On This Day 15 June

[Coog]

Napoleon embarked aboard the brig Épervier early in the morning of 15 July 1815 and made his way out to the 74-gun HMS Bellerophon under the command of Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland. On 14 July Maitland had been given a letter informing him that Napoleon would come out to the Bellerophon the following morning to surrender. 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 [when] 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."