Continuing my tradition of completely random Murat content, I'm pausing in between the ongoing excerpts from Louise's memoirs to post a letter from Murat to his mother, from 16 May 1801. His first child, Achille, was born five months earlier; Murat, who was sent by Napoleon to take over command of the army in Italy …
Tag: History
“His very hairstyle… for which he has often been reproached”
Murat--possessed, it must be said, of considerable vanity--relished standing out in a crowd, and went to great effort to do so, tailoring every feature of his appearance in such a way as to distinguish himself among others. Both his contemporaries and modern historians alike have written extensively on the subject of his eye-catching, custom-made uniforms, …
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“Everything was spent on Naples…
Living in exile in Trieste during the years immediately after her husband's execution, Caroline Murat was frequently hounded to repay debts owed (or claimed to be owed) by Joachim. Not wanting his name to be tarnished any further, Caroline did her best to pay those whose claims she considered credible, while simultaneously scraping to pay …
“Vast conspiracies had been hatched against our family…”
Like his brother-in-law Napoleon, Murat maintained a life-long abhorrence of both corporal and capital punishment. He sought every possible means of avoiding them, and resorted to them only when he felt he had no other choice (such as his response to the Madrid uprising in 1808, or the unleashing of General Manhès to sort out …
Continue reading “Vast conspiracies had been hatched against our family…”
“A very exact physical portrait”
A continuation of my translation of excerpts from Louise Murat's Souvenirs d'enfance d'une fille de Joachim Murat, the first installment of which can be found here. In this excerpt, from pages 18-21, Louise gives her children (to whom the Souvenirs are written as a series of letters) a detailed description of Joachim and Caroline Murat. …
“He was our friend, I would almost say our playmate…”
I was lucky enough to be able to find a copy of this available from a seller on Amazon. Murat's youngest daughter, Louise, wrote it for her children, not only to describe her childhood memories of her beloved father, but also to justify and explain his actions in 1814-1815, and defend his reputation. One of …
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“A very sincere and tender advocate”
A letter from Pauline Bonaparte to Murat, 28 January 1809.
“This Neapolitan Pantaloon”
In May of 1812, prior to setting off on his cataclysmic invasion of Russia, Napoleon arranged for a conference in Dresden, to be attended by most of the crowned heads of Europe then under his dominion. His intention was to put on such a show of power that Tsar Alexander, to whom Napoleon had sent …
“The good Cossacks were playing with him…”
Despite finding themselves facing off against him in one war after another over the years, the Cossacks gained a great admiration for Murat. His dashing courage on the battlefield, combined with his garish uniforms and towering plumage, which made him an easily distinguishable target in any encounter, left them captivated. During the 1812 campaign, they …
Forty letters to Letitia–Part Four (XXXI-XL)
The final portion of Murat's letters to his eldest daughter Letitia, spanning from August 1813 to April 1814.
Project Murat 