Joachim Murat

“ She was an elderly woman when I met her, but her conversation abounded with the most interesting reminiscences of her life in France. She died in the summer of 1867. Achillé Murat was the son of Joachim Murat, the great Marshal of Napoleon, whose sister Caroline he married and became King of Naples. Many years later his two sons came to this country. One of them settled in Borden [338] town in New Jersey, and Achillé Murat, after his marriage to his Virginia bride, became a resident of Florida. Madame Murat told me of some of the visits she made to France when the voyage was long and tedious. ”

“ The “court” by now had its sentence ready.
“Joachim Murat, by the fortune of arms, having returned into that private life in which he was born, and having ventured with twenty-eight comrades to attempt this rash enterprise, not trusting to the force of arms [this, by the way, seems to be a queer sort of grievance] , but to rebellion, has excited the people to rise against the lawful sovereign, endeavoured to revolutionize the kingdom and Italy, and is therefore condemned to die as a public enemy, by the law made during the Decennium, and which is still maintained in full vigour.” ”

“ Joachim Murat, an inn-keeper's son, born in 1771, at the Revolution entered the army and soon rose to be Colonel. He served under Bonaparte in Italy and Egypt, became General of Division, and in command of the Cavalry at Marengo he covered himself with glory. Bonaparte gave him his sister, Caroline, in marriage. In 1806 the grandduchy of Berg was bestowed upon him; in 1808 he was proclaimed King of the Two Sicilies, as Joachim 1st, and took possession of Naples. After Napoleon's final overthrow he proceeded with a few followers to the coast of Calabria, and proclaimed himself King ”

“ In the reign (1808–1815) of Joachim Murat a number of secret societies arose in various parts of the country with the object of freeing it from foreign rule and obtaining constitutional liberties; they were ready to support the Neapolitan Bourbons or Murat, if either had fulfilled these aspirations. ”

“ Another famous resident of Bordentown was Prince Murat, the nephew of Napoleon and of Joseph, and the son of the dashing Prince Joachim Murat, who was King of the Sicilies, and was shot by sentence of court-martial after Waterloo. Prince Murat came in 1822, bought a farm, got married, lived a rather wild life, but was generally liked, and, going through various fortunes, returned to France after the Revolution of 1848 and was restored to his honors. ”

“ Cry ‘Long live Joachim!’ and follow me with these brave fellows to Monteleone.”
“Sire,” said Trenta Capelli, “we are the faithful subjects of King Ferdinand, and we come to fight you, and not to bear you company. Give yourself up, if you would prevent bloodshed.”
Murat looked at the captain with an expression which it would be impossible to describe; then without deigning to answer, he signed to Cagelli to move away, while his other hand went to his pistol. Giotgio Pellegrino perceived the movement.
“Down, captain, down!” he cried. The captain obeyed. ”

“ Hearing these questions, Murat rose with an expression of sublime dignity.
“I am Joachim Napoleon, King of the Two Sicilies,” he answered, “and I order you to leave me.”
The registrar obeyed.
Then Murat partially dressed himself, and asked Stratti if he could write a farewell to his wife and children. The Captain no longer able to speak, answered by an affirmative sign; then Joachim sat down to the table and wrote this letter:
“DEAR CAROLINE OF MY HEART,—The fatal moment has come: I am to suffer the death penalty. In an hour you will be a widow, our children will be fatherless: remember me ”

“ Pius did not relinquish his claim to the rest of the Papal possessions either, and continued on his way to Cesena, his native place, by the Strada Emilia, among his own subjects, although Murat, fearing the excited feeling among the latter, wished him to go through Tuscany.
Murat’s power was toppling over, for, do what he might, his interests were the interests of the France that he was fighting. But what could he do? It would take a clever man to find his way safely out of such an impasse as confronted Joachim. ”

