In the previous article, titled "Two" Gasconads "of Joachim Murat", we talked a little about this Napoleonic marshal and his exploits during the military campaign of 1805. The fearless warrior, "the genius of cavalry attacks", was the youngest and eleventh child in a poor provincial family (his mother gave birth to him at the age of 45). Apparently, the poverty of the first years of his life left a certain imprint on his character, and the love for luxurious outfits was a kind of compensatory reaction.
This passion became especially noticeable after the Egyptian campaign, where Murat suddenly found himself in the fabulous world of oriental luxury. Since then, he fell in love with leopard skins and various products made from them once and for all: in a campaign against Russia in 1812, he took as many as 20 leopard blankets.
For the overly pompous and "theatrical" appearance of Murat was condemned not only by enemies, but also by people who treated him with sympathy. The stigma of a narcissistic fanfare was firmly stuck to him, and therefore even the real royal title he received from Napoleon is now accepted to be treated as an operetta. Some compared this situation with the famous episode of Cervantes' novel, when the bored duke appointed Sancho Panza the ruler of a certain "island" - with the difference that Napoleon, who played the role of this duke, appointed Don Quixote himself as "king".
But, oddly enough, many historians assess Murat's reign in Naples, on the whole, positively. This was not a consequence of any special administrative talents of the Gascon, but he was smart enough not to meddle in matters in which he did not understand, but to trust the professionals.
But how did Murat end up on the throne, and how did his short (less than seven years) reign in Naples end?
Joachim Murat: the beginning of a long journey
That great era opened up many talented and even brilliant people in France who, under the Old regime, did not have the slightest chance of such an elevation. Here is Murat, who began his military career in 1787 as an ordinary cavalryman in a horse-jaeger regiment, already in 1792 we see a sub-lieutenant, in 1794 - a captain. And this despite the fact that in 1789, for violation of discipline and disrespect for the authorities, he was expelled from service for two years.
Sub-lieutenant of the 12th Horse Jaeger Regiment I. Murat. 1792 year
A real take-off awaited him after meeting the young General Bonaparte, to whom he, during the royalist rebellion (October 1795), managed to deliver 40 guns. With only 200 cavalry under the command, Murat not only literally made his way through the crowds of rebels, but also did not lose his precious wagon train, which was perceived by many as a real miracle.
Well versed in people, Napoleon brought the promising Gascon closer to him. And he, for many years, justified the trust of his patron - the general, the first consul, the emperor.
During the famous Italian campaign, Colonel Murat, at the head of the cavalry units, took part in almost all battles. A blow from three cavalry regiments under his command put the Piedmont army to flight. Commanding vanguard units, he occupied the important Tuscan port of Livorno. As a result, at the age of 29, he became a brigadier general. That year, an interesting motto appeared on his saber: "Honor and Ladies."
In 1798Murat commanded the French cavalry during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, was part of the so-called Syrian army during the campaign to Palestine, participated in the storming of Gaza, captured the marching camp of the Pasha of Damascus and the city of Tiberia with a huge one. food supplies. Then he distinguished himself during the assault on the fortress of Saint-Jean-d'Acr, and, especially, in the battle with the Turkish landing at Aboukir. During the latter, despite being wounded, he personally captured the Turkish commander-in-chief Said Mustafa Pasha. Shortly thereafter, Murat was awarded the next military rank - divisional general. Unsurprisingly, Murat was one of the few who accompanied Napoleon on his return from Egypt to France.
In November 1799 (19 Brumaire according to the revolutionary calendar) Murat rendered Napoleon a truly invaluable service by leading the grenadiers who literally kicked out of the conference room the deputies of the "Council of 500". But before this Napoleon himself was almost brought to a swoon by the same people with their indignant cries and threats to declare him outlawed. Knowing no fear on the battlefield, Bonaparte was then suddenly taken aback and left parliament almost in prostration, and Murat confidently ordered the soldiers: "Throw out all this audience!"
And recently such brave and formidable deputies fled in a race - many not even through the doors, but through the windows they themselves broke.
