[Editor: This article, regarding the Eureka Rebellion, was published in The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 2 January 1915.]
Victoria’s only battlefield
By X.
Few remember that the 3rd December was the sixtieth anniversary of Eureka — Victoria’s only experience of warfare on its own soil. This forgetfulness is a matter of only the last few years. The old men who took part in the events leading up to the conflict have gone, as well as nearly all those who were then, as children, on the Ballarat East gold field. The conflict between the oppressed diggers and Queen Victoria’s troops, has passed into history, and everyone who now reads about it is convinced that the diggers’ rebellion was an example of splendid heroism. The men who were in the colony at the time were widely divided in opinion. At each recurring anniversary when enthusiasts used to march to the monument on the old Eureka lead and make speeches about “our forefathers who nobly watered the tree of liberty with tears of blood,” there were others who stood aloof, derisive and cynical. “Look at the Eureka names,” they said, “half of them were rebels by blood — quarrelsome men who promoted trouble always. The other half were foolish light-headed fellows who were led into the business because they could not think for themselves or because they were in search of adventure.” As late as the nineties the writer saw a stand-up fight to settle the question whether Eureka was really patriotic or merely rebellious.
Anyone who studies the history of the time must be convinced that the diggers’ cause was just, and that it led to democratic reforms that could not have been accomplished by peaceful, constitutional means for at least a decade. Victoria at the time was ruled by an arrogant, official and land-owning oligarchy; 250,000 diggers who had no representation in Parliament bore all the taxation, and were hunted down like dingoes by the official collectors. Still it is an historical fact that all fine public movements for justice and liberty invariably attract some of the worst elements in the community. Lecky points out that in many cases worthless men have risen to actual leadership. The spirit of reform, he says, has never been particular about the tools with which it works. The great political upheavals at the end of the eighteenth century supply many examples. The discovery of the gold fields, coming so soon after the French revolution of 1848, attracted a vast number of rebellious spirits from the European Continent, who were the emissaries of anarchy and disorder. William Howitt, the traveller, who was then in Victoria, saw one of the demonstrations in Bendigo. He tells the story in his book “Land, Labor and Gold,” a work published in 1854, and now little known except to students of past Victorian history.
“First marched the Irish,” writes Howitt — “always first in every agitation. Then the Scotch; and then, as if only third instead of first in rank, the Union Jack of Great Britain. Close to it came crowding up the revolutionary flags of France and Germany, accompanied by the Stars and Stripes of America, with some other minor flags. On they marched in much-admired disorder, loudly hurrahing themselves because the spectators did not take up that patriotic cry.” The first speaker when they reached the meeting place was an agitator whose wife had figured in London amongst the lecturers on the bloomer costume. “This man declared that he represented the French nation. The only portion he did faithfully represent were the red republicans. He declared for a republic, and hoped to see Australia a republic before long. There were assembled, he said, English, French, Germans, Italians, Americans, Chinese, New Zealanders and, he might have added, native blacks, for there were several. There were the Germans, always first and foremost in the cause of liberty! The French flag, but not that which they ought to have; they ought to have had the blood-red flag which had waved over many a glorious battle at the barricades.” The orator ultimately went too far. He tore down the Union Jack and trampled upon it, whereupon a great body of peaceful diggers, who had previously taken no part in the proceedings, cleared the platform.
“It was disgusting to me,” says Howitt, “to see foreigners of all descriptions — no, not all, chiefly French and German — putting themselves forward to denounce and oppose the Government of a nation which has shown them on all occasions the most unbounded hospitality; which has been their perpetual refuge when their own tyrants have sought to crush them, and which has opened its golden colonies to their picks and spades as freely as to her own sons. Why, if these men had dared to whisper in a corner or a wood of their own countries a tithe of the seditious language which they did on this public platform they would have been at once snapped up by the police and thrust into a dungeon, or shipped off to Algeria or Cayenne. Yet some of these men, coming from countries where there is not a spark of political liberty left — from countries where they have been defeated and driven out — pointed to their red flags and boasted that if the demands of the diggers were not instantly conceded they were ready ‘to lead them on to blood and victory.’” Any patriotic Australian who has listened to the arrogant turbulence of the red-necktied horde of nondescript foreigners who preach discontent on Sunday afternoons in the Sydney Domain has felt the same as Howitt.
