronounce my fate unsparingly”
Following his final defeat against Austria at the battle of Tolentino at the beginning of May 1815, Murat made a hasty retreat to Naples. Advised by Caroline to depart the kingdom, as the Austrians and English flat-out refused to deal with him, Murat left Naples the day after his return, and soon made his way …
“My annoying opposition to his politics”
Part 3 of Murat-related excerpts from the memoirs of Neapolitan General Guglielmo Pépé. In this excerpt, Pépé discusses the first, ultimately unsuccessful attempt at pushing King Joachim to grant the Neapolitans a constitution in 1814; Lord William Bentinck's personal dislike for Murat; and Murat's inclination towards rewarding those of his generals whose politics (unlike Pépé's) …
“You can never know how attached to you I am”
Today--25 March--is the shared birthday of Joachim & Caroline Murat (in 1767 & 1782, respectively), so I've put together a little something to provide some insight into their relationship. There's one period in particular during which an abundance of letters exists from Caroline to Joachim: their long separation(s) during most of 1810. Joachim and Caroline …
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“The false words attributed to him”
Emmanuel-Augustin-Dieudonné-Joseph, Count de Las Cases, was one of the few men to voluntarily accompany Napoleon into exile on Saint Helena, along with his son. There, he served the deposed Emperor as a secretary, recording numerous conversations with Napoleon and taking extensive notes, which he later turned into the Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène following his expulsion from the island …
“I could have fallen at his feet and worshipped him”
Part 2 of Murat-related excerpts from the memoirs of Guglielmo Pépé. This part begins with Pépé's recollection of his first meeting with Murat in Florence in 1802, continues with the crowning and general reception of Murat as King of Naples six years later (and their reaction to Napoleon naming Caroline his immediate heir), and ends …
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Project Murat 