Louis Napoléon Achille Charles Murat

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix = Prince

| name = Napoléon Murat

| birth_name = Louis Napoléon Achille Charles Murat

| image = Le Prince Napoléon Murat, sur 'Bayard' (JO 1900).jpg

| caption =

| nationality = French

| birth_date = {{birth date|1872|08|25|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Brunoy, France

| death_date = {{death date and age|1943|06|14|1872|08|25|df=yes}}

| death_place = Nice, France

| spouse =

| father = Achille Murat

| mother = Salome Dadiani

| relatives =

| awards =

| allegiance = France; Russia; Bulgaria

| branch = French Army; Imperial Russian Army

| rank = Lieutenant (France); Major general (Russia)

| unit =

| battles = Second Madagascar expedition
Russo-Japanese War
First Balkan War
World War I

| mawards = Legion d'Honneur; Order of St. Vladimir; Order of St. Anna; Order of St. Stanislaus; Cross of St. George

| module = {{infobox sportsperson

| embed = yes

| country = France

| sport = Equestrian

| medaltemplates =

| show-medals = yes

}}

Prince Louis Napoléon Achille Charles Murat (25 August 1872 – 14 June 1943), also known as Napoléon Akhilovich Murat (in Russian: Наполеон Ахилович Мюрат), was a French-Georgian military officer. A member of the House of Murat and direct descendant of Caroline Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon, he was first commissioned in the French Army but spent most of his military career in the Imperial Russian Army, rising to the rank of major general.

Personal life

Murat was born on 25 August 1872 in Brunoy, France, the second child of Charles Louis Napoléon Achille Murat of the House of Murat, and Salome Dadiani, Georgian princess of Mingrelia and member of the House of Dadiani. He was a great-grandson of Joachim Murat, King of Naples and 1st Prince Murat, and grandnephew of Napoleon.{{cite book |last1=Melville |first1=Henry |title=The Titled Nobility of Europe; An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who," of the Sovereigns, Princes, and Nobles of Europe |date=1914 |publisher=Burke's Peerage |isbn=9780850110289 |page=1062 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVE4AQAAMAAJ |access-date=20 February 2022 |via=Google Books}}{{cite book |last1=Valynseele |first1=Joseph |title=Les maréchaux du Premier empire: leur famille et leur descendance |date=1957 |pages=35–51 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k33447269/f59.item |access-date=18 February 2022 |language=French |via=Gallica}} He moved to his mother's native Georgia around 1904. Having returned to France in the early 1920s following Georgia's annexation by the Soviet Union and installation of a Bolshevik regime in the country, he lived in Nice and worked as a translator. He died on 14 June 1943. He never married.

Military career

Murat began his military career in the French Army in 1891, and attended the Saumur Cavalry School.{{cite news |title=Varieties |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003221/19040512/027/0004 |access-date=21 February 2022 |work=Civil & Military Gazette |date=12 May 1904 |location=Lahore |pages=4–5 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}} He served with the 25th Dragoon Regiment during the French conquest of Madagascar, where it was mistakenly reported that he had died from malaria.{{cite news |title=Nécrologie |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k529330x/f2.item |access-date=21 February 2022 |work=Le Gaulois |date=8 December 1895 |page=2 |language=French |via=Gallica}} He became a lieutenant in 1899 when he was with the 14th Hussars Regiment,{{cite book |title=Almanach de Gotha; Annuaire généalogique, diplomatique et statistique |date=1900 |publisher=J. Perthes |page=403 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPub-NrEReEC |access-date=20 February 2022 |language=French}} and later joined the 9th Cuirassier Regiment. Laws passed in France in the early 1900s meant that, as a member of a former ruling house, his opportunities for progression within the French Army became limited and he resigned his commission.{{cite news |author1=Marquise de Fontenoy |title=Letter of Marquise de Fontenoy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/350251825 |access-date=21 February 2022 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=20 May 1904 |location=Chicago, Illinois |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}