“ He had come at a moment when Corsica was in the throes of a civil war of its own, between the followers of the Bourbons, the adherents of Napoleon, and a party who, sitting on the fence between, called themselves Independents. Many of Murat’s old-time companions-in-arms had been natives of Corsica, and, the Napoleonists and Independents being in the majority, they called upon Joachim to help them crush the remainder and rule over the island afterwards. This was the sort of invitation which the fiery cavalryman was always only too ready to accept, and his heart soared into the heavens! ”

“ Subsequent events proved this, and showed Murat that the man who, boldly and to his face, had blamed the conduct of the king, was the firm friend of the depressed and unhappy fugitive. In the closing scene of Joachim's reign, when the disbanded Neapolitans, badly led, and in some instances deserted by generals who should never have held the rank, fled before the hosts of Austria, the sympathy and friendship of his plain-spoken follower were amongst the last and best consolations of the falling monarch. ”

“ On Joachim’s awakening and opening his eyes, Nunziante broke the news of his approaching trial as gently as possible.
“I am lost, then!” exclaimed Murat. There were tears in his eyes, and Nunziante himself was unable to speak for emotion, but he brought his prisoner pen and paper.
“My dear Caroline [wrote Murat] : My last hour has struck. Within a few moments I shall have ceased to live and you will have lost your husband. Do not forget me! My life has never been stained by an act of injustice. Adieu, my Achilles, my Letitia, my Lucian, and my Louisa. Show yourselves worthy of me. ”

“ It was clear that Great Britain had no intention of ultimately recognizing Murat's right to reign. As for Austria, she would be certain that Murat's own folly would, sooner or later, give her an opportunity for repudiating her engagements. For the present the Neapolitan alliance would be invaluable to the Allies for the purpose of putting an end to the French dominion in Italy. The plot was all but spoilt by the prince royal of Sicily, who in an order of the day announced to his soldiers that their legitimate sovereign had not renounced his rights to the throne of Naples (Feb. 20) ”

“ Murat’s own officers helped to draw the Papal carriage in one place, and his men broke their ranks, falling over one another for the privilege of being allowed to approach the returning exile.
In spite of all that Joachim’s envoy, General Carrascosa, could do, Pius’ determination to proceed was unaffected, and the general returned to his master, begging him for his own sake to give way before the popular enthusiasm, which every day was increasing. Murat, however, decided upon a middle course. He would render to the Pope all the honour in his power, but he would give him no assistance. ”

“ He at once, without consulting his minister of foreign affairs, dispatched Prince Cariati on a confidential mission to Vienna; if Austria would secure the renunciation of his rights by King Ferdinand and guarantee the possession of the kingdom of Naples to himself, he would place his army at her disposal and give up his claims to Sicily. Austria herself, however, had not as yet broken definitively with Napoleon, and before she openly joined the Grand Alliance, after the illusory congress of Prague, many things had happened to make Murat change his mind. ”

“ The people expected very naturally that a new order of things would bring them a new government, and Murat’s own suspicions were confirmed when the treaty of peace was signed at Paris and the Congress of Vienna was summoned without any mention of him at all. Legitimacy was now the rage, and Joachim, though without an invitation, despatched the Duke di Campochiaro and Prince de Cariati as his representatives to Vienna. ”

“ My poor Marouin, you are giving yourself unnecessary trouble, and making a vexatious delay for us: King Joachim is no longer accustomed to palaces and courtiers; he is only too happy nowadays to find a cottage with a friend in it; besides, I have let him know about it, so sure was I of your answer. He is counting on sleeping at your house to-night, and if I try to change his determination now he will see a refusal in what is only a postponement, and you will lose all the credit for your generous and noble action. ”

“ As a man he was rash, hot-tempered and impetuously brave; he was adored by his troopers who followed their idol, the "golden eagle," into the most terrible fire and against the most terrible odds. Napoleon lived to regret his refusal to accept his services during the Hundred Days, declaring that Murat's presence at Waterloo would have given more-concentrated power to the cavalry charges and might possibly have changed defeat into victory. ”

