List of military leaders in the Eureka Rebellion
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Several military commanders played a role in the culmination of the 1851-1854 Eureka Rebellion on the Victorian goldfields. The following is a list of the key leaders among the British colonial forces of Australia and the Eureka Stockade rebel garrison. This article is currently being expanded and revised.
Government camp[edit]
The military and police formations that took part in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade were under the command of Captain John Thomas. The government forces were under the overall command of Lieutenant Governor Charles Hotham and Ballarat's resident gold commissioner, Robert Rede.
The strength of the various units in the government camp was: 40th regiment (infantry): 87 men; 40th regiment (mounted): 30 men; 12th regiment (infantry): 65 men; mounted police: 70 men; and the foot police: 24 men.[1]
Lieutenant Governor[edit]
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Charles Hotham | Captain Sir Charles Hotham KCB served as lieutenant governor and, later, governor of Victoria, Australia, from 22 June 1854 to 31 December 1855.[2] | Hotham 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.[3] |
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.[4] | 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.[5] |
Captains[edit]
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| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
John Wellesley Thomas | Captain John Wellesley Thomas was in command of the government forces at the Battle of the Eureka Stockade. He was captain of the 40th regiment and a top adviser to Robert Rede.[6] Thomas received his commission in 1839 and also saw active service 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. | |
| Henry Wise | Captain Henry Christopher Wise was the highest-ranking British soldier who died in the Eureka Rebellion. He became a captain in the British army and arrived in Victoria with the 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot in 1852. | Wise was the son of Henry Christopher Wise, an English Conservative politician, and his first wife, Harriett Skipwith. | |
| Arthur Atkinson | Captain Arthur Atkinson served with the 12th Regiment and was posted to the government camp during the battle in case the rebels attacked.[7] | ||
| William Henry Queade | Captain William Henry Queade served with the 12th Regiment at the battle. | ||
| Thomas LK Nelson | Captain Thomas LK Nelson served with the 40th Regiment at the battle. He joined the British army in 1831 as an ensign and was raised to lieutenant in 1836. Nelson saw active service in the first Afghan war and was made adjutant of the regiment in 1842. In 1846 he was promoted to captain and in 1856 became a major. |
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.[8] | 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. |
Lieutenant Colonels[edit]
40th Regiment
- Thomas James Valiant
Majors[edit]
40th Regiment
- John Martin Bladin Neil
Lieutenants[edit]
12th Regiment
- John Hall
- George Richard Littlehailes
- William Henry Paul (no 1209)
40th Regiment
- George Owen Bowdler
- John Edward Broadhurst
- Thomas McPherson Bruce-Gardyne
- Charles Henry Hall
- Bailey Richards
Ensigns[edit]
40th Regiment
- Arthur Marquand Champion Mollers
Rebel camp[edit]
Commander in chief[edit]
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
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|
Peter Lalor | Lalor mounted the stump armed with a rifle and declared "Liberty" at the 30 November 1854 meeting on Bakery Hill. He called for the formation of paramilitary companies and presided over the Eureka Flag raising and oath-swearing ceremonies. Lalor was wounded in action at the Battle of the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854.[9] | At his first public appearance, Lalor acted as secretary for the 17 November 1854 meeting that led to the burning of Bentley's Hotel and moved in favour of establishing a central rebel executive.[10] Raffaello Carboni recalls a meeting in Diamond's store where he was elected as "president" and "commander in chief" of the rebel camp.[11] Lalor was hidden and secreted out of the fallen stockade by supporters. He remained on the run until a general amnesty was granted in May 1855. Lalor became a member of parliament and later served as a minister of the crown and Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. |
Captains[edit]
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2024) |
| Name | Period of service in the rank, promotions and previous military experience. Termination of service | Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Henry Ross | Ross was one of the seven rebel captains of the rebel garrison. He was present at the oath-swearing and Eureka flag-raising ceremony at Bakery Hill on 30 November 1854. Ross acted as the Eureka Flag bearer at the head of about 1,000 rebels who marched in double file from Bakery Hill to the Eureka lead, where the stockade was situated.[12][13] He received a groin injury during the battle while in the vicinity of the flag pole and died later that day after being taken to the Star Hotel.[14] | There is a popular tradition where the flag design is credited to Ballarat Reform League member Henry Ross who was originally from Toronto, Canada. A. W. Crowe recounted in 1893 that "it was Ross who gave the order for the insurgents' flag at Darton and Walker's".[15] Crowe's story is confirmed in that there were advertisements in the Ballarat Times dating from October–November 1854 for Darton and Walker, manufacturers of tents, tarpaulin and flags, situated at the Gravel Pits.[16] |
References[edit]
- ^ Withers 1999, p. 111.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 275–278.
- ^ Three Despatches From Sir Charles Hotham 1978, p. 2.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 422–423.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. 443.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 503–504.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. 22.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, pp. 420–421.
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 5: 1851-1890, K-Q 1974, p. 51.
- ^ Carboni 1855, p. 51.
- ^ Carboni 1855, pp. 60–64.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. xiii, 196.
- ^ Carboni 1855, p. 59.
- ^ Corfield, Wickham & Gervasoni 2004, p. 452.
- ^ "Untitled". Ballarat Star. Ballarat. 4 December 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via Trove.
- ^ Beggs-Sunter 2004, p. 48.
Bibliography[edit]
- Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 5: 1851-1890, K-Q. Carlton: Melbourne University Press. 1974. ISBN 978-0-52-284061-2.
- Carboni, Raffaello (1855). The Eureka Stockade: The Consequence of Some Pirates Wanting a Quarterdeck Rebellion. Melbourne: J. P. Atkinson and Co. – via Project Gutenberg.
- Corfield, Justin; Wickham, Dorothy; Gervasoni, Clare (2004). The Eureka Encyclopedia. Ballarat: Ballarat Heritage Services. ISBN 978-1-87-647861-2.
- Beggs-Sunter, Anne (2004). "Contesting the Flag: the mixed messages of the Eureka Flag". In Mayne, Alan (ed.). Eureka: reappraising an Australian Legend. Paper originally presented at Eureka Seminar, University of Melbourne History Department, 1 December 2004. Perth, Australia: Network Books. ISBN 978-1-92-084536-0.
- Three Despatches From Sir Charles Hotham. Melbourne: Public Record Office. 1978. ISBN 978-0-72-411706-2.
- Withers, William (1999). History of Ballarat and Some Ballarat Reminiscences. Ballarat: Ballarat Heritage Service. ISBN 978-1-87-647878-0.