Dashing French general Joachim Murat won the hand of Napoleon’s sister and crown of Naples

This handsome general quit the seminary to join the military and won fame, glory, hearts and ultimately a bullet 200 years ago today

History. An 1808 portrait of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, by Francois Gerard. Public domain image

Handsome, flamboyantly dressed, cavalry officer and one-time king of Naples Joachim Murat strode calmly yet confidently to the site of his execution, 200 years ago today. He refused a blindfold, kissed a cameo of his wife and then stood, defiantly to address his executioners.

“Soldiers! Do your duty. Aim right at the heart but spare the face,” he said. He then gave the order to fire. The soldiers, who had served under Murat when he was king, obeyed and he slumped to the ground dead.

Murat’s arrest and execution were commemorated last weekend in the Italian town of Pizzo where the events originally took place. Although installed as king by Napoleon he is still remembered fondly as a good monarch. The castle where he was held prisoner is now known as the Castello Aragonese Murat.

Murat was born the son of an innkeeper and well-to-do farmer, in Labastide-Fortuniere (now Labastide-Murat) in France in 1767. As a boy he loved riding horses, dreaming of joining the cavalry, but his parents wanted him to enter the Church.

He found life in the seminary in Toulouse didn’t suit him and he left in 1787 to join the Chasseurs des Ardennes, a cavalry unit billeted in town. Thrown out of the force in 1789 for his involvement in a mutiny he found work as a clerk. In 1792 the upheaval in France (in the wake of the Revolution in 1789) afforded him an opportunity to rejoin the army.

He volunteered for the Constitutional Guard and moved up the ranks by denouncing officers for not being patriotic enough. It earned him a commission as a captain in the 12th Chasseurs, rising to lieutenant colonel.

Denounced as a former noble in 1794 he narrowly avoided execution thanks to people from his native province testifying to his humble origins. Murat then played a key role in defeating Royalists in the 1795 uprising of 13 Vendemiaire (October 5), at which he also came to the attention of Republican general Napoleon Bonaparte.

Napoleon rewarded him by making him aide-de-camp in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns. Finally Murat was able to prove himself in full-fledged battle. In Italy in 1796 he attracted disfavour when Napoleon’s wife Josephine paid him too much attention and he was also chastened for being one of a group of officers grumbling about Napoleon’s leadership.

He redeemed himself with action in Egypt in 1798 where he received a face wound. He wrote to his father “The doctors tell me I shall not be in the least disfigured, so tell all of the young ladies that even if Murat has lost some of his good looks, they won’t find that he has lost any of his bravery in the war of love.”

In 1799 Napoleon, then Consul, offered Murat his younger sister Caroline in marriage. They were married in 1800 but the honeymoon was cut short when Lt. General Murat was called to Marengo in Italy to fight. He distinguished himself at the battle, narrowly avoiding death, his clothes riddled with bullet holes.

Napoleon named his brother-in-law governor of Paris in 1804 and after coronation as emperor raised Murat to the rank of marshal. Murat continued to impress with his cavalry skill at battles such as Eylau in 1807 where he tore through the combined numerically superior Prussian and Russian forces to blunt an attack.

Rewarded with the title of grand duke of Berg and Cleves he aspired to monarchy and in 1808 tried to seize the Spanish throne. He was thwarted by an uprising in Madrid. Napoleon quelled the revolt and awarded the Spanish crown to his brother Joseph, giving Murat Naples as consolation.

Murat ruled well in Naples, introducing the Napoleonic Code, breaking up big landed estates and unifying Italy. But as Napoleon was on the verge of defeat, in 1813 Murat signed a treaty with Austria to keep his throne.

Ousted anyway by the Congress of Vienna in 1814 he offered his services to Napoleon when the emperor escaped from exile on Elba in 1815. Napoleon refused, which perhaps lost him the battle of Waterloo.

Murat then tried to raise forces to take back his crown, hoping to appeal to Italian nationalism. But he was arrested, tried for treason and executed on October 13, 1815. Although a grave in Paris is marked with his name some believe Murat’s remains lie in Italy in Pizzo.

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Originally published as Dashing French general Joachim Murat won the hand of Napoleon’s sister and crown of Naples