Joachim Murat - French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

By 1790, he had joined the National Guard, and when the Fête of the Nation was organized on 14 July 1790, the Canton of Montaucon sent Murat as its representative. At that point, he managed to get himself reinstated into his old regiment. Part of the 12th Chasseurs had been sent to Montmédy to protect the royal family on its flight to Varennes, making it necessary for the regiment to defend its honor and loyalty to the Republic; Murat and the regiment's adjutant made a speech to the assembly at Toul to that effect. In 1792, he joined the Constitutional Guard, but left it that same year; his departure was attributed to various causes, including his constant quarreling and dueling, although he claimed he left to avoid punishment for being absent without leave.

An ardent Republican, Murat wrote to his brother in 1791, saying he was very preoccupied with revolutionary affairs, and would sooner die than cease to be a patriot. Upon his departure from the Constitutional Guard, he reported to the Committee of Surveillance of the Constitutional Assembly that the Guard was guilty of treason and that his Lieutenant Colonel, a man named Descours, had encouraged him to serve in the émigré army of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé, then stationed in Koblenz. This garnered for him the support of the Republicans, for he rejoined his former regiment and was promoted to Corporal in April of that year, and to Sergeant in May. By 19 November 1792, he was 25 years old and elated at his latest promotion. As a sous-lieutenant, he thought, his family must recognize that he had no great tendency for the priesthood, and he was hoping to prove that he had not been wrong in wishing to be a soldier. One of the Ministers had accused him of being an aristocrat, confusing him with the noble family of Murat d'Auvergne, an accusation that continued to haunt him for the next several years.