British army in the Eureka Rebellion
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There were two British army regiments in the colony of Victoria during the 1851-1854 Eureka Rebellion. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade that took place on 3 December 1854 at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
12th Regiment
[edit]
The 12th Regiment traces its lineage back to the Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot in 1685. In 1686, it became the Earl of Lichfield's Regiment of Foot. There was a reorganisation in 1751 following the War of the Austrian Succession, where it became the 12th Foot. The regiment took part in the Battle of Minden, where an allied army of British, Hanoverian, Hessian, and Prussians under Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated the French commander Marshal Contades. This engagement took place in what became known as the "year of victories" and is commemorated in the regiment's battle honour. The regimental arms commemorate the defence of Gibraltar in 1779–1783. In 1782, it became the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment. During the British conquest of Mysore in southern India, they were in action at the Battle of Seringapatam. Shortly before the Eureka Rebellion, the regiment was deployed to South Africa in the Kaffir War of 1851–1852. Other units within the regiment had served in Ireland.[1]
During the Eureka Rebellion, there was a skirmish involving the 12th Regiment and a mob of rebellious miners. Foot police reinforcements had already reached the Ballarat government outpost on 19 October 1854. A further detachment of the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot arrived a few days behind. On 28 November, the 12th Regiment arrived to reinforce the local government camp. As they moved near where the rebels ultimately made their last stand, there was a clash, where a drummer boy, John Egan and several other members of the convoy were attacked by a mob looking to loot the wagons.[2]
Tradition variously had it that Egan either was killed there and then or was the first casualty of the fighting on the day of the battle. However, his grave in Old Ballarat Cemetery was removed in 2001 after research carried out by Dorothy Wickham showed that Egan had survived and died in Sydney in 1860.[3]
After the tour in Australia, the 12th Regiment was sent to New Zealand during the Second Maori War. In 1881, it became known as The Suffolk Regiment. There were postings throughout the British Empire, including in the First World War on the Western Front, Macedonia, Gallipoli, and in Palestine. In the Second World War, the regiment took part in the 1940 Battle for France and served in Malaya and Singapore from 1941 to 1942. It was in action during the Battle of Imphal during the Burma campaign. The regiment was amalgamated with The Royal Norfolk Regiment to form The East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) in 1959. In 1964, it became the 1st (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, and then four years later the 1st Battalion. Records related to the 12th regiment during the Eureka Rebellion are held at the Suffolk Record Office.[1]
40th Regiment
[edit]
The 40th Regiment traces its lineage back to 1717 when it was the Phillip's Regiment of Foot. It became the 40th Foot in 1782, and then in 1751, it was renamed the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Foot. Its first battle honour was the capture along with other units of Montevideo, now the capital of Uraguay. During the war in Peninsular War, the regiment saw action at Roleia, Vimera, Talavera, Badajoz, Salamanca, and Vittoria. During the invasion of Napoleonic France, further honours were won at the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes, and Toulouse. Later, the regiment saw action at the Battle of Waterloo. During the First Afghan War, the regiment was at Candahar, Ghuznee, and Cabool in 1842, and then at Maharajapore, India.[4]
The 40th Regiment arrived in Victoria from England in October 1852 at the request of Lieutenant Governor Charles LaTrobe.[citation needed]
After the Eureka Rebellion, some members of the 40th Regiment were posted to New Zealand. In 1881, it was amalgamated with the 82nd (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) to form The South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers). During the First World War, the regiment saw action on the Western Front and in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia before being posted to Afghanistan in 1919. It took part in the Battle of France in 1940 during the Second World War. The regiment was then sent to the Far East for the Burma campaign and participated in the Normandy D-Day landings in 1944. In 1958, it combined with The East Lancashire Regiment to form The Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers). It amalgamated with The Loyal Regiment to become The Queen's Lancashire Regiment in 1970.[4]
The colour sergeant for the 40th Regiment at the time of the battle was John Macoboy.[5]
List of notable British army commanders in the Eureka Rebellion
[edit]Captain John Thomas led the attack on the Eureka Stockade, with Captain Charles Pasley as his second in command. The government forces at the Ballarat camp were under the immediate command of resident gold commissioner Robert Rede. Overall command was exercised by the executive lieutenant governor Charles Hotham and the high commander of the British colonial forces in Australia, Major General Sir Robert Nickle.