“ But his head had been turned by the flatteries of the “patriots”; he believed that all Italy would rally to his cause, and that alone he would be able to drive the "Germans” over the Alps, and thus, as king of united Italy, be in a position to treat on equal terms with Napoleon, should he prove victorious; and he determined to strike without delay. On the 23rd the news reached Metternich at Vienna that the Neapolitan troops were on the march to the frontier. The Allies at once decided to commission Austria to deal with Murat ”

“ From Dijon Castlereagh promptly wrote to Bentinck (April 3) to say that the proclamation of the prince of Sicily must be disavowed, and that if King Ferdinand did not behave properly Great Britain would recognize" Murat's title. A letter from Metternich to Marshal Bellegarde, of the same place and date, insisted that Bentinck's operations must be altered; the last thing that Austria desired was an Italian national rising. It was, indeed, by this time clear to the allied powers that Murat's ambition had o'erleaped the bounds set for them. ”

“ He dreamed of a partition of Italy between him and us .... When we refused to annex all Italy north of the Po, he saw that his calculations were wrong, but refused to abandon his ambitions. His attitude is most suspicious.” “Press the restoration of the grand-duke in Tuscany,” wrote Castlereagh to Bentinck; “ this is the true touchstone of Murat's intentions. We must not suffer him to carry out his plan of extended dominion; but neither must we break with him and 'so abandon Austria to his augmented intrigues.” ”

“ It had been a sudden embarkation, it brought about a swift change: he was no longer Murat the exile; he was Joachim, the King of Naples. The exile’s refuge disappeared with the foundered boat; in its place Naples and its magnificent gulf appeared on the horizon like a marvellous mirage, and no doubt the primary idea of the fatal expedition of Calabria was originated in the first days of exultation which followed those hours of anguish. ”

“ On the evening of the 16th of October, the first day of the battle, Metternich found means to open a separate negotiation with him: Great Britain and Austria would, in the event of Murat's withdrawal from Napoleon's army and refusal to send reinforcements to the Viceroy of Italy, secure the cession -to him of Naples by King Ferdinand, guarantee him in its possession, and obtain for him further advantages in Italy. To accept the Austrian advances seemed now his only chance of continuing to be a king. At Erfurt he asked and obtained the emperor's leave to return to Naples ”

“ Vienna Congr. xi. ↑ That they were fully justified is clear from the following extract from a letter of Metternich to Bombelles at Paris (dated Vienna, Jan. 13, 1815) . “Whether Joachim or a Bourbon reigns at Na les is for us a very subordinate question. . . . When Europe is established on solid foundations the fate of Joachim will no longer be problematical, but do not let us risk destroying Austria and France and Europe, in order to solve this question at the worst moment it would be put on the tapis. ”

“ I have chosen you out of all my friends, believing that you were devoted enough to me to render me a great service.”
“You did well, captain.”
“Let us go straight to the point, as men who respect and trust each other should do. My uncle, King Joachim, is proscribed, he has taken refuge with me; but he cannot remain there, for I am the first person they will suspect. Your house is in an isolated position, and consequently we could not find a better retreat for him. You must put it at our disposal until events enable the king to come to some decision.”
“It is at your service,” said Marouin. ”

“ You have been able to remain a good, loyal fellow. He did not give you a kingdom, he did not encircle your brow with a band of iron which men call a crown and which drives one mad; he did not place you between your conscience and your family. So I must leave France, begin my vagabond life again, and say farewell to Toulon, which recalls so many memories to me! See, Brune,” continued Murat, leaning on the arm of the marshal, “are not the pines yonder as fine as any at the Villa Pamfili, the palms as imposing as any at Cairo, the mountains as grand as any range in the Tyrol? ”

“ The stout are candid puff-balls blowing in an open sea of purposeless panting, hard to stir into an elephantine surging from arm-chairs; and these are for frock-coats, and they can wear watch-chains. So these boys understood it. Murat here, Murat there, Murat everywhere, with Shalders a-burst at the small end of a trumpet, cheeks rounded to the full note of an usher's eulogy, like a roar and no mistake, arduous in the moment, throbbing beneath a schoolmaster's threadbare waistcoat, a heart all dandelions to the plucker, yellow on top with white shifts for feather-fringe ”