Upon this reception Captain
Thomas gave the order to fire, and the intrenchments were carried with a
rush after about ten minutes of sharp fighting. Captain Wise was fatally
wounded, and three privates were killed outright; one officer and eleven
privates were wounded. Of the insurgents, about thirty were known to
have been killed, and many more wounded. Nearly one hundred twenty
prisoners were taken. The effect of the victory was, so far as local
disturbances were concerned, instantaneous. Even before the
reinforcements under General Nickle appeared, all resistance to the
authorities had died away; and, though the Governor at once proclaimed a
state of martial law, he was able to recall the proclamation in less
than a week.
In other districts of the colony the effect was, for a while, doubtful.
The extreme reluctance of Englishmen to admit the necessity for military
interference by the Government told strongly in favor of the rioters.
There was some danger that Melbourne and Geelong, left almost entirely
unprotected by the concentration of troops and police at Ballarat, would
be taken possession of by rioters from the country districts, and Sir
Charles Hotham made hasty application to Sir William Denison, the
Governor of Tasmania, for military assistance.
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