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 …
Continue reading “His eyes… were very similar to those of cats”
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Continue reading “The King’s anger had entirely passed away”
While his wife remained in Paris attending Napoleon's new empress well into the summer of 1810, Murat continued organizing his expedition against Sicily, which he hoped to reunite with Naples under one--his--crown. But unbeknownst to Murat, though his brother-in-law had given the expedition his approval--including a small force of French troops, commanded by French generals--Napoleon …
Continue reading “Perhaps you love me still in the depths of your heart.”
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 …
Continuing with Louise Murat's memoirs, we arrive at Murat's decision, in 1815, to march in support of Napoleon following his brother-in-law's triumphant return from Elba. Murat had been urged by Joseph Bonaparte to try to convince Emperor Francis of Austria to ally himself to Napoleon; but the letter Murat ends up sending Francis towards the …
Continue reading “We would be driven to a state of barbarism”
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) …
