Life Account
He was born to Pierre Murat-Jordy (1721
- 1799) and
Jeanne Loubieres (1721 -
1806). His
father was an innkeeper.
Murat enlisted in the cavalry at the age of 20. In 1791, he joined the King's Constitutional Guard, but left it soon for the regular army. In 1792 he became an officer. He was a staunch supporter of the notorious revolutionary (Jacobin) Jean-Paul Marat, and thus, believed in a philosophy championing a strong centralized government in the form of a republic. In the war torn troubled times in the autumn of 1795 three years after the French King was set aside, royalist and counter-revolutionaries organized an armed uprising. On October 3rd, Général Napoleon Bonaparte— at the time a relative unknown lucky to be in the right place at the right time (he was stationed in Paris) was named commander of the three year old French Constitutional Convention's defending forces, and so he tasked Captain Murat to gather some artillery from a remote suburb outside the control of the governments forces.
This was a difficult task and one completed barely in time; thus all together his contribution is a historical turning point. Ruthless use of these cannon on October 4th allowed Napoleon to save the members of the National Convention, the target of the armed and organized mob. This constitutional convention, after an overlong peroid of emergency rule was finally striving to establish a more stable and permanent government in this very unstable and uncertain period after the reign of terror. This desperate effort led to Napoleon's political rise (as a Barras supporter) from a little known Brigadier (General) of Artillery as Murat managed to take the canons of the camp des Sablons and almost miraculously somehow trasport them 'in time' to the heart of Paris while avoiding the rioters and therefore ensured the success of the repression and the transition to power of the "Directory". Barras became the most powerful of the directors as a result of his control of the military, but his Iron Fisted advisor was Napoleon backed up by officers like Murat. For this success Joachim Murat was made chef de brigade (colonel) and thereafter remained one of Napoleon's best officers.
In 1796
with the situation in the capital and government apparently stabilized
and the war going poorly (See also:
French Revolutionary Wars), Napoleon lobbied to join the armies
attempting to secure the revolution against the invading monarchist
forces. So Murat went with Bonaparte to Northern Italy initially as his
aide-de-camp and later was named to command cavalry during the many
campaigns against the Austrians and their allies. These forces were
making war on France seeking to restore a Monarchy in Revolutionary
France. His valour and his daring cavalry charges later earned him the
rank of
général in these important campaigns, the battles of which became
famous as Napoleon constantly used Speed of Maneuver to fend off and
eventually defeat individually superior opposing armies closing the
French forces from several directions. So Murat's skills, in no small
part helped establish Napoleon's legendary fame as a general's general,
and his popularity with the French people. Of the three field armies
staving off the Monarchists, Napoleons worst equiped and worst supplied
forces alone managed to remain undefeated during the 1796-1798 time
frame, and when he finally mounted an offensive against the last
continental opponent Austria from the south, Austria sued for peace
leaving only Britain to contest the revolutionary ideas of the French
Republic.
In the relative peace of 1798 (France remained at war with England), Murat commanded the cavalry of the famous Egyptian expedition (invasion) again under Napoleon. The expeditions strategic goal was to threaten Britain's rich holdings in India (Most were taken from France during the Seven Years War—French and Indian Wars.) but the overall effort died a premature end for lack of logistical support with the defeat of the French Fleet due to British sea power (See: Battle of the Nile). After the sea battle, Napoleon led his troops toward France by land (via Palestine and thence Ottoman Turkey), but was recalled by the Directory (at least in part) as the Directory feared an invasion by Britain. Abbé Sieyès also saw Napoleon as an ally against a resurgent Jacobin movement, and so the expeditionary army was turned over to a subordinate.
The remaining non-military expedition, staff officers including Murat, and Napolean returned to France fleeing and somehow eluding various British Fleets in five frigates. A short while later, Murat played an important, even pivotal, role in Bonaparte's 'coup within a coup' of 18 Brumaire (9 November) 1799 when Napolean first assumed national power and along with two others (including Director Abbé Sieyès) set aside the five man directory government, establishing the three man French Consulate government.
He married Caroline Bonaparte on January 20, 1800. Thus becoming son-in-law of Letizia Ramolino and brother-in-law to Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon I of France, Lucien Bonaparte, Elisa Bonaparte, Louis Bonaparte, Pauline Bonaparte and Jérôme Bonaparte.
His brother-in-law Napoleon made him a Marshal of France on May 18, 1804. Napoleon also granted him the title of "First Horseman of Europe". He was appointed Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves on March 15, 1806 and held this title till August 1, 1808. He was named king of Naples on August 1, 1808.
Murat was equally useful in Napoleon's invasion of Russia (1812), and in the Battle of Leipzig (1813). After Leipzig, however, he reached (1814) an agreement with the Austrian Empire in order to save his own throne.
During the Hundred Days, he realized that the European powers, holding the Congress of Vienna, had the intention to remove him, to give back the Kingdom of Naples to its pre-Napoleon rulers. Murat deserted his new allies, and, issuing a proclaim to the Italian patriots in Rimini, moved north to fight against the Austrians and strengthen his rule in Italy by military means. He was defeated by Frederick Bianchi, a general of Francis I of Austria, at the Battle of Tolentino (May 2 - May 3, 1815).
He fled to Corsica after Napoleon's fall. In an attempt to regain Naples through an insurrection in Calabria, he was arrested by the forces of his rival Ferdinand IV of Naples and executed by firing squad.
- "When the fatal moment arrived, Murat walked with a firm step to the place of execution, as calm, as unmoved, as if he had been going to an ordinary review. He would not accept a chair, nor suffer his eyes to be bound. "I have braved death (said he) too often to fear it." He stood upright, proudly and undauntedly, with his countenance towards the soldiers; and when all was ready, he kissed a cornelian on which the head of his wife was engraved, and gave the word — thus, "Save my face — aim for the chest — fire!""
Children
He and Caroline were parents to four children:
- Napoleon Achille Murat (1801 - 1847). He was married to Catherine Willis in 1826.
- Laetitia Josephine Murat (1802 - 1859). She was married to Guido-Taddeo, Marquess Pepoli in 1823.
- Prince Napoleon Lucien Charles Murat (May 16, 1803 - April 10, 1878). He was an associate of his first cousin Napoleon III of France. He married Caroline Georgina Fraser in 1831.
- Louise Julie Murat (March 22, 1805 - 1889). She married Giullio, Count Rasponi.