In April 1800 Murat commanded the cavalry during Napoleon's new campaign in Italy. He managed to capture Milan and Piacenza, expel the army of the Kingdom of Naples from the Papal States. And, of course, he fought at Marengo.
Bonaparte's son-in-law
But a special acceleration to Murat's career was given by his marriage to Bonaparte's sister - Caroline (January 20, 1800): Napoleon, like any Corsican of those years, was anxious about family ties, and finding a suitable crown for his beloved sister (and at the same time for her husband) was for him, as they say, a matter of honor.
In fact, at first, Napoleon categorically objected to this marriage: after all
"In the position where fate has taken me, I simply cannot allow my family to intermarry with such mediocrity."
However, after the events of the 19th Brumaire, he slightly corrected his position:
"Its origins are such that no one will accuse me of pride and the search for a brilliant kinship."
This marriage was concluded for love, and when the first impulse of passion passed, the spouses, despite numerous mutual betrayals, maintained good relations for a long time.
It was in the family of Joachim and Caroline that the first boy of the Bonaparte clan (Achille-Charles-Napoleon) was born, and before Napoleon adopted the children of Josephine Beauharnais, he was the first contender for the imperial throne. And then Napoleon himself had a son, so that the son of Joachim and Carolina could be forgotten about the imperial crown forever.
All in all, the Murat family had four children.
Caroline was perhaps the most ambitious of Napoleon's sisters, and she promoted her husband with all her might, jealously making sure that he was not inadvertently bypassed in awards and honors, as well as in monetary awards. For one of them, by the way, she bought for herself the Elysee Palace - the current residence of the presidents of France.
In 1804 Murat became Governor of Paris and Marshal of France, in 1805 - “Prince of the French”, Grand Admiral of the Empire and Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves. Dusseldorf became the capital of his possessions.
New Feats of the Furious Gascon
Murat's "Gasconads" during the 1805 campaign have already been discussed in the previous article. During the war with Prussia in 1806, he completed the rout of the Prussian army in the battle of Jena and for a long time chased its remnants.
And then, with some cavalrymen, he captured the hometown of Catherine II - Stettin. On this occasion, Napoleon wrote to Murat:
"If our light cavalry takes fortified cities in this way, I will have to disband the engineering troops and send our cannons to be melted down."
The following year, at the Battle of Preussisch Eylau, Murat led a massive French cavalry attack ("Attack of 80 Squadrons"), which the British historian Chandler called "one of the greatest cavalry attacks in history." The first wave of the French, led by Dalman, scattered the Russian cavalry, the second, which was already led by Murat himself, broke through two lines of infantry. And this attack took place because, 500 meters away, Napoleon suddenly saw the Russians breaking through the French positions. And he turned to Murat: "Will you really let them devour us ?!"
Murat did not allow it.
This episode is often called the peak of Murat's entire military career. In Tilsit, the impressed Alexander I awarded him the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
In 1808, Murat fought in Spain, first capturing Madrid (March 23), and then suppressing the uprising in it (May 2). From El Escorial, he took and sent to France the sword of Francis I, with which he was captured at the battle of Pavia.
By the way, after the victory over Prussia in 1806, Napoleon also brought home some souvenirs: the sword and watch of Frederick the Great. And even after the renunciation he did not give them away - he took them with him to the island of St. Helena.
But let us return from 1806 to 1808. The fruits of Murat's victory went to the emperor's brother, Joseph. Many historians are sure that this appointment was a mistake of Napoleon, believing that Murat, experienced in military affairs, would have acted in Spain much more successfully and brought more benefits. However, the emperor decided otherwise: in restless, literally boiling, Spain, his brother, not brilliant with talents, went, but an active warrior, Murat, on August 1 of the same year, was put at the head of a completely peaceful kingdom of Naples.
By the way, few people know that then Murat changed his name - he began to call himself Joachim Napoleon (after all, he once wanted to take the name of Marat killed by Charlotte Corday).