If a Ballarat school boy of the seventies or eighties had been asked to name the world’s greatest battles, in their order of importance, it would not have caused much surprise if he had classed them something like this:— Waterloo, Eureka, Malplaquet, Bannockburn, Blenheim, Trafalgar, Corunna. Yet, as a battle, Eureka was, after all, a sorry little disturbance. The number of the diggers who entrenched themselves behind the “stockade” — a barricade of slabs, stones and saplings, with earth filling — has never been definitely stated. It was estimated that about a thousand men were drilling under Peter Lalor and a big German named Vern, and that 500 took the oath on Bakery Hill to stand by each other and “the Southern Cross.” Between 200 and 300 slept in the trenches and the tents within the stockade on the night of Saturday, 2nd December, 1854, and it is hardly likely that they had been reinforced by the time the troops from Melbourne made their attack early on the Sunday morning. Only about 30 were equipped with firearms; the majority carried pikes and poles and any other lethal weapons that were handy. One writer describes them executing manœuvres to the commands “Shoulder poles!” “Order poles!” “Ground pikes!” “Pick up poles!” This seems almost too absurd to be true. The attacking force numbered 70 mounted police, 65 soldiers of the 12th Regiment, 87 of the 40th Regiment and 24 foot police, in all 276 — 100 mounted and 176 afoot. The two little armies were therefore about equal in numbers, but ludicruously unequal in arms and equipment.
The soldiers and police came on steadily, amidst a snapping fire from the 30 shotguns. They stormed the stockade with fixed bayonets, and all the diggers who could get away took to their heels. Lalor escaped with a shattered arm. The official report stated that 30 of the “rebels” were killed, and 125 taken prisoner. Of the attacking force, Captain Wise and five soldiers were killed, and Captain Quendo and several soldiers were wounded. The diggers, whatever the ambitions or feelings that animated some of them, were beaten in the physical fight, but they won a fine victory for political freedom. On All Fools’ day, 1855, after 64 witnesses had been examined, and 178 jurymen summoned, the first batch of prisoners was acquitted, amidst general rejoicings, and a general amnesty granted in respect to the remainder. Compared to the Marne or Lemberg, it was a poor sort of battle, but it is the most important that has been fought in Victoria to date, and most people hope that it will remain the most important for a few hundred years.
Source:
The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 2 January 1915, p. 13
Also published in:
The Creswick Advertiser (Creswick, Vic.), 5 January 1915, p. 3
The Catholic Advocate (Brisbane, Qld.), 14 January 1915, pp. 4-5 (entitled “Australia’s first battle: Story of the Eureka Stockade”)
Editor’s notes:
The text of this article, as re-published in The Catholic Advocate, 14 January 1915, was preceded with some introductory text regarding the Irish at the Eureka Rebellion:
Irishmen know the value of freedom. Having been oppressed and down-trodden for centuries, they are nevertheless always ready to strike a blow for justice. Happily, to-day, we in Australia enjoy a measure of freedom which, though by no means complete, exceeds the wildest hopes of our ancestors. All honour, then, to those “turbulent rebels” who fought — and died — that we might live. The Union Jack is to-day the symbol of liberty and equal — or nearly equal — opportunities for all.
Irish the Salt of the Earth.
In the early days the Irish, as always, were the salt of the earth, and one of the most notable achievements in Australian history was inspired and led by Irishmen. What Irish-Australian worthy of the name will ever forget Peter Lalor and the Eureka Stockade?
