MURAT (JOACHIM). "IF I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO CONVINC - Lot 164

Lot n° 164
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MURAT (JOACHIM). "IF I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO CONVINC - Lot 164
MURAT (JOACHIM). "IF I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO CONVINCE THE EMPEROR OF MY ATTACHMENT IN THIS CAMPAIGN, AND FRANCE THAT I HAVE NEVER BEEN ANTI-FRENCH...". Letter signed "J Napoleon" with autograph apostille signed with his initials (4 lines), addressed to Jean-Jacques-Régis Cambacérès. MOLODETCHNO [now Maladzyechna in Belarus], December 3, 1812. Altogether one p. in-4 on Johannot wove paper watermarked with the imperial eagle. "My cousin, I have just received the letter from Your Serene Highness. I am very touched by this new sign of your friendship. If I have been fortunate enough in this campaign to convince the Emperor of my attachment, and France that I was never anti-French, as my cowardly enemies would have you believe, I have nothing more to desire. You know how much I value your friendship, keep it for me, and never doubt mine... [In his own hand, Joachim Murat added:] May I also congratulate Your Most Serene Highness? THE EMPEROR SEEMED QUITE SATISFIED WITH THE FINE CONDUCT YOU DISPLAYED IN THE DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH YOU FOUND YOURSELF...". Allusion to General Malet's plot: on this occasion, Cambacérès, who exercised the real power of regency, showed perfect composure and helped restore a situation where many had lost their heads. KING MURAT IN RUSSIA. His participation in the campaign was at first essential, his cavalry charges working wonders, as at the battle of La Moskowa. However, during the retreat, horses were in short supply... On December 5, 1812, Napoleon I left for France and entrusted command to Joachim Murat, who led the retreat as far as Posen (Poznań in present-day Poland), but left himself on January 17, 1813 for his kingdom of Naples, handing over command in turn to Prince Eugène - he felt that his position in Naples was greatly weakened by the failure of the Russian campaign. On January 24, 1813, Napoleon I wrote to his sister Caroline Bonaparte, wife of Joachim Murat: "Your husband is very brave on the battlefield, but he is weaker than a woman or a monk when he does not see the enemy. He has no moral courage." LETTERS WRITTEN AT THIS PERIOD OF THE CAMPAIGN ARE RARISSIVE, as the French army's communications were severely compromised.
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