King of Naples Joachim
How did our hero rule his kingdom? Oddly enough, quite reasonable. In everything he relied on local cadres, did not impose or promote newcomers from the outside, and even made some attempts to abandon the role of a weak-willed puppet of the powerful French emperor. He immediately granted amnesty to political criminals, many of whom were enemies of Napoleon. Demonstratively went to venerate the relics of the patron saint of Naples - Saint Januarius. Then he drove the British from the island of Capri, which belonged to his kingdom. In 1810 he tried to seize Sicily, but did not succeed. Murat's further steps give reason to suspect timid attempts to follow the path of another French marshal, Bernadotte. But Bernadotte was the ruler of some no, but an independent state, while Murat was on the throne of a country dependent on France and its emperor. Even these clumsy attempts to show independence, Napoleon, apparently, endured only because he did not want to deprive his sister of the crown.
So, to begin with, Murat tried to get rid of the French units in his kingdom. Napoleon naturally refused to withdraw his troops, and then Murat demanded that the French officials of the kingdom become subjects of Naples. Carolina fully supported her husband in this intrigue against her brother, moreover, it is believed that it was she who was the initiator of such unfriendly actions. Napoleon said that all the subjects of the Kingdom of Naples are citizens of his empire, and therefore there is no need to re-subordinate the bureaucrats. Quiet opposition to the emperor's dictatorship continued. In response to the introduction of a double duty on the import of silk from Naples, a retaliatory blow follows - a complete ban on its import to France, which greatly worried both Parisian fashionistas and Napoleon.
Napoleon, by the way, understood well who was in charge in this pair. “There is more energy in one little finger of the queen than in the whole personality of her husband,” he said then.
But even Murat began to gradually realize that he was turning into a purely nominal figure, and discord began to emerge in relations between the spouses, aggravated by the stormy romances of both. But this did not prevent the founding of a military school in Naples, engineering, polytechnic, artillery, and naval schools, the construction of new roads and bridges. At the same time, they built an observatory and expanded the botanical garden.
1812 year
In 1812, Murat was forced to leave Naples and join the Great Army of his overlord. He commanded the cavalry units of the Great Army (4 corps with a total number of 28 thousand people), chased the Russians - and could not catch up with them in any way. In the battle of Ostrovno, he personally took part in a horse battle with the Cossacks.
He became one of the heroes of the Borodino battle (in one of the attacks of the Semyonov flushes a horse was killed under him) and was one of the first to enter Moscow. According to L. N. Tolstoy, his appearance made a great impression on the Muscovites who remained in the city:
“Everyone looked with timid bewilderment at the strange, long-haired boss adorned with feathers and gold.
- Well, is it himself, or what, the king of theirs? Nothing! - quiet voices were heard.
(The novel "War and Peace".)
It was Murat's cavalrymen who discovered the camp of the retreating Kutuzov. At the same time, according to Marbeau's testimony, “Murat, proud of his tall stature, of his courage, who always wore very strange, shiny costumes, attracted the attention of the enemy. He liked to negotiate with the Russians, so he exchanged gifts with the Cossack commanders. Kutuzov took advantage of these meetings to maintain false hopes for peace in the French."
But soon Murat himself became convinced of the intransigence of the Russians.
The vanguard of the Great Army under his command of about 20-22 thousand people from September 12 (24) stood at the Chernishna river. The Russian army received replenishment, the despondency that gripped everyone after the abandonment of Moscow gave way to indignation and a desire for revenge. The subordinates demanded decisive action from Kutuzov, and the detached French units seemed to be the ideal target. Alas, the famous Battle of Tarutino, although it was the first victory of the Russian army, still did not lead to the complete defeat of the French. The main reason for this was the uncoordinated actions of the Russian generals, many of whom had long been openly hostile, and therefore were not too eager to support rivals and mutual assistance. As a result, on the appointed day, the Russian divisions did not occupy the positions prescribed by them, and many infantry units did not appear the next day. On this occasion, Kutuzov said to Miloradovich:
"You have everything on your tongue to attack, but you do not see that we do not know how to make complex maneuvers."
