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Murat Gioacchino

Murat was born in France in 1767 and died in Calabria in 1815. Born of poor parents he took advantage of the unique circumstances surrounding the French Revolution to rise to a historical dimension. He became General of Napoleons' strongest men and was in charge of the French Cavalry, that won toghether with the freemasonry of the Napoleonic battles. He married the Emperors' sister and being Napoleons' brother in law he was made King of Naples in 1808, at the expense of the Bourbon family. On the 16th of January 1812 Murat abandoned what was left of the French army in Russia, not revealing anything to Napoleon. An article of the 27th of January in the Moniteur Journal explains concisely: <The King of Naples, due to his indisposal, has left the army command in the Vice-Kings' hands, who is more used to governing tasks. He has the Emperors' trust> In 1814 he formed an alliance with the Austrians against the French in exchange for the Marche region and the city of Ancona. On the 26th of February 1815 Napoleon escapes from Elba island, in March Murat attacks the Austrian territories with an unexpected about-face, attacks Rimini and arrives in Modena. In Rimini he has the Proclamation of Rimini published, a political manifesto of the Italian freemasonry, unheeded because it was published too early. In consequence of the Austrian counteroffensive he retreats to Macerata on the 1st of May. In Tolentino; on the road to Foligno, an Austrian army is waiting for him, lead by Liutenant Federico Bianchi, son of an Italian father and a Viennese mother. The final battle in Gioacchinos' military career takes place on a group of hills called Cantagallo, hills with an ample ridge but with steep sides. Nowadays these hills are being coltivated with wheat and they are enriched by extremely well-groomed vineyards. At the time the hills were woodier and partly marshy, degrading from Pollenza (ex Monte Milone) to the valley of the Chienti river. According to the Austrian Military Journal of 1819 the Neapolitans had 16000 men at their disposal on the first day, of which 2000 on horse-back, the second day they were 25000, counting 35 pieces of artillery, the Austrians had about 10000-12000 men of which 1000 on horse-back, counting 28 pieces of artillery. On the 1st of May, after inspecting all the surrounding high-grounds using maps and a spyglass, Liutenant Bianchi decides to position on the Madia-Casone-Vamoccio border. On the 2nd of May the Neapolitan army occupied Monte Milone and took over the hills, never leaving the high-land nor worrying about advancing to the lower level near Tolentino: around 9000 men occupied Cantagallo, another big Murat contingent had been positioned in the S.Lucia district. The German centre was positioned on the Chienti plain, in a place called "la Rancia"; other units faced the hills on the opposite side of the Cantagallo hills, and other reserves were positioned in Berta, in the beautiful valley of the Potenza river, along the road going to S:Severino. On the 3rd of May the Neapolitans opened a violent and continuous fire at the German units, which, unlike the Neapolitans, remained idle. The Neapolitans crossed "la Rancia" several times along the Chienti river, though never reaching the place where the Germans were awaiting them; Around noon King Gioacchino orders an armed attack of Cantagallo from the S.Lucia hills. They arrange themselves in square positions and attack the opposite hill where the Austrian cavalry, already prepared with two cannons and a holitzer, awaited them. The Austrians were also arranged in a square position with two lateral columns. They waited for two hours. At last a series of artillery-blows shot at the square-shaped group provoked dispersal and escape among the first two Neapolitan squares of the D'Aquino unit, and the order of the two remaining squares to retreat in the direction of Monte Milone; the Austrian attack of the escaping soldiers and the arrival of the reserve troops from Potenza valley increased the confusion among the Neapolitans. However the S.Lucia centre and the left part of the Neapolitan lineup were still intact, but the centre Commander; Prince Pignatelli Strongoli, decided to retreat (which turned out to be the end of the battle). The retreat turned into a headlong flight. In Macerata, at nightfall, King Gioacchino escapes to Fermo dressed up as a plain colonel. The Austrians ended up with 210 dead, 457 injured, 33 missing and 120 prisoners; the Neapolitans about 2000 dead and just as many injured. Bianchi commented <if four cannons changed the battle in Fontenay, in Tolentino there were three> Murat on the other hand <if the Neapolitan troops had retreated at night instead of at four o'clock in the afternoon in the perfect Macerata position, as agreed, if the Austrian General, on the morning of the 4th, had found the exit defended by the entire imperial guard instead of the way to Fermo abandoned by General Strongoli, the probabilities of success would have been in favour of the Neapolitan army..., the soldiers abandoned their flag due to the false news that their king had died>. Technically the square formation, instead of a column formation, established by General D'Aquino, Commander of