"Australia’s first battlefield - the battle of ..." Topic

…Hartebeestfontein.

Interesting article here.

"Time has sped with fleeting wings and events of import have followed in its trail since we learned Lord Methuen's intention of "striking hard" at Hartebeestefontein.

The stiffest fight the A.I.R. [the Australian Imperial Regiment, formerly the 4th Victorian Imperial Bushment Contingent] has had a hand in is now a matter of history and its consequent death roll appeared at the time of writing in the Australian press. With the 3rd Imperial Yeomanry in the advance guard, the 10th I.Y. as supports and the A.I.R. third position in the column. Methuen's men cautiously advanced from Paarde Plat at daylight. The first three or four miles traversed comprised open veldt, acres of green mealies as high as the saddle produced a delightful effect to the vision. To our immediate front and on either flank mountains pierced the grey overhanging mist. A defile led through these and it was our "pass" to Klerksdorp.

But "twas 1pm ere we sighted Hartebeestefontein though 8am saw us in a mile of it. The Boers, Limburg and De Truit had rallied 1900 men on Hartebeestefontein heights and according to the townspeople, these two other leaders, whose names I cannot glean, were so bubbling over with bombast as to declare that the British have had their day. Each commander was in his allotted place and received his orders with clock like regularity. Each battalion moved up to its appointed place and the guns swung merrily around. Our abnormally large convoy, 8 teams deep, halted, and as matter stood remained in status quo for the next five hours. Suddenly there came the sound as if of a rushing wind. No doubt some of breathed a trifle hard, we were all expectancy, human targets for the invisible Boer gunner. S-w-i-s-h! He is long sighted…"
Full article here
mhhv.org.au/?p=2129

Hope you enjoy!.

Amicalement
Armand

Sorry Tango but Suakin is acknowledged as the first contingent action: awm.gov.au/atwar/sudan.asp

The NSW troops were pre-Federation which may be the difference the authors are describing.

Indeed, it's the date of the action that's the clue. It's just after federation.

Thanks for the data my friends.
You lern something you don't know everyday in the forum!. (smile).

Amicalement
Armand

I thought Australia's first battlefield was Eureka Stockade?

No, there were plenty of fights before the stockade, but that was the first mass fight between white people in Australia.

Unless you count Vinegar Hill 1804, that is.

Except for those desperate to create a mountain out of a molehill, I doubt anyone counts Castle Hill/Vinegar Hill as anything beyond a prison break and a rude brawl. 'Battle' is somewhat over egging the omelette.

We do tend to gloss over or first military coup as well.

Breakfast dishes aside, if you read the posts in sequence Chacrinha, you'll ascertain that no one in this thread other than yourself has used the word 'battle'. In fact, the post to which I was directly responding employed the descriptor 'mass fight between white people'.

Several hundred costumed molehill engineers have more than once deemed the Vinegar Hill engagement worthy of reenactment.

The rebels of 1804 were not imprisoned, and I suspect an attempted overturning of the extant political order involving an exchange of musketry was something you'd be unlikely to encounter in your average early nineteenth century tavern of a Friday evening.

Sounds like Cronulla ;)

Ok, first mass brawl between folk of largely Anglo-Irish descent, the majority of whom were miscreants transported to Australia.

Of course if you are going to descend to this level, you might as well argue that the mutiny, murder and mayhem subsequent to the shipwreck of the Batavia was the 'first mass fight between white people' in Australia and by about 175 years too. There was a pitched battle between opposing bands.

As for portly chaps who like to play dress ups, well home grown subject matter being somewhat thin on the ground, I suppose it's a case of beggars can't be choosers. If that's what floats their boat, more power to them. I think there are similar fellows who dress up as Ned Kelly and friends and re-enact his last stand if it comes to it.

McWong for the win!

Actually, a goodly proportion of the Castle Hill rebels, including the leaders, were transported prisoners from the 1798 Irish Rebellion, and thus highly politically motivated.

I can only understand your need to forever try to diminish events in this country by the use of spurious comparisons and derisive language as an expression of the outworn national 'cultural cringe'. Wouldn't it be simpler and easier to just accept that they were what they were? Obviously the numbers were low when set against parallel historical phenomena in Europe; an inevitable consequence of the small white population of Australia at the time.

In 1804 the Castle Hill Rebellion was regarded by the colonial authorities in Sydney as an extremely serious challenge to their control of the colony of New South Wales, and they responded proportionately to the perceived threat.

Good points Henry, but its a pretty small affair as you noted by most standards.

Undeniably.