[4][5] Born in Labastide-Fortunière in southwestern France, Murat briefly pursued a vocation in the clergy before enlisting in a cavalry regiment on 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 took part in various battles including those of Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena and Eylau, where he led a famous massed cavalry charge against the Russians.

He continued to serve Napoleon during his Russian and German campaigns but abandoned the Grande Armée after the Battle of Leipzig to save his throne.

Murat was born on 25 March 1767 in La Bastide-Fortunière[6] (later renamed Labastide-Murat after him), in Guyenne (the present-day French department of Lot).

Because part of the 12th Chasseurs had been sent to Montmédy to protect the royal family on its flight to Varennes, the regiment had to defend its honour and loyalty to the Republic.

[8] An ardent Republican, Murat wrote to his brother in 1791 stating he was preoccupied with revolutionary affairs and would sooner die than cease to be a patriot.

On 3 October, General Napoleon Bonaparte, who was stationed in Paris, was named commander of the French National Convention's defending forces.

[13] In 1796, Joachim Murat went with Bonaparte to northern Italy, initially as his aide-de-camp,[14] and was later named commander of the cavalry during the many campaigns against the Austrians and their allies.

[16] In 1799, some remaining staff officers, including Murat, and Bonaparte returned to France, eluding various British fleets in five frigates.

Murat was in charge of the French Army in Madrid when the popular Dos de Mayo Uprising, that started the Peninsular War, broke out.

[17] Murat proved to be equally useful in the Russian campaign of 1812, where he distinguished himself as the best cavalry commander of the Grande Armée at battles such as Smolensk and Borodino.

The long marches and the lack of rest meant that the horses suffered from hunger, bad fodder, saddle sores and exhaustion, but these factors were aggravated by Murat himself.

Following Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, Murat reached a secret agreement with the Allies in order to save his own throne and switched sides to the Coalition.

[23] At the Congress of Vienna, Klemens von Metternich, Austria's Foreign Minister, was bound by other coalition allies that wanted to restore Ferdinand IV of the House of Bourbon to the Neapolitan throne,[24] particularly Britain.

[26] Hearing of Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815,[29] Murat fled to Corsica,[25][27][29] from which he attempted an impossible invasion of Calabria.