The Man Accepted as Napoleon: Identity Verification on HMS Bellerophon, 15 July 1815

This source-critical working paper examines who verified the identity of the man received on HMS Bellerophon on 15 July 1815 and accepted by the British as Napoleon Bonaparte. It argues that, in the published primary and near-contemporary sources examined here, no separate British procedure of independent identity verification has been found. Instead, the available chain of sources suggests a mechanism of social authentication: the French entourage, especially Bertrand and Las Cases, presented to Captain Frederick Maitland an already framed Napoleonic figure through title, retinue, letters, negotiations, uniform, ceremony, and political context. The paper does not claim to prove substitution. Its central finding is more limited: the British reception of Napoleon on Bellerophon appears in the available sources as an act of acceptance through French authentication rather than as a documented independent identification procedure. The paper also discusses General Beker’s break in the chain of custody, the interval between Épervier and Bellerophon, the existence of parallel escape infrastructure, and the later production of the Saint Helena legend through Las Cases and related memoir traditions.