Murat - Alexandre Dumas

"Murat" is one of Celebrated Crimes (1839) by the celebrated Alexandre Dumas, a collection of short stories depicting violent episodes from history.

Joachim Murat (1767-1815) was a military commander and statesman serving under his brother-in-law, Napoleon Boneparte. He bore many titles in his lifetime--including Marshal, Grand Admiral, and Grand Duke of Berg--and his daring cavalry charges earned him the nickname "The First Horseman of Europe." But his handsome looks, ostentatious style, and flamboyant uniforms--for which Napoleon compared him to a famous circus rider--also earned him the nickname "The Dandy King."

In the name of the French Revolution, Napoleon had invaded Italy, displacing its feudal order, and establishing new codes of law, with Murat installed as King of Naples. But when Napoleon surrendered at Waterloo on 18 June 1815, Murat desperately tried to cling to power by attempting a futile invasion of Calabria. He was easily captured and sentenced to death by firing squad. As he stood for his executioners, he (in true "Dandy King" fashion) reportedly kissed a portrait of his wife and exclaimed: "Soldiers, do your duty! Aim for the heart but spare the face!"

With Napoleon's defeat, the Austrian Empire largely regained control of Italy. But the French Revolution, with its ideals of national self-determination, continued to inspire political upheavals that eventually manifested in revolution. Alexandre Dumas played his own part in this revolution, joining its foremost military leader, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and publishing a biography that helped to immortalize his reputation.

Murat:

• Kindle
• Gutenberg
• Fullbooks
• Librivox 1hr 33m

Extracts:

• "... mad Hotspur and plumed Murat at its head; pouring right forward in a continuous frothy cascade, which curled over, and fell upon the glassy sea before it." (Mardi, 1.36)
• "If in some cases a bit of a nautical Murat in setting forth his person ashore, the Handsome Sailor of the period in question evinced nothing of the dandified Billy-be-Dam..." (Billy Budd, 1)
• "... a high-spirited young gentleman, who always hunted his buffalo, somewhat like Murat charging at the head of cavalry - in wild and ornate attire." ("Mr. Parkman's Tour")
• "And still in the distracted distance we beheld the tumults of the outer concentric circles, and saw successive pods of whales, eight or ten in each, swiftly going round and round, like multiplied spans of horses in a ring; and so closely shoulder to shoulder, that a Titanic circus-rider might easily have overarched the middle ones, and so have gone round on their backs." (Moby-Dick, 87)
• "... there should be two ceaseless steeds for a bold man to ride,—the Land and the Sea; and like circus-men we should never dismount, but only be steadied and rested by leaping from one to the other" (Pierre, 26.1)

This meetup is part of the series Fig Leaves and Fancy Pants.