More Lalor bloopers
So what else did Lalor do wrong, if, indeed, these were consequent upon his decisions. Well, although he had sentries placed on the walls of the stockade, he didn't seem to have anyone out in the field who could give substantial warning. He didn't have anyone watching around the government camp to warn of soldiers on the move in mass. And he didn't have adequate watch over all possible approaches. Or, if such men were placed, they deserted their posts en masse. Consequently, when they did arrive, the soldiers were only 150-200 metres away when they were seen by a sentry, who apparently fired at them, thus foolishly warning them they had been seen.
Mind you, there was endless argument afterwards as to which side fired the first shot. One military source tells of the approaching police and soldiers having potshots taken at them from a growing crowd on the edges of the tent town along their approach to the stockade. The assumption was, apparently, that these might have been the returning sentries, finding themselves too late to do their job. This shooting caused the soldiers' officers such concern, says this source, that the commanding officer ordered the formation to wheel around and threaten the crowd with a good blasting, which apparently stopped the potshots.
But if this is so, one would have thought that even at a distance of several hundred metres, Lalor's stockade sentries might have heard the shooting and had more forewarning of their impending doom. Indeed, this may even have been the intention of the shooting. Unless, of course, the sentries in the stockade were asleep, apparently a considerable amount of free booze was made available around the place, possibly paid for by Rede, and the shooting disturbed their slumbers enough to awaken them, cause them to peer over the wall, see the approaching troops were almost on top of them, and get off a shot which another source says caused the first casualty when an unfortunate soldier was hit in the head. Although another source says it hit no-one. What a surprise!
However, once the sentries on the stockade walls started firing, the rest of the defenders had to scramble out of whatever sort of bed they had found or made, probably pull their pants and boots on, as it seems unlikely they had been advised of the wisdom of remaining fully clad in case of a surprise attack, hunt around for their weapons, as it was unlikely they were stacked at convenient points for running men to grab, before they got to the wall to then load their guns to defend the stockade.
So, back to something Lalor or whoever could have done better. Well, apart from not making the stupid decisions already made, or the better placing of sentries we've mentioned several times, they could have had the men sleeping in shifts, so that not only the sentries were awake and alert. Numbers of them could have been up at each wall at any one time. Further, the men could have been ordered to sleep clad for battle.
Lalor could also have had men hidden out in the field to delay the soldiers in their attack, who would have had a role similar to that of the riflemen of the British army during the Napoleonic wars. The primary aim for these men would be to disable as many officers and sergeants as possible, breaking the command structure. By shooting and withdrawing, and possibly breaking up the attacking formation or forcing the soldiers to form into a square for defence, then open up again to march forwards, they would slow the soldiers down significantly.
Rifles are a lot more accurate over a distance than the muskets the soldiers were armed with, let alone the carbines the mounted men had. The mounted soldiers and troopers might, however, be problematic, but popping a couple of them off would probably see them backing off, and we've already mentioned the possible value of caltraps. At least, the troopers might back off, the mounted soldiers may have been more problematic, but caltraps would undoubtedly give them considerable pause for thought.
But, the soldier's lot is, after all, to die as ordered. And so is his horse's. Besides, the flogging they would get, the soldiers, that is, not the horses, for breaking their orders, and maybe the hanging as well, would deter the soldiers from any free thinking. The troopers, on the other hand, were under significantly less threat.
Another option might have been to have men hidden off to the sides of any likely approaches, who could shoot into the sides or backs of the soldiers as they passed, again forcing them into defensive squares. Or was that ungentlemanly? And might it lead to an attack into the civilian packed tent city?
Of course, any of these options, none of which would require any military training apart from the sense to know when to retreat as the soldiers got close, would be difficult with only 153 men. Or 20, or 30, or 40 more or less. And to implement them, and any other better ideas Lalor and his cohorts might have come up with, in their totality would be impossible. Which highlights the foolishness, indeed stupidity, of whoever's decision it was to allow the miners out for the night.