Lieutenant governor
[edit]| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Charles Hotham | Hotham served as lieutenant governor and, later, governor of Victoria, Australia, from 22 June 1854 to 31 December 1855.[6] | He feared that the "network of rabbit burrows" on the goldfields would prove readily defensible as his forces "on the rough pot-holed ground would be unable to advance in regular formation and would be picked off easily by snipers," which led to the decision to move into position in the early morning for a surprise attack on the Eureka Stockade.[7] |
Supreme commander of military forces in Australia
[edit]| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Nickle | Nickle was a major general and the commander-in-chief of the colonial forces of Australia at the time of the attack on the Eureka Stockade. Nickle had previously seen action during the 1798 Irish rebellion.[8] | He had dispatched additional soldiers to Ballarat in the lead-up to the armed uprising. Nickle sent out from Melbourne with a force of 800 men, which included "two field pieces and two howitzers" that arrived after the rebels had made their last stand.[9][10][8] |
Resident commissioner
[edit]| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Robert William Rede | Rede was appointed to the Victorian Goldfields Commission in October 1852. From June 1854 to January 1855, he was posted to Ballarat and had responsibility for the government camp during the Battle of the Eureka Stockade.[11] | Following the armed uprising, Rede was recalled from Ballarat and kept on full pay until 1855. Rede served as the sheriff at Geelong (1857), Ballarat (1868), and Melbourne (1877) and was the Commandant of the Volunteer Rifles, being the second-in-command at Port Phillip. In 1880, he was sheriff at the trial of Ned Kelly and an official witness to his execution.[12] |
Lieutenant colonels
[edit]40th Regiment
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas James Valiant | Valiant was at the Eureka Stockade as lieutenant colonel of the 40th regiment.[13] | Technically, the highest-ranking officer of the colonial forces in the battle.[14] |
Majors
[edit]40th Regiment
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Martin Bladin Neil | Neil was a major in the 40th regiment at the Eureka Stockade.[15] | — |
Captains
[edit]40th regiment
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
John Wellesley Thomas | Thomas was a captain with the 40th regiment and commanded the colonial forces at the Eureka Stockade. He was a top adviser to Robert Rede. Thomas received his commission in 1839 and had seen action in Afghanistan and China. In 1862, he was promoted to colonel and in 1877, he became a major general. Thomas was an honorary lieutenant general when he retired in 1881. In 1882, he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Hampshire Regiment, and in 1904 was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.[16] | Thomas was wounded in the battle but did not withdraw and relinquish command to Inspector Carter until after the stockade had fallen. He ordered Carter to burn down the stockade while he escorted the detainees to Melbourne. Later described the battle as "a trifling affair". The Maharajpoor Star, which he was awarded in 1843 and may have worn on the day, is held by the Ballarat Gold Museum, and his British Pattern 1845 infantry sword is at the Australian War Memorial.[17] |
| Henry Wise | Wise was a captain with the 40th regiment at the Eureka Stockade. He became a captain in the British army and arrived in Victoria with the 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot in 1852.[18] | The highest ranking member of the colonial forces killed as a result of the battle, Wise was the son of Henry Christopher Wise, an English Conservative politician, and his first wife, Harriett Skipwith.[18] |
Assistant engineer
[edit]| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Pasley | Captain Charles Pasley was the colonial engineer and offered his services to Hotham as the rebellion was heading for an armed uprising. He served as aide-de-camp to Captain John Thomas, arriving in Ballarat on 28 November 1854. Pasley commanded the centre during the government assault on the Eureka Stockade.[19] | Eyewitness accounts of the battle tell how women ran forward and threw themselves over the injured to prevent indiscriminate killing. As second in command, Captain Pasley gave the order to withdraw and threatened to shoot anyone involved in murdering prisoners.[19] |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Clark 1987, p. 73.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 174–175.
- ^ a b Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. 75.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. 79.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 275–278.
- ^ Three Despatches From Sir Charles Hotham 1978, p. 2.
- ^ a b Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 397–398.
- ^ Three Despatches From Sir Charles Hotham 1978, p. 7.
- ^ Blake 1979, p. 93.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 422–423.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. 443.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. 519.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 77–79.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 389–390.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 503–504.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. 503-504.
- ^ a b Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 548–549.
- ^ a b Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 420–421.
Bibliography
[edit]- Blake, Les (1979). Peter Lalor: the man from Eureka. Belmont: Neptune Press. ISBN 978-0-90-913140-1.
- Clark, Manning (1987). A History of Australia. Vol. IV: The Earth Abideth Forever 1851-1888. Carlton: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 9780522841473.
- Corfield, Justin; Wickham, Dorothy; Gervasoni, Clare (2004). The Eureka Encyclopedia. Ballarat: Ballarat Heritage Services. ISBN 978-1-87-647861-2.
- Hotham, Charles (1978). Three Despatches From Sir Charles Hotham. Melbourne: Public Record Office. ISBN 978-0-72-411706-2.