THE REVOLT OF THE DIGGERS 41 



The troops stole silently out of their Camp at 4 A.M., and march- 

 ing with the utmost caution reached within 300 yards of the stock- 

 ade, when a gun was fired by one of the sentinels as an indication 

 that they were discovered. Captain Thomas ordered the troops to 

 advance steadily without firing until the bugle sounded. The 

 mounted police and the cavalry rode briskly on, while the storming 

 party of the 12th and 40th, making for the centre of the barrier, re- 

 ceived the first volley at about 150 yards. Captain Wise fell mortally 

 wounded, two privates were killed outright, and two or three were 

 temporarily disabled. The bugle rang out, and a line of fire poured 

 from the guns of the storming party, and from the reserve forces 

 covering them from the slopes of Stockyard Hill. Several figures 

 that had been seen rushing to the defence of the palisades staggered 

 and fell before the hail of bullets. As the first rays of the coming 

 sunrise revealed the interior of the stockade to Captain Thomas, he 

 realised that the defence had been largely left to chance. Even 

 after the exchange of volleys men were seen only just emerging from 

 their tents and seeking instructions. The keenest fighters were 

 already at the logs, but most of them were only armed with fowling- 

 pieces or revolvers. The forlorn brigade of Irish pikemen, waiting 

 to receive the cavalry charge, were the unhappy recipients of many 

 bullets, which they had no means of returning. After another volley 

 from the soldiers, which sounded like the roar of a tempest com- 

 pared to the dropping fire of the insurgents, the order was given to 

 charge. With a cheer the soldiers threw themselves on the flimsy 

 barricade, which went down before them. For a quarter of an hour 

 there was a desperate hand-to-hand fight, but the crowd could not 

 stand against the compact line of advancing bayonets, and when the 

 cavalry and mounted troopers swooped in upon them on both flanks 

 they turned to seek shelter, and all was over. 



Peter Lalor, who on the first alarm had rushed to the front and 

 sprang upon a log to direct the defence, received a bullet which 

 shattered the bone of his arm, close to the shoulder. He saw the 

 overthrow of the barriers and the onward sweep of the troops. 

 Dazed by the wound and the rapid loss of blood, he jumped down, 

 and called to the men around him to save themselves for the stock- 

 ade was taken. Two or three men urged him to fly with them, but 



