Napoleon's Surrender
Napoleon was being pressured to leave French soil by the interim French government in Paris. If he delayed, he risked becoming a prisoner of the Bourbons, or the Prussians or Austrians. The alternative was to surrender to the British and request political asylum. On 10 July Napoleon sent two emissaries, General Anne Jean Marie René Savary and the Comte de Las Cases, out to Bellerophon to meet Maitland and discuss the possibility of allowing Napoleon to travel to the United States. Maitland was under orders to prevent this, and instead offered to take Napoleon on board his ship and transport him and his retinue to Britain. Further discussions and negotiations took place over the next few days, but with his options running out, Napoleon had decided by 13 July to surrender to the British. On 14 July Maitland was given a letter informing him that Napoleon would come out to the Bellerophon the following morning to surrender.
Napoleon embarked aboard the brig Épervier early in the morning of 15 July, and made his way out to the Bellerophon. As he approached, the 74-gun Superb, flying Vice-Admiral Hotham's flag, was sighted approaching. Concerned that the brig might not reach Bellerophon before the Superb arrived, and that consequently Hotham would take over and receive Napoleon himself, Maitland sent Bellerophon's barge to collect the former Emperor and transfer him to the ship. At some point between 6 and 7 am, the barge pulled alongside Bellerophon and General Henri Gatien Bertrand climbed aboard, followed by Napoleon. The marines came to attention, and Napoleon walked to the quarterdeck, took his hat off to Maitland and in French announced "I am come to throw myself on the protection of your Prince and your laws." Maitland bowed in response. With the former emperor in custody aboard a British warship, the Napoleonic Wars were finally over. To maritime historian David Cordingly, this moment was Bellerophon's "crowning glory six weeks after the battle of Waterloo, ... Napoleon, trapped in Rochefort, surrendered to the captain of the ship that had dogged his steps for more than twenty years."
Read more about this topic: HMS Bellerophon (1786)
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