page_title: Abdication of Napoleon, 1815
section_title: Capture by the British, 10 July
hierarchical_section_title: Abdication of Napoleon, 1815 / Capture by the British, 10 July
caption_attribution_description: English: Napoleon Bonaparte on Board the 'Bellerophon' in Plymouth Sound, oil on canvas Full length portrait of Napoleon in the uniform of the Chasseurs, standing at the gangway of HMS Bellerophon, his right elbow leaning on the bulwarks. Bonaparte had surrendered to Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland of the Bellerophon and been transported to England.
context_page_description: Napoleon abdicated on 22 June 1815 in favour of his son Napoleon II. On 24 June the Provisional Government proclaimed the fact to the French nation and the world.
  After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, instead of remaining in the field with his shattered army Napoleon returned to Paris in the hope of retaining political support for his position as Emperor of the French. With his political base secured he hoped to then be able to continue the war. It was not to be; instead the members of the two chambers created a Provisional Government and demanded that Napoleon abdicate. Napoleon toyed with the idea of a coup d'état similar to Eighteenth of Brumaire but decided against it. On 25 June Napoleon left Paris for the final time and after staying at the Palace of Malmaison, left for the coast hoping to reach the United States of America. In the meantime, the Provisional Government deposed his son and tried to negotiate a conditional surrender with the Coalition powers. They failed to obtain any significant concessions from the Coalition who insisted on a military surrender and the restoration of Louis XVIII.
context_section_description: As agreed in the Convention of St. Cloud, on 3 July, the French Army, commanded by Marshal Davoust, quit Paris and proceeded on its march to the Loire. On 7 July, the two Coalition armies entered Paris. The Chamber of Peers, having received from the Provisional Government a notification of the course of events, terminated its sittings; the Chamber of Representatives protested, but in vain. Their President (Lanjuinais) resigned his Chair; and on the following day, the doors were closed, and the approaches guarded by foreign troops.
  On 8 July, the French King, Louis XVIII, made his public entry into his capital, amidst the acclamations of the people, and again occupied the throne.  It was also on 8 July  that Napoleon Bonaparte embarked, at Rochefort, on board the French frigate Saale, and proceeded, accompanied by Méduse, in which was his small entourage, to an anchorage in the Basque Roads off the Isle of Aix, with the intention of setting sail to America.
  On 10 July, the wind became favourable, but a British fleet made its appearance; and Napoleon, seeing the difficulty of eluding the vigilance of its cruisers, resolved, after having previously communicated with Captain Maitland, upon placing himself under his protection on board  HMS Bellerophon, which vessel he accordingly reached on 15 July. On the following day, Captain Maitland sailed for England; and arrived at Torbay, with his illustrious charge, on 24 July. Despite his protestations Napoleon was not permitted to land in England (the British Government having decided upon sending him to the island of Saint Helena), and he was moved to HMS Northumberland a third-rate ship of the line, under Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn, in which ship he sailed to his incarceration on the remote South Atlantic island. Napoleon remained a captive on Saint Helena until his death in 1821.
caption: Napoleon on the Bellerophon at Plymouth, by Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, 1815. Eastlake was rowed out to the Bellerophon to make sketches, from which he later painted this portrait.
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