Rede's view of all the marching
In the government camp, Rede and his military advisers were absolutely convinced that at some stage in the near future the miners would brutally attack the camp, kill them, rape their wives, and ... well, do something awful to their children and horses. Indeed there were many cries to do just that. Well ... attack the camp, at least. But the rebel leaders and Father Smyth were able to head them off. Realistically, while they would probably have been able to take the camp, they wouldn't have been able to hold it for long, for when the army reinforcements arrived it would be easily retaken and there would undoubtedly have been extremely bloody reprisals.
The authorities made no attempt to talk to the miners' leaders. Rede had no intention of settling this business with anything but violence, or maybe from his lofty position of class-based superiority he and his advisers just didn't believe the miners were capable or worthy of peaceful negotiation. What really appears to have occurred is that Rede panicked, completely misread the miners and their mood, motivations, and intentions, and was filled with a powerful belief that the miners were rabble who would commit nothing but terrible depredations if given half the chance.
It's not hard to see why Gold Commissioner Rede ended up where he did after this disaster was over, although ultimately he had the "pleasure" of acting in the role of sheriff at the hanging of the Irish/Australian bushranger/rebel Ned Kelly. Even Hotham could see Rede exacerbated events, rather than sorting them out and resolving them. And, to be fair to Rede, it doesn't appear as though Lalor or any of the other miner leaders, even the Chartists, made any attempt to talk to Rede. Possibly they thought they'd taken the running so far, had been constantly and haughtily rejected, and believed it was therefore the government's turn to go first. Understandable, but childish, if true, and, as it turned out, deadly serious.
The authorities made no attempt to talk to the miners' leaders. Rede had no intention of settling this business with anything but violence, or maybe from his lofty position of class-based superiority he and his advisers just didn't believe the miners were capable or worthy of peaceful negotiation. What really appears to have occurred is that Rede panicked, completely misread the miners and their mood, motivations, and intentions, and was filled with a powerful belief that the miners were rabble who would commit nothing but terrible depredations if given half the chance.
It's not hard to see why Gold Commissioner Rede ended up where he did after this disaster was over, although ultimately he had the "pleasure" of acting in the role of sheriff at the hanging of the Irish/Australian bushranger/rebel Ned Kelly. Even Hotham could see Rede exacerbated events, rather than sorting them out and resolving them. And, to be fair to Rede, it doesn't appear as though Lalor or any of the other miner leaders, even the Chartists, made any attempt to talk to Rede. Possibly they thought they'd taken the running so far, had been constantly and haughtily rejected, and believed it was therefore the government's turn to go first. Understandable, but childish, if true, and, as it turned out, deadly serious.