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164 - MURAT (JOACHIM). "IF I WAS HAPPY ENOUGH TO CONVINCE IN THIS …
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Estimate €4,000 - €5,000
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MURAT (JOACHIM). "IF I WAS HAPPY ENOUGH TO CONVINCE IN THIS CAMPAIGN THE EMPEROR OF MY ATTACHMENT, AND FRANCE THAT I WAS NEVER ANTI-FRENCH...". Letter signed "J Napoleon" with autograph apostille signed of his initials (4 lines), addressed to Jean-Jacques-Régis Cambacérès. MOLODETCHNO [currently Maladzyechna in Belarus], December 3, 1812. In all one p. in-4 on wove paper Johannot 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 VERY SATISFIED WITH THE FINE CONDUCT YOU DISPLAYED IN THE DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH YOU FOUND YOURSELF...". Allusion to the plot of general Malet: on this occasion, Cambaceres which exerted the reality of the power of regency, showed a perfect composure and made it possible to restore a situation where many lost the head. 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, the horses ran out... On 5 December 1812, Napoleon I returned to France and entrusted command to Joachim Murat, who led the retreat as far as Posen (Poznań in present-day Poland) but left himself on 17 January 1813 for his kingdom of Naples, handing over command in turn to Prince Eugène - he felt that his position in Naples had been seriously weakened by the failure of the Russian campaign. On 24 January 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 VERY RARE, as the French army's communications were severely compromised.
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About the sale The Empire at Fontainebleau - Second day
Auction location
Auction time 06/21/2026 at 10:30 AM
Pictures credits:
Michel Bury and Henri du Cray
See original version (French)
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