But the Russian strike was unexpected for the French, and the chances of their complete defeat were very high. Murat himself was then wounded in the thigh with a lance. L. N. Tolstoy described this attack by Orlov-Denisov's Cossack and cavalry regiments in his novel War and Peace:
“One desperate, frightened cry of the first Frenchman who saw the Cossacks, and everything that was in the camp, undressed, sleepy, threw guns, rifles, horses, and ran anywhere. If the Cossacks had pursued the French, not paying attention to what was behind and around them, they would have taken Murat and everything that was there. The bosses wanted this. But it was impossible to move the Cossacks from their place when they got to the booty and prisoners."
The pace of the attack was lost, the French, who had come to their senses, lined up for battle and managed to repel the offensive of the approaching Russian jaeger regiments, which withdrew, having lost several hundred people killed, including General Baggovut. Bennigsen asked Kutuzov for reinforcements for a new attack by the retreating French, but received an answer:
“They didn’t know how to take Murat alive in the morning and arrive at the place on time, now there’s nothing to do.”
It was after Tarutinsko soon after the battle that Napoleon realized that peace proposals would not follow and decided to leave Moscow.
During the "great retreat" Murat was only a shadow of himself and gave the impression of an absolutely depressed and morally broken person. Perhaps this was the result of the death of the magnificent cavalry of the Napoleonic army before his eyes. At Berezina, he "became famous" for the proposal to save the command staff, giving the soldiers the opportunity to deal with the advancing enemy themselves. It seems that the decision of Napoleon to appoint Murat as his successor as commander of the remnants of the army seems all the more strange.
In Prussia, Murat, who finally lost his head, convened a council of war, at which he hinted to his comrades-in-arms that Napoleon had gone mad, and therefore all of them - kings, princes, dukes, should enter into negotiations with the enemy in order to secure crowns and thrones for themselves and their descendants. Marshal Davout, Duke of Auerstedt and Prince of Eckmühl answered him that, unlike the Prussian king and the Austrian emperor, they are not "monarchs by the grace of God" and can only preserve their possessions by remaining faithful to Napoleon and France. And it is not clear what is more in these words: insulted honor or pragmatism.
Not finding understanding among other commanders, Murat declared that he was suffering from fever and jaundice, handed over command to Eugene de Beauharnais and hastily set off for his capital, Naples. He spent only two weeks on the road, earning a stinging compliment from Eugene Beauharnais: "Not bad for a seriously ill patient."
Traitor's path
In 1812 Murat, apparently, should have died in one of the battles, forever remaining in the memory of descendants as a loyal paladin of France, a fearless knight of cavalry attacks. But Murat remained alive, and his entire subsequent existence represented the shameful agony of a man who could earn the title of hero, but could not stay it until the end.
Napoleon in Paris was gathering a new army, the number of which reached 400 thousand people in three months. And Joachim and his wife at this time entered into negotiations with Metternich (who once was Caroline's lover for a whole year). Murat was already then ready to betray his emperor, and the Austrians were inclined to retain his power in Naples - in exchange for help in the war against France. But they were late with their proposal, and Murat went to Napoleon to lead the cavalry of his new army.
There is a version that the courier with Austrian proposals (which was supported by Alexander I) met Murat on the way, but the letter with important information was not deciphered and read. And the most convenient moment for betrayal was missed.
In August 1813, near Dresden, Murat won his last victory, overturning the Austrian troops of Schwarzenberg.
But already in October, 7 days after the Battle of Leipzig, Murat left the emperor, who, understanding everything, nevertheless hugged him in a friendly goodbye. He still hoped at least for the neutrality of his old comrade-in-arms and son-in-law. But already on the way to Naples, Murat sent a letter to Vienna promising to join the anti-French coalition. At home, Carolina fully supported him: in her opinion, her brother was already doomed, and the royal power could still be tried to save.
On January 17, 1814, the appeal "To the peoples of the Apennine Peninsula" was published, which in fact was a declaration of war on the "French emperor".
