ABSTRACT
After establishing the new local administrative structure, Jean-Claude Beugnot's most pressing task as prefect was the restoration oflaw and order. In Fructidor Year IX (September 1801 ), Fourmond, Director of Mail-Coaches in Rouen, wrote: 'A system of brigandage is organised in our department and those neighbouring. The public coaches are robbed daily. ' 1 Fourmond's claims were exaggerated but his fears and frustration were nevertheless real. The problem of brigandage had been inherited from the Directory, a regime that had proven incapable of effectively stamping its authority in the department. Whilst later chapters are devoted to the Concordat, conscription and subsistence - all related to the theme of law and order - this chapter addresses the most public affront to state authority in the Rouen region during the Consulate: the problem of brigandage.