Murat left France and joined the Imperial Russian Army, where he was commissioned as lieutenant with the 2nd Dagestan Cavalry Regiment. He saw action in the Russo-Japanese War, during which time he was shot in the head and neck;{{cite news |title=Late gossip of foreign capitals |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/16111609 |access-date=21 February 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=20 May 1904 |location=Washington, District of Columbia |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}} he was decorated for his bravery. Following the war, he served as captain and later lieutenant colonel in the Life Guard Horse Regiment before becoming a colonel instructor at the {{ill|Nicholas Cavalry College|ru|Николаевское кавалерийское училище}} in St Petersburg.{{cite web |url=https://ik-ptz.ru/lv/matematika/tuzemnaya-konnaya-diviziya-dikaya-diviziya.html |title=Pamatiedzīvotāju jātnieku divīzija. savvaļas dalījums |trans-title=Native Cavalry Division; Wild Division |website=Ik-PTZ |access-date=20 February 2022 |language=Russian}} During this time he gained a reputation as a duelist.{{cite web |title=Двойная дуэль принца Мюрата |trans-title=Double duel of Prince Murat |url=http://smena.ru/news/2006/10/09/8855/ |website=Smena |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306221922/http://smena.ru/news/2006/10/09/8855/ |archive-date=6 March 2016 |language=Russian |via=Wayback Machine}}

In 1912, Murat resigned from the Russian Army to command a force of volunteers and mercenaries under the flag of Bulgaria during the First Balkan War.{{cite news |title=Prince Napoleon Murat... |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/760276089 |access-date=21 February 2022 |work=Evening Standard and St. James Gazette |date=26 October 1912 |location=London, England |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}{{cite news |title=Prince Napoleon in war against Turks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/28950432 |access-date=21 February 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=6 November 1912 |location=Washington, District of Columbia |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}} After spending time in Argentina, where he bred horses for an oil tycoon, he rejoined the Imperial Russian Army at the outbreak of World War I, commanding the Ingush Regiment of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division, also known as the Savage or Wild Division. Fighting in the Carpathians, he suffered severe frostbite to his legs, that ultimately resulted in double amputation some years later. He also commanded the 12th Dragoon Regiment Starodubovskogo and served in the Ministry of War.{{cite book |title=L'intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux |date=1919 |publisher=Benj. Duprat, Libraire de l'Institut |pages=307–308 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9KbNAAAAMAAJ |access-date=21 February 2022 |language=French |via=Google Books}} He rose to the rank of major general.{{cite book |first=Наталия |last=Чернышова-Мельник |title=Последний император. Жизнь и любовь Михаила Романова |date=2019 |publisher=Алетейя |page= |isbn=9785041745806 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LyubDwAAQBAJ |access-date=22 February 2022 |language=Russian |via=Google Books}}{{cite book |first=Федор |last=Палицын |authorlink=Fyodor Palitzin |title=Записки. Том II. Франция (1916–1921) |date=2021 |publisher=Издательство им. Сабашниковых |page=175 |isbn=9785457690936 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WPgVEAAAQBAJ |access-date=22 February 2022 |language=Russian |via=Google Books}} During the Russian Civil War he fought with the White Armies.{{cite magazine |magazine=Le Souvenir napoléonien {{!}} Bulletin de liaison |publisher=Société française d`histoire napoléonienne |issue=17 |last1=Ardisson |first1=Francis |title=Les aventures du Prince Louis Napoléon Achille Murat chez les cosaques {{!}} Combattant français en Russie |url=https://bibliotheque-martial-lapeyre.napoleon.org/default/digitalCollection/DigitalCollectionAttachmentDownloadHandler.ashx?parentDocumentId=79139&documentId=79143&skipWatermark=true&skipCopyright=true |access-date=6 February 2024 |pages=22–24 |language=French |date=December 2019}}

Among his many honours, he was awarded the Cross of St. George and was appointed to the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class with swords, the Order of St. Anna, and the Order of St. Stanislaus.{{cite web |url=http://www.nplg.gov.ge/dadiani/en/salome.html |title=Salome Dadiani and Her Descendants |website=National Parliamentary Library of Georgia |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=20 February 2022}} In 1928, he was appointed a chevalier of Legion d'Honneur.{{cite web |url=https://www.napoleon.org/histoire-des-2-empires/articles/des-napoleoniens-dans-la-grande-guerre/ |title=Des Napoléons dans la grande guerre |website=Fondation Napoléon |access-date=20 February 2022 |language=French}}{{cite web |title=Murat, Louis Napoléon Achille Charles |url=https://www.leonore.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr/ui/notice/274752 |website=Base Léonore |publisher=Archives Nationales |location=France |language=French |access-date=21 February 2022}}

Equestrian

In May and June 1900, Murat competed in four equestrian events during the International Horse Show in Paris. The events were part of the Exposition Universelle, and later classified as part of the 1900 Summer Olympics. He won first prize in the hacks and hunter combined event with his horse, The General. He also competed in the obstacle jumping, long jump and high jump events. He finished fourth in the long jump on Bayard, and was part of a jump off for third place in the high jump on Arcadius.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/12468 |title=Louis Napoléon Murat |work=Olympedia |accessdate=25 December 2020}}