the right-wing army, turned out to be wrong. Probably the Austrian army was more motivated to battle, however, even today when I carefreely wander through Cantagallo I ask myself how it's possible that Murat lost! The capitulation was signed on the 20th of May by General Carascosa, valued by Metternich, Commander in Chief of the Neapolitans, and General Colletta, head of Engineers, and by Bianchi, representing the Austrians, in the home of Lanza family, near Capua. The Bourbons returned kingly from Sicily to Naples, the Austrians left an army of 18000 men in order to guarantee political order. In this respect I quote a telegram from Colletta to the former Queen Carolina <To Her Majesty the Queen of "Due Sicilie-Napoli" 22nd of May 1815. Your Majesty, I am like a man struck by lightning! Yesterday I leave Your Majesty overwhelmed with kindness, at Your service I accept a painful commission, and I suffer all its hardness, I take part in a treaty that does not worsen our state, nor harm our rights, nor acknowledge others, that makes our capital and our state peaceful, that leaves pleasant memories of the King and Your Majesty, and that, in exchange for many goods, grants convention of what was the enemy army. Then I return to Naples and I find myself in disgrace. I don't believe it, I go to Your ship, and a harsh officer leads me away. I want to return and two highly-rated people advice me not to present myself before You. I ask of one of them to tell You how hurt and surprised I am, and after he had spoken with You he answers me advicing me not to appear before You. Therefore I have been given the orders to deter and I respect even injustice. Equally injust is my fate. I adviced against the war before it started, but after it started, I supported it well, For a long time I considered the Governments' purpose as lost, and I wanted to lose myself along with it: I accepted even the most unpleasant of commissions, I have lost Your Majestys' trust, I will abandon my country and my family, living unknown and sad amongst the Swiss mountains.....>. Carolina went into exile in Austria, already having some connections within the Austrian government, some of these also of a sentimental kind, the Murattian bureaucracy turned Bourbon; Murat was now alone, ignored in the Casalanza treaty, unpopular with Napoleon, rejected by the English and by the Austrians, at last he found shelter in Corsica. Indomitable he plans to go ashore in Calabria to reconquer his kingdom and win back his respect; he hires some ships and sets sail towards Calabria, officially claiming to go visit his consort in Trieste. The Captain heads for Pizzi to get hold of some food supplies, and here Murat goes ashore followed by 20 men; It's the 8th of October, public national holiday. The reception was icy; the magistrate, the people, shut themselves up inside their houses, he continues in the direction of Monteleone, where he is confronted by Cosenzas' gendarmerie Captain named Trentacapilli, an elderly man with white hair, and there is a verbal disagreement with other officials and local authorities, some gunshots from up the road, Murat escapes followed by his men towards the harbour, the further he went, the more people followed him. On the beach a fisherman stops him while an old boatowner named Pasquale Greco calms the furious crowd. Probably the poor Murat was hit in the face by a woman, and ultimately, with great effort, taken away and shut up, toghether with his own men, in the castle of Pizzo. Trentacapilli reported <When I had been informed about the matter, I joined the crowd and toghether we stopped Murat; I asked to see his documents... Murat gave them to me saying there was a passport of the allies which allowed him to march. I made 22 packages, and afterwards they handed me a "ciappa" (clip) decorated with large brilliants chained toghether, 3 swords and 2 pistols. On the very same day I sent for General Cancellieri to show the objects to Her Majesty.> On the contrary Murat claimed that the passport and the other objects were taken from him in prison. The miserable King was summarily prosecuted and shot. On the 22nd of October the Patriotic Palermitan Journal describes the event as follows <After he had asked why the execution was delayed and learned that the reason was the preparation of a chair and a blindfold, he refused the preparation of both, claiming he was a French soldier and that he knew how to die as one.. He asked for permission to give order to open fire, and after he turned towards the General and the officials present, positioning his right hand, holding a signet on which his wifes' portrait was engraved, close to his heart, he highered his left hand advicing them not to miss. He recieved six bullets> Whether this description is true or not, there are other reports describing his courage facing the riflemen. The gentleman warrior was buried in a mass grave in S. Giorgio church. The city of Pizzo was rewarded by the Bourbon Sovereign. His last letter, before he was shot, says <l'heure fatale va sonner,dans quelques heures tu n’auras plus d’epoux,et mes enfans n’auront plus de pere.Souvenez vous de moi,ne maudissez pa ma memoire,Je meurs innocent...Adieu ma Caroline,adieu mes enfans....adieu,adieu,n’oubliez jamais votre malheureux Pere.>