JOACHIM
MURAT Joachim Murat was born in the village of La Bastide Fortunière in France
on 25th March 1767. He was the son of a hotel keeper; it seemed as if he was
going to be a priest but he ran away from the seminar and preferred a military
career, where he distinguished himself for his ability as a knight and for his
martial bearing. After an unlucky beginning, due to an act of insubordination,
his military career was fast and successful; on 8th February 1792 he entered
the National Guard, in April 1793 he was appointed captain and, in May 1796,
he became aide-de-camp of Napoleon with the rank of brigade general. He was
with Bonaparte in the Egypt campaign and, after the success obtained in the
battle of Abukir (1799), where he distinguished himself for his bravery in combat
and for his tactic ability, he was appointed marshal of division. On 2nd December
1799, after Napoleon was elected First Consul and after Murat had defended him
during the Brumaio days against the Council of the Five Hundred, the latter
was appointed commander-in-chief of the Consular Guard. Even if at the beginning
he wasn't really accepted by the First Consul, the future king of Naples entered
the Bonaparte family on 20th January 1800, marrying Napoleon's sister, the beautiful
Caroline (Mary Annunziata). He had the opportunity to show again his courage
and his ability as a leader in the various battles of 1800 in Italy, especially
during the battle of Marengo (14th June 1800). A year after his marriage (21st
January 1801) he became the father of Achilles-Charles-Louis-Napoleon; at the
end of the same year he got the office of general-in-chief he strongly wanted.
On 25th April 1802 his second daughter, Mary-Laetitia-Josephine-Annunziata,
was born. On 16th January 1803 his third child, Lucian-Napoleon-Charles-Francis,
was born in Milan. When Murat came back to France, he was acclaimed by everybody
in his hometown La Bastide. He was appointed governor of Paris, commander of
the troops of the First Army Division and of the National Guard, then, in May
1804, he became marshal and great admiral of the Empire. On 22nd March 1805
Napoleon gave the Elyseum to his sister Caroline for the birth of her fourth
and last daughter, Louise-Julie-Caroline, and in the same year Murat had the
opportunity of distinguishing himself in the Prussian campaign, which culminated
in the victory of Austerliz (2nd December 1805) and successfully ended in the
peace of Presburg. This campaign highlighted all the defects and merits of the
future king of Naples; his tactic errors and his impulsive decisions jeopardized
the final success of the campaign, but his bravery and his ability as a leader
caused him to be considered a cavalry master. Thanks to the importance of his
victory, on 15th March 1806 he was given the dukedoms of Clèves and of Berg
by his brother-in-law Napoleon. In the last four months of 1806 Murat had another
opportunity to show his ability as a military leader during the Prussian campaign.
In Jena the sweeping charges of his cavalry shattered the Prussian army and
some brave stratagems in Stettino permitted the capitulation of the garrison.
Prussia, which was without an army, didn't worry Napoleon, but the nearing Russian
army forced him to start a new campaign. After the glorious entry in Warsaw
(28th November 1806) and some victorious combats, Eylau battle came (8th February
1807), where the future king of Naples led his most imposing and most celebrated
cavalry charge (at the end of the combat Napoleon declared that the battle had
been won by Joachim Murat). When the campaign of Poland was over, all of Europe
was at Napoleon's feet, but Murat still had to wait to obtain a crown. After
the Treaty of Tilsit Northern Europe was calm, but people foresaw that the Iberian
peninsula would be the centre of new combats. In 1807 Portugal was conquered
by the French troops of marshal Junot; on 27th February Joachim Murat crossed
the Spanish frontier, on 10th March he occupied Victoria and on 16th he was
in Aranda. 
On
23rd March 1808 the French army entered Madrid hoping to be considered as a
liberator, but it was attacked by the people of Madrid because it protected
the hated Godoy (one of the ministers of the Spanish sovereign Charles IV who
had taken shelter in France). On 2nd May disorders began in all of Madrid, and
only in the evening the French were again masters of the city, after several
hard and cruel fights. On 5th May 1808 the Treaty of Bajona was signed by the
French and by the Spanish; it marked the end of Murat's Spanish campaign. In
a letter dated 2nd May Napoleon offered his brother-in-law the possibility of
choosing between becoming king of Naples or king of Portugal, thus destroying
Murat's ambition to get the Spanish crown, which was given by Napoleon to his
brother Joseph Bonaparte, who didn't want it at all. On 5th May 1808 Murat accepted
to become king of Naples instead of Joseph Bonaparte and that was how, on 1st
August 1808, a groom - the son of a hotel keeper - came to be proclaimed king
with the official title "Joachim Napoleon thanks to God and to the Constitution
of the State, King of the two Sicilies and Great Admiral of the Empire". As
a good general and a fighter, as well as a sovereign, Murat first reorganised
the army on the model of the French one as regarded structure and equipment.
Several important reforms were made in legislation: "Napoleon's code" and the
"French trade code" in 1809, the "Criminal code" in 1812; furthermore, new law
courts were opened, as well as register offices.
Murat ordered a large sum to be destined to public works each year; he also
created the "Engineer corps for roads and bridges", which had the task of executing
those works. Besides, he abolished feudal privileges and favoured the growth
of a middle class of landowners and merchants. The relationship between the
Emperor and Joachim Murat was difficult; in fact, they often argued because
of Murat's enthusiasm for the independence of the Italian peninsula. Napoleon
called him to command the great reserve of the French army in the Russian campaign
and Murat gave proof of his loyalty to his brother-in-law. He reached the Great
Army in Thorn on 3rd June 1812 and had his first combat in Ostrowno, where,
at the end of the fight, the French losses were 187 men against a few thousands
of Russians. After the first combats, the Russian army withdrew and didn't accept
any other direct fight, so Napoleon wondered if he should stop and organise
his forces, waiting for winter to pass, or continue and come to a decisive fight.
