Lot n° 147
Estimation :
600 - 800
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 975EUR
MURAT (JOACHIM). "THE MOMENT HAS ARRIVED WHEN I CAN IN TURN - Lot 147
MURAT (JOACHIM). "THE MOMENT HAS ARRIVED WHEN I CAN IN TURN THREATEN SICILY..."
Letter signed in two places, "Joachim Napoleon" and "JM", in the capacity of King of Naples, addressed to the Intendant of Calabria citérieure, Pierre-Joseph Briot. Naples, May 28, 1809. One p. 3/4 in-4.
Reputed to be the most difficult part of the Kingdom of Naples to control, due to its proximity to Sicily and its endemic brigandage, Calabria was divided administratively into Calabria citérie, around Cosenza, and Calabria ultérieure, around Monteleone.
" ... You can rest easy about the enemy's plans. In all likelihood, he will land at either Ste-Eufémie or Policastro [coastal towns outside the Calabria region, one further north, the other further south], if he wants to operate in the Calabria region. In the 1st case, it is obvious that the G[enér]al Patouneaux, from his position at the camp of La Melia [south of Policastro], would have great difficulty in warning the enemy, who would first seek to cut off his retreat to Catenzaro [Catanzaro, east of Policastro], and then seek to join me by the shortest routes ; and, in the other hypothesis, he would move with lightning speed on the enemy, while I would leave Naples with all my forces, and in this way we would overwhelm the enemy.
Don't worry either about the pay of the active detachments of your provincial legions: perhaps I'll let you know tomorrow what I've decided in this respect, perhaps I'll decide to pay them like the troops of the line.
General Gentile has received orders to organize the gendarmerie in your province; complete it with the same individuals who were to serve in the auxiliary gendarmerie; I formally authorize you to do so because I am convinced that you will only admit reliable people.
AS FOR THE LANDING, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE ENEMY INTENDS TO ATTEMPT IT, BUT ALL I KNOW IS THAT ALL MY MEASURES ARE BEING TAKEN TO ENSURE THAT IT IS WELL RECEIVED. My people, far from dreading this moment, should join their wishes to the least so that the enemy does not delay any longer the execution of his measures. This affair will soon be over, and this event will, I hope, ensure the tranquility of the kingdom forever.
IN THE MEANTIME, YOU CAN LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THE TIME HAS COME FOR ME TO THREATEN SICILY IN MY TURN. Continue to enlighten public opinion; declare to my good people of Calabria that I only require them, in this circumstance, to continue to remain tranquil and not to force me to one day use my weapons against them, as they are only intended against my enemies who are theirs...
P.S. Taking into consideration the assurance of repentance you have given me from the inhabitants of the commune of Figlino [?], and wishing to give them proof of clemency, I order that the fine imposed on this commune will be paid in full by those individuals only whom the court declares guilty...".
ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL ADMINISTRATORS OF THE KINGDOM OF NAPLES UNDER JOSEPH BONAPARTE AND JOACHIM MURAT, PIERRE-JOSEPH BRIOT (1771-1827) was first and foremost a leading republican figure of the revolutionary and imperial periods. A lawyer from Franche-Comté and professor of rhetoric at Besançon College, he was a Jacobin anti-terrorist: a deputy to the Convention on behalf of the people of Besançon to denounce this murderous regime, he was imprisoned, but escaped a tragic fate by the pardon of the 9th Thermidor. Faithful to his opinions, he then opposed Robespierre's victors, and was imprisoned once again. He then led a chaotic life of official posts and disgraces, before being elected to the Conseil des Cinq-Cents (of which he became secretary), where he was the spokesman for the neo-Jacobin minority, and where he already championed the cause of Italian patriots in the face of what he considered the selfish policies of the Directoire.
One of the staunchest opponents of the 18 Brumaire, Lucien Bonaparte's protection enabled him to obtain a post on the island of Elba, before leaving for Naples in May 1806: King Joseph Bonaparte made him intendant in Abruzzo, then in Calabria, where he remained at the beginning of Joachim Murat's reign. His energetic firmness during the English landing in the summer of 1809, and his efforts to maintain the prerogatives of civil authority in the face of the military, earned him a place on the Council of State. A republican at heart, he refused to accept any title or distinction, and played an important role in drafting the liberal Muratian Constitution of May 1815. He returned to France in September 1815.
A Freemason and founder of a Lodge on the island of Elba, he proved to be an essential link between the Bons Cousins Charbonniers d
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