And in his address to the soldiers, Murat said:
“There are only two flags in Europe. On one you will read: religion, morality, justice, moderation and tolerance. On the other - false promises, violence, tyranny, persecution of the weak, war and mourning in every family! It's up to you!"
Thus, the Kingdom of Naples joined the VI Anti-French coalition.
Strange as it may seem, Napoleon then accused not Murat of betrayal, but his own sister:
“Murat! No, It is Immpossible! No. The reason for this betrayal is in his wife. Yes, it's Caroline! She completely subdued him to herself."
After Napoleon's abdication, all his relatives lost the thrones - except for Murat and Caroline. However, the new allies of the Murat couple were not going to tolerate them on the throne for a long time: the principles of legitimism, proclaimed by the victors, demanded a return to the situation that existed on January 1, 1792. And therefore, only King Ferdinand, expelled by Napoleon from the Bourbon dynasty, had the right to the crown of Naples. Joachim and Caroline tried to maneuver between Austria and France, entering into negotiations with both Metternich and Talleyrand. But the whole "game" was confused by the return of Napoleon from the island of Elba and his enthusiastic meeting in France. Murat's throne was shaking, and his nerves could not stand it. He risked once again to believe in the "star" of Bonaparte, and, against the advice of Caroline, declared war on Austria. He did not know that Napoleon was no longer going to fight with the whole world, and sent all the monarchs of Europe the most peaceful messages.
On May 2-3, 1815, at the Battle of the Tolentino River, Murat's army was defeated.
“Madam, do not be surprised to see me alive, I did everything I could to die,” he said when he returned to Caroline.
As a result, Murat fled from the country to Cannes, from where he wrote a letter to Napoleon offering his services as commander of the cavalry, and the Austrians from Naples took Caroline to Trieste.
The emperor did not answer Murat and afterwards regretted it. “Yet he could bring us victory. We missed him very much in some moments of that day. Breaking through three or four English squares - Murat was created for this,”he said on the island of St. Helena.
After Waterloo, Murat fled again - now to Corsica. The Austrians, in exchange for a voluntary abdication from the throne, offered him a county in Bohemia, but Murat by that time seemed to have lost his adequacy and sense of reality.
Death of Murat
In September 1815, he sailed to Naples in six ships with 250 soldiers on board, hoping to repeat Napoleon's triumphant return. A storm scattered these ships, and, only at the beginning of October 1815, Murat, at the head of only 28 soldiers, was able to land at the small town of Pizzo in Calabria. Apparently, hoping to impress his former subjects, he was dressed in a ceremonial uniform, strewn with jewelry and orders. According to some reports, the inhabitants of the city greeted the former king extremely unfriendly: so much so that he had to run away from them, throwing money into the crowd (in the hope of distracting the pursuers).
One way or another, but Murat was detained by local gendarmes. During interrogation, he stated that he had no intention of organizing an uprising, but that proclamations were found in his belongings.
On October 3, 1815, a military court sentenced Murat to death with immediate execution. In his last letter to Caroline, he wrote that he regrets dying away from her and her children. He told the sent priest that he did not want to confess, "because he did not commit a sin."
Murat refused to turn his back on the soldiers, and did not allow himself to be blindfolded. Before the formation, he kissed the portrait of his wife and children, which was kept in his medallion, and gave the last order in his life: “Do your duty. Aim for the heart, save my face. Fire!"
The burial place of Murat is unknown. According to some reports, his body was buried in the nearest church, but no signs were placed over the grave, and therefore it was not possible to find it later. Others argued that his remains "were dismembered and mixed with the remains of a thousand people in the dungeons of the Church of St. George the Martyr in Pizzo, so that it was impossible to identify them."
Caroline did not mourn for long. In 1817, she secretly married Francesco MacDonald, the former minister of King Joachim.
In 1830, when Louis-Philippe came to power in France, Caroline turned to him for a pension (as the widow of a Marshal of France) and received it.
