Joachim Murat

Rare card · No. 25848

Joachim Murat (English: myoo-RAH, French: [ʒɔakim myʁa]; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a Marshal of the Empire, regarded as the foremost cavalry commander of the Napoleonic Wars, who reigned as King of Naples as Joachim-Napoleon (Italian: Gioacchino Napoleone) from 1808 to 1815. A brother-in-law of Napoleon, he was also Admiral of France, the first Prince Murat, and Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808. He was known as the Dandy King and First Horseman of Europe. Born in Labastide-Fortunière in southwestern France, Murat briefly pursued a vocation in the clergy before enlisting in a cavalry regiment upon the outbreak of the French Revolution. Murat distinguished himself under the command of General Napoleon Bonaparte on 13 Vendémiaire (1795), when he seized a group of large cannons and was instrumental in suppressing the royalist insurrection in Paris. He became Napoleon's aide-de-camp and commanded the cavalry during the French campaigns in Italy and Egypt. Murat played a pivotal...

Read on Wikipedia · Image François Gérard, Public domain