See: “Australia’s first battle: Story of the Eureka Stockade”, The Catholic Advocate (Brisbane, Qld.), 14 January 1915, pp. 4-5
All Fools’ day = (also known as “April Fools’ Day”) the 1st of April, on which date it is traditional for people to engage in practical jokes, hoaxes, and other forms of trickery; part of the custom is to cease playing April Fools’ jokes after noon on that day (anyone who does so is customarily scorned as an idiot or a fool)
See: “April Fools’ Day”, Wikipedia
bloomer costume = (also known as a “bloomer outfit”, or “bloomers”) a garment with divided legs, designed for women, fashionable in the 1850s; bloomers gave females more freedom of movement, were a radical departure from the usual female fashion of wearing dresses, and were adopted as a fashion by early feminists and suffragettes; the garment was named after the feminist activist Amelia Bloomer (1818-1894), who was an early promoter of its usage
See: 1) “Bloomer Costume”, The History Farrago: Social and Family History, 27 October 2019
2) “The Bloomer Costume, Nathaniel Currier”, Springfield Museums [features a coloured lithograph image, printed by Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888)]
3) “Suffragists adopt, then abandon the “Bloomer Costume””, Freethought Trail
4) Cheryl Lederle, “Bicycles, Bloomers, and the Vote: Dress Reform”, Library of Congress, 5 November 2019
5) “Bloomers”, Fashion History Timeline (Fashion Institute of Technology), 29 September 2017
6) “Bloomer Costume”, Encyclopedia.com
7) “Bloomers”, Wikipedia
8) “Amelia Bloomer”, Wikipedia
Cayenne = the capital city of French Guiana (located on the north-eastern coast of South America)
See: “Cayenne”, Wikipedia
Lecky = William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1838-1903), an Irish author, historian, and poet; he was born in Newtown Park (near Dublin) in 1838, and died in London (England) in 1903
See: 1) “William Edward Hartpole Lecky: Irish historian”, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2) “William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1838–1903): Critical and Biographical Introduction by John White Chadwick (1840–1904)”, Bartleby.com
3) “William Edward Hartpole Lecky”, Wikipedia
Peter Lalor = (1827-1889), a gold miner, leader of the Eureka Rebellion, and politician; he was born in 1827 in Raheen (Queen’s County, Ireland), came to Australia in 1852, led the Eureka Rebellion in 1854, later became Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, and died in Richmond (Melbourne, Victoria) in 1889
See: 1) Ian Turner, “Lalor, Peter (1827–1889)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “Peter Lalor”, Wikipedia
seditious = causing or engaging in sedition, of or relating to the crime of sedition: actions or words designed to incite disaffection or violence towards the government (the legal definition of sedition can vary, depending on the jurisdiction involved); any action, speech, or writing which incites people to disobey, oppose, fight, or act violently towards the government; rebellious, subversive, or treasonous actions or words
See: “Sedition”, Wikipedia
tithe = a tenth part of something (10%); a voluntary contribution or offering (or, historically, a tax) given to the church (historically a tenth of one’s income, produce, or profits), or given to a clergyman, or to charity; a small part or proportion; a small levy or tax; (as a verb) to give, or pay, a small part or a tenth part (especially to one’s church)
Vern = Frederick Vern, one of the leaders of the Eureka Rebellion; he (supposedly) came from Hanover (Germany) and (supposedly) had previously been an officer in the military; however, little is factually known about him, and his tales about himself have been regarded as dubious
See: 1) “Frederick Vern”, German Australia
2) “Frederick Vern”, Eurekapedia
3) “Poster, Reward Poster for the capture of Frederick Vern, 11/12/1854 (original)”, Victorian Collections
4) “Frederick Vern”, Wikipedia
William Howitt = (1792-1879), an English author; he was born in Heanor (Derbyshire), came to Australia in 1852 (where he worked on the goldfields), returned to England in 1854, and died in Rome in 1879
See: 1) Mary Howitt Walker, “Howitt, William (1792–1879)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “William Howitt”, Wikipedia
[Editor: Added a full stop after “cynical”.]
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