Bathurst War

The Bathurst War (1824), was a war between the Wiradjuri nation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the successful Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth expedition to find a route through the "impenetrable" Blue Mountains in 1813, this allowed the colony to expand onto the vast fertile plains of the west.

Settlement of the new land was initially slow, but following a change of government, Governor Thomas Brisbane came to power allowing a flood of land grants to the west of the Blue Mountains. The enormous influx of British colonists put massive strain on the traditional food sources and sacred landmarks of the Wiradjuri. By early 1824, war had broken out in which the Wiradjuri adopted a guerrilla-style approach. After Governor Thomas Brisbane declared martial law the resistance soon collapsed in late 1824.

Background

Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson

Attempts to cross the Blue Mountains had been made from 1790 onwards with convicts seeking a way to escape and adventurers eager to explore the region. However, all of these attempts failed and it was to be over 20 years before a way across was found. In May 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth set out with a plan to find a passage through the impenetrable Blue Mountains. After 21 days of traveling through of rugged terrain, the party reached Mount Blaxland. From here they saw a vast expanse of forest and grass in which Blaxland wrote was rich enough "to support the stock of the colony for the next thirty years".

This was in fact the land of the Wiradjuri people, one of the largest language groups in Australia. The Wiradjuri inhabited an area bounded by the Blue Mountains in the east, the western slopes in the south, and the change of open forest to grassy plains in the north and west. The tribes led by Windradyne lived in the eastern parts of this territory, connected to the other groups by a common language as well as cultural and trade links.

Governor Lachlan Macquarie

After passage through the Blue Mountains had been secured, assistant surveyor George Evans and his party had been instructed to further explore the country. Evans' reports confirmed of excellent pastures beyond the mountains to which Governor Macquarie ordered a road be built from the Nepean River. In less than six months the road had been completed. Soon after Governor Lachlan Macquarie and a large accompanying party set out to view the country. The journey took nine days by coach from Parramatta and on arrival Macquarie's welcoming ceremony was observed by seven Wiradjuri.

Macquarie wrote:

Three days later Macquarie inaugurated the town of Bathurst, then continued to tour the surrounding country. In his journal, Macquarie writes of being visited by three male natives and that "to the best looking and stoutest of them I gave a piece of yellow cloth in exchange for his mantle, which he presented me with". It has been theorised that this unknown Wiradjuri man may have been Windradyne, but this cannot be proven. Nevertheless, it would be another eight years before he would become famous to the colony. In 1820, the population of Bathurst was only 114 due to Macquarie's slow and cautious approach to new settlement. His experience of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars of 1795–1816 may also have made him hesitant to start a new conflict. It seems that the Wiradjuri were willing to tolerate this slow level of growth and peaceful relations were maintained during this period.

Governor Thomas Brisbane

In December 1821, Macquarie resigned partly due to undermining forces within his own government. His replacement was Governor Thomas Brisbane who had different views through which he began asserting his authority. Under Brisbane, land settlement laws were changed leading to a flood of land grants across the Blue Mountains. An enormous influx of the British onto the Wiradjuri lands put great strain on traditional food sources, and destroyed some of the Wiradjuri social and sacred sites. In response, the Wiradjuri resistance was born. Well aware that they had no chance against guns, they adopted a guerrilla-warfare approach, in which attacks were made against outlying and undefended stations.

Pre-war violence

Following Governor Brisbane's decision to open the flood gates to the west of the Blue Mountains, various attacks were soon made against the growing settlement. In 1822, Wiradjuri warriors attacked a station on the Cudgegong River in which they drove away the stockman, let the cattle out of the yard and killed several of the sheep. More attacks followed with the murder of convict hut-keepers, scattered herds and speared cattle. Stockmen were intimidated and would not leave their huts to round up the cattle and bring them in without protection. The government centre at Swallow Creek was soon abandoned in fear of attack. In late 1823, Windradyne (known as Saturday by the British) was captured for the first time.

The ''Sydney Gazette'' described the situation in the following:

Course of the war

Potato Field Incident

In early 1824, on the river flats opposite of the town of Bathurst, a farmer in a friendly gesture offered a group of passing Wiradjuri people some potatoes. The next day the families returned to the field, however, with no concept of private ownership of food supplies they began helping themselves. The farmer then fired upon the group and in the mayhem several Wurudjuri people were killed and some wounded. One of the survivors of this misunderstanding was Windradyne; enraged at the attack he and his warriors immediately began a series of violent attacks against nearby stations.