After letting men and horses rest for a few days, on 8th August the French began
to advance again, but, at this stage, there were only modest fights. Finally,
on 7th September, the Great Army faced the Russian troops; once again, Murat
proved all his courage in the battle of Borodino. On the day after the battle
the Russian army withdrew, so the French took the opportunity for a day's rest.
It was Murat who entered Moscow; he had to pursue the Russian army and then
come back to the Kremlin, where the Emperor awaited him, in a city that had
been burning for three days. The French, who had been waiting for direct combats,
were forced to bear the fast charges of the Cossacks; that was how the slow
and tormented retreat of the imperial army started, which the freezing Russian
winter turned into a complete defeat. Murat was given the command of the Great
Army by Napoleon, but, finding it impossible to solve the situation, he went
to Caserta on 31st January 1813 and officially arrived in Naples on 4th February.
His return to Naples coincided with another period of difficult relationship
with his brother-in-law. Murat tried to save his throne negotiating peace with
the Austrians, but he didn't succeed because of his exorbitant requests. Even
if he risked remaining isolated, he decided to reach the Emperor in Germany
and fight again at his side after the armistice had been broken. On 26th and
2
th August 1813 he fought in Dresden and on 18th October he fought
in Leipzig, but at the end of October he left his brother-in-law, whom he would
never see again, to reach the kingdom of Naples and form an alliance with the
Austrians and the British. Murat would have liked to unite Italy under one crown,
but to make his dream come true he needed both the support of all the other
countries and that of the patriots of Italian independence. On 11th January
1814 Murat signed with the representative of Austria, general Neipperg, the
Convention of Naples which guaranteed, on his side, the availability of 30,000
men; thus, he obtained for his descendants the sovereignty on the territories
he possessed in Italy. 
The
intentions of the king of Naples weren't very clear in this period; he expected
an official recognition from Austria, but he neither lost his contacts with
Napoleon nor the possibility of making Italy a united nation. Napoleon was defeated
and Paris was conquered; though the king of Naples had confronted the French
army, he was no longer considered as an ally. Meanwhile, the Congress of Vienna
was restoring all European monarchies. The year 1815 saw Murat isolated since
he hadn't obtained the permission to pass through the Austrian territory with
his army. He learned that Napoleon had landed in Cannes after leaving his exile
in Elba Island; he foresaw Austria would be favourable to the return of the
Bourbons on the throne of Naples, so he decided to make Italy a free nation.
His project seemed both difficult and premature because he didn't have the support
of the European powers and also because the national conscience of Italian people
wasn't ready for it. Murat persisted in his idea, supported by his army, which
was composed of about 40,000 men (though not all of them experienced), and by
skilful generals like Lechi, Pepe, Caracciolo, D'Ambrosio, Pignatelli; thus,
he started the conquest of Northern Italy. On 27th March there was a first combat
with the Austrian army and on0th March 1815, for the first time in Italian history,
a document, the Proclamation of Rimini, exalted the unity of Italy and exhorted
Italians to fight in order to reach such a noble purpose.
On 3rd April Bologna was conquered, then Cento and Ferrara, but, after Murat's
army had failed to conquer Occhiobello, and after the divisions occupying Tuscany
had born heavy losses, Murat's army was forced to withdraw and on 29th April
he arrived in Ancona. He decided to accept to fight in Tolentino, since it was
the best place to divide the two Austrian armies that were pursuing him and
put as much distance between them as possible, so that they could be faced one
by one, as Napoleon's tactics commanded. Fights and desertions had reduced the
Neapolitan army to about 15,000 hungry, tired men; baron Bianchi commanded the
army on the Austrian side, which was composed of about 12,000 men. On 2nd and
on 3rd May 1815 the towns of Tolentino, Monte Milone (currently Pollenza) and
Macerata saw the fight of the two armies, which ended because of the retreat
of the Neapolitan troops. Murat's dream of an independent Italy was over.
On 18th May Murat was in Naples, but he had to leave for Cannes, which he reached
on 25th May; there he learned he no longer was king of Naples. He was informed
of the defeat of the French army in Waterloo and was forced to wander in disguise
in France; after a difficult and dangerous navigation, on 25th July he arrived
in Bastia, Corsica. Murat received false news that in Naples the situation was
favourable to a possible return of king Joachim Napoleon. In the night between
the 28th and the 29th of September, Murat left Corsica island from Ajaccio bay;
after a storm, the fleet was reduced from six sailing boats to two; on 8th October
they disembarked at Pizzo of Calabria. After a short combat on the road leading
to Monteleone, Murat and his few faithful officers were captured and locked
in Pizzo Castle. Murat was tried by a military commission and was sentenced
to death; on 13th October 1815, in Pizzo castle, one of the bravest knights
in Italian history died, shot by six bullets. But "Murattismo" continued in
Naples until 1861, when Joachim's dream became true: at last, Italy was united
and independent. Italian patriots were fascinated by Joachim Murat. When Giuseppe
Garibaldi went up the peninsula, after the Mille had landed, he paid homage
to Murat's memory in Pizzo di Calabria. He also sent the marquise Pepoli, great-granddaughter
of Joachim, one of the bullets that had killed him. "I'm sending you - he wrote
- the bullet that deprived mankind of the most valiant of the valiants, the
brave winner of the Moscowa, Murat, king of Naples".
