AUTHOR’S NOTE
153 Words
AUTHOR’S NOTESmuggling during the Napoleonic War accelerated what was already a national business.
Gangs had, at the end of the eighteenth century, terrorised the South coast in an open war between smugglers and the Customs and Revenue men.
At the time of this story smugglers were ‘the friends’ of Napoleon Bonaparte and they were allowed to build their galleys in Calais as they were banned in England.
The Emperor himself said that there were upwards of five hundred English smugglers operating out of Dunkirk alone.
The transfer of gold in guineas to pay for the large cargoes bought in France and Holland was estimated to reach between ten thousand guineas and twelve thousand guineas a week.
Smugglers also carried war secrets and French spies across the English Channel.
The notorious smuggler, Jack Rattenburg, was eventually caught and it was found that he had agreed to transport four French Officers to England for one hundred pounds.
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