One settler account describes an encounter that took place soon after the Potato Field Incident:

Revenge attacks

Similar attacks occurred nearby, at "The Mill" and "Warren Gunyah". These attacks included men being speared, weapons stolen, buildings burned and stock killed. While Windradyne and his warriors engaged the area north-east of Bathurst, to the south related tribes also attacked, terrorising settlers and driving off cattle. Revenge parties were formed in which a group of armed servants attacked and killed three Wiradjuri women. For several months the attacks by the Wiradjuri continued; they struck at unexpected locations then retreated back to the bush. By August 1824, the ''Sydney Gazette'' described it as "to have exposed the strength and wealth of the Colony... to destruction".

Proclamation of martial law

On 14 August Governor Brisbane issued a proclamation of martial law. Governor Brisbane's declaration read:

A 75-strong detachment of the 40th Regiment of Foot under the command of Major James Thomas Morisset was sent to garrison Bathurst. Bolstered by a local settler militia, the detachment began conducting several sweeps across the landscape to restore order and enforce martial law. However, these proved to have little impact on Wiradjuri or settler activities; according to historian W. H. Suttor, "The proclamation of martial law was as undecipherable to the natives as an Egyptian hieroglyph".

The Wiradjuri continued to launch attacks on the settlers, engaging in numerous skirmishes which were consistently followed by settler reprisals, typically on Aboriginal warriors attempting to bury their casualties. However, the majority of Wiradjuri casualties during the conflict were non-combatants, who were killed by mounted settler patrols or deliberately poisoned by the settlers. In October, the ''Sydney Gazette'' summed up the situation by stating that "Bathurst and its surrounding vicinity is engaged in an exterminating war".

Battle of Bathurst

The Battle of Bathurst began on 10 September when a Wiradjuri war party attacked a station on the Cudgegong River, they drove off the cattle before being pursued by the station hands. In an ambush, the stationhands were chased back and in the retreat three Wiradjuri warriors were shot. The following day the station hands returned to find the war parties' camp deserted as they were burying their dead, however most of the weapons were left in the camp and were subsequently destroyed. As the Wiradjuri returned to the war camp, the station hands fired on them killing at least sixteen and wounding many more.

Peace

At the outset of martial law, Windradyne's people had been informed that military operations against them would continue until their leaders were given up. Windradyne himself had a reward of 500 acres of land upon his head. By late 1824, large numbers of Wiradjuri were surrendering themselves to the government. However, Windradyne continued to elude attempts to find him, and as such martial law remained in place for a further seven weeks. On 11 December 1824, martial law was finally repealed, and on 28 December Windradyne appeared at the head of his people in Parramatta to attend the Governor's annual feast. He wore the word "peace" on his hat and knew the British could not arrest him because of the possibility of a riot with so many Aborigines there.

The ''Sydney Gazette'' described Windradyne as:

Aftermath

On 13 December 1824 Governor Brisbane wrote a letter to Major J.T. Morisset, Commandant at Bathurst, thanking him for effecting 'the purpose of the proclamation...by the judicious measures taken by you and the other magistrates at Bathurst, the aboriginal natives have learned to respect our power.' He goes on to say that 'it is impossible perhaps at all times to prevent the infliction of injury upon them by individuals and...if justice cannot always be done, it deserves consideration upon such occasion whether the wrong may not be repaired by compensation. For this service and for rewards to the natives who assisted in the police, I have directed £50 subject to detailed accounts of its expenditure to be at your disposal.'

Colonel William Stewart, appointed Head of NSW Police and Lt Governor of the Colony helped oversee some of the government response to the Bathurst Uprising. His reward was to stand on a high point (Mount Pleasant) at the edge of Bathurst township and declare his right to all the land he could see. Governor Darling formalised the grant of 3200 acres in 1826. It included unlimited and unrestricted water rights to the Macquarie River. The historical records, original deeds and agreements are held by the family at "Strath" Bathurst. Today the great wealth that came to Stewart and his descendants continues to be seen in the form of Abercrombie House that was later built on the land grant.

At the conclusion of the war, the NSW colonial government also recognised the need to have a mounted infantry to effectively place the frontier under British control. Foot soldiers were proven to be an inadequate force on the wide plains of the interior. As a result, in 1825, Colonel Stewart formed the NSW Mounted Police. This force, which was manned with soldiers not civilians, initially consisted of two detachments, one stationed in Bathurst and the other at Maitland. The NSW Mounted Police became the principal instrument of enforcement of colonial rule on the frontier for the next 15 years.

References

{{coord missing, New South Wales

Wars involving the United Kingdom
Resistance to the British Empire
History of Indigenous Australians
History of Australia (1788–1850)
Military history of New South Wales
Civil wars involving the states and peoples of Oceania
Proxy wars
1820s crimes in Australia
1824 in Australia