Which brings us back to what was in Lalor's mind at the time. Obviously, he didn't expect an attack. There has to be some doubt he ever expected violence of any kind. There was to be a meeting of the Ballarat Reform Society on Sunday, and Lalor may have expected an olive branch to be held out to the government camp, which he may also, almost unbelievably, have expected to be met with peace negotiations. But he clearly wasn't walking in his opponent's shoes. He seems to have badly misread Rede's personality, although it should have been clear by now. And, he also doesn't seem to have considered how the government camp would react to the building of the stockade.
Mind you, there was endless argument afterwards as to which side fired the first shot. One military source tells of the approaching police and soldiers having potshots taken at them from a growing crowd on the edges of the tent town along their approach to the stockade. The assumption was, apparently, that these might have been the returning sentries, finding themselves too late to do their job. This shooting caused the soldiers' officers such concern, says this source, that the commanding officer ordered the formation to wheel around and threaten the crowd with a good blasting, which apparently stopped the potshots.
But if this is so, one would have thought that even at a distance of several hundred metres, Lalor's stockade sentries might have heard the shooting and had more forewarning of their impending doom. Indeed, this may even have been the intention of the shooting. Unless, of course, the sentries in the stockade were asleep, apparently a considerable amount of free booze was made available around the place, possibly paid for by Rede, and the shooting disturbed their slumbers enough to awaken them, cause them to peer over the wall, see the approaching troops were almost on top of them, and get off a shot which another source says caused the first casualty when an unfortunate soldier was hit in the head. Although another source says it hit no-one. What a surprise!
However, once the sentries on the stockade walls started firing, the rest of the defenders had to scramble out of whatever sort of bed they had found or made, probably pull their pants and boots on, as it seems unlikely they had been advised of the wisdom of remaining fully clad in case of a surprise attack, hunt around for their weapons, as it was unlikely they were stacked at convenient points for running men to grab, before they got to the wall to then load their guns to defend the stockade.
So, back to something Lalor or whoever could have done better. Well, apart from not making the stupid decisions already made, or the better placing of sentries we've mentioned several times, they could have had the men sleeping in shifts, so that not only the sentries were awake and alert. Numbers of them could have been up at each wall at any one time. Further, the men could have been ordered to sleep clad for battle.
Lalor could also have had men hidden out in the field to delay the soldiers in their attack, who would have had a role similar to that of the riflemen of the British army during the Napoleonic wars. The primary aim for these men would be to disable as many officers and sergeants as possible, breaking the command structure. By shooting and withdrawing, and possibly breaking up the attacking formation or forcing the soldiers to form into a square for defence, then open up again to march forwards, they would slow the soldiers down significantly.
Rifles are a lot more accurate over a distance than the muskets the soldiers were armed with, let alone the carbines the mounted men had. The mounted soldiers and troopers might, however, be problematic, but popping a couple of them off would probably see them backing off, and we've already mentioned the possible value of caltraps. At least, the troopers might back off, the mounted soldiers may have been more problematic, but caltraps would undoubtedly give them considerable pause for thought.
But, the soldier's lot is, after all, to die as ordered. And so is his horse's. Besides, the flogging they would get, the soldiers, that is, not the horses, for breaking their orders, and maybe the hanging as well, would deter the soldiers from any free thinking. The troopers, on the other hand, were under significantly less threat.
Another option might have been to have men hidden off to the sides of any likely approaches, who could shoot into the sides or backs of the soldiers as they passed, again forcing them into defensive squares. Or was that ungentlemanly? And might it lead to an attack into the civilian packed tent city?
Of course, any of these options, none of which would require any military training apart from the sense to know when to retreat as the soldiers got close, would be difficult with only 153 men. Or 20, or 30, or 40 more or less. And to implement them, and any other better ideas Lalor and his cohorts might have come up with, in their totality would be impossible. Which highlights the foolishness, indeed stupidity, of whoever's decision it was to allow the miners out for the night.
Which brings us back to what was in Lalor's mind at the time. Obviously, he didn't expect an attack. There has to be some doubt he ever expected violence of any kind. There was to be a meeting of the Ballarat Reform Society on Sunday, and Lalor may have expected an olive branch to be held out to the government camp, which he may also, almost unbelievably, have expected to be met with peace negotiations. But he clearly wasn't walking in his opponent's shoes. He seems to have badly misread Rede's personality, although it should have been clear by now. And, he also doesn't seem to have considered how the government camp would react to the building of the stockade.