An anecdote regarding Murat’s unfortunate tenure as commander of the Grand Armée during the disastrous retreat from Russia in 1812. “Ready to harness, I waited, when around eight or nine o'clock I was summoned by the King of Naples. He was in a carriage; and, surprised to see in passing 16 guns in good condition …
Tag: Joachim Murat
“… an object of terror and admiration”
Source: Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon, by Constant, Premier Valet de Chambre, Vol. III, translated by Walter Clark. Akron (The Saalfield Pub. Co.), 1900, pgs 207-208.
The Battle of Eylau—February 7-8, 1807
Napoléon on the Battlefield of Eylau, by Antoine-Jean Gros (1808). Close-up of Murat from the above.
“Is it possible that you should compel poor Murat to shed tears?”
-Josephine Bonaparte to Caroline Murat, undated. Source: Memoirs of the Empress Josephine: With Anecdotes of the Courts of Navarre and Malmaison, Volume 1, by Georgette Ducrest. London (H. Colburn), 1828, pgs 231-232.
Murat as Joachim Napoleon, King of Naples, painted by François Pascal Simon Gérard between 1811-1812. And a close-up of the above.
“He will have less pity to expect from his new allies than from me.”
Source: Memoirs of Constant: First Valet de Chambre of the Emperor, on the Private Life of Napoleon and His Family and His Court, Vol. 4; translated by Elizabeth Gilbert Martin. New York (The Century Company), 1907; pg 212.
“… like a whirlwind…”
"I remember how he envied my position. One day when we were walking together he tried to prove to me that on the staff I had a hundred opportunities and means of bringing myself into notice--that is, of getting on; whereas a regiment was a blind alley where one was confounded with the mass, and …
“The fate of war…”
Source: The Table Talk and Opinions of Napoleon Bonaparte, compiled by Edith Blumer, 3rd edition; London (Sampson Low, Son, & Marston), 1870, pg 43.
Close-up of Murat from Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804 by Jacques-Louis David (completed 1808) Murat, at the time of the coronation, was the Governor of Paris. At the coronation, he served as the crown bearer for the Empress Josephine. His …
“The fate of my children… outweighs all.”
A letter from Murat to Pauline Bonaparte, 15 February 1814.
Project Murat 