May 30th, 1815 · The Shattered Congress
From Lord Bodington of the Office of the Allied Naval Command, Mediterranean Station
To the attention of His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and by copy to the respective Allied Courts of the Seventh Coalition.
I shall go straight to the point. Napoleon Bonaparte has escaped his confinement upon the island of Elba, and his present whereabouts are unknown to this command.
The circumstances of his escape are as follows. Per the redeployment orders issued last week, a portion of the naval squadron assigned to Elba was withdrawn to reinforce the North Sea squadron against Sweden. This left the island's approaches up to the watch of a single frigate, which was not able to maintain a reliable cordon. Bonaparte took advantage of this reduction to escape under the cover of night.
No trace of his destination has yet been confirmed. Logically, we expect he would have made way to the nearby Italian mainland, with the goal of ultimately reaching France. Although I understand the importance of the war effort in the north, I urge the repositioning of a larger fleet in the Mediterranean to expand the search for Napoleon.