Note that this article was written for the now defunct glenrowan1880 website back in September of 2008. I used what resources I had to hand back then but there may be more out there now that Trove and other books and resources are so readily available.
DID THEY REALLY FIRE 15,000 ROUNDS AT THE SIEGE OF GLENROWAN?
BY SHARON HOLLINGSWORTH
Have you ever wondered about how many rounds were fired during the
Siege of Glenrowan?
I never did, until I read an article back in May of 2008 wherein the
project director of the Glenrowan Inn Dig said that the siege was a
"brutal gun battle" in which "15,000 rounds were fired." To be fair,
another article stated that "up to 15,000" rounds were fired (so that
gives a slight leeway).
I have no idea where he got that figure from, whether it was from a
book, the archives, or from an historian (and if so, where did
they get it?). I had an immediate kneejerk reaction and knew that the
figure had to have been grossly inflated. It has been on my mind ever
since then, so I decided to look at the facts and figures to see if it were even
possible to have that much firing going on.
First, we need to find out the number of "combatants" involved. There
were 4 members of the Kelly Gang, of course, but let's see how many
police arrived...Superintendent Hare arrived at 3 AM with 7 policemen, along with Sub-Inspector O'Connor and his 5 black trackers. Hare subsequently left the field of battle early on after getting wounded. There were also 4 members of the press and a civilian (Rawlins) who all were able to shoot if necessary, and if arms were available (newspaper reporter Joe Melvin came with his own revolver). Reinforcements did not arrive until after the 5 AM hour when Steele
arrived on horseback with his Wangaratta contingent (with 2 arriving
by train) and Bracken who had ridden there to alert them (this makes 8). Sadleir also arrived during the 5 AM hour with 11 policemen, 2 black trackers and
3 civilians (among those Jesse Dowsett), and around 9 AM Mullane
arrived with 10 more police. A handful more (about 4) showed up at
Noon and Standish and Ward were the latest arrivals, coming to
Glenrowan when it was all over. Given the number of police plus the
outlaws (and taking civilians and reporters out of the equation),
let's distill it down to a good round number we can work with for the sake of argument, maybe say 55 total combatants (your mileage may vary!).
We have established the timeframe for the earliest arrivals at around
3 AM. The end would have been sometime past 3 PM when the Inn was
fired (accounts vary as to the exact time of the firing of it), so it
was around a 12 hour event.
So, our parameters are set. If 15,000 rounds were fired in 12 hours
that would mean that each of the approximate 55 combatants would have
had to have fired on average 273 rounds for the 12 hours, or approximately 23
rounds each per hour. Of course, even allowing for reloading time, it
would be easy for an individual to fire 23 rounds an hour for a
sustained period of twelve hours, but in this case it is not possible
given the other variables present. As shown above, many arrived on the
scene late, and were present for less than 12 hours. No one fired for
anything like twelve hours continuously as there were long lulls in
the firing. Ned himself was hors de combat after five hours and Joe
Byrne was shot and killed even before then.
As for the police, O'Connor testified to the Royal Commission Board that the heaviest firing of the day was before any reinforcements at all had arrived. There was one man there who bragged that he had fired around a hundred rounds that day, BUT there were many who testified that they fired much less and there were many of the police who did not fire a single shot during the entire siege!
The reason why some did not fire at all was that the weapons they had were of no use against the building (such as the breech loading double barrelled shot guns, Spencer rifles and Webley or Colt revolvers), they would only be of
use if the gang were to come outside. Those that had the long
Martini-Henry rifles and the shorter Martini-Henry carbines, and
Snider rifles (O'Connor and his trackers had the latter) were able to
fire at the Inn with effectiveness.
What Sub-Inspector Montfort had later said to the Royal Commission
about the the police in the NE District is very interesting: "They are
armed like a Turkish brigade, with all kinds of weapons." He had
suggested that all the men should be issued Martini-Henry carbines
(supposedly for ease of use and carrying and to make resupply of
ammunition easier too..more on the ammo in a bit..).
Let's look at some more of the information I have gleaned from the
Minutes of Evidence Taken Before Royal Commission On The Police Force
Of Victoria:
During the first volley fired, when there were not so
many on the battleground, it was estimated by one policemen that the
gang fired 40 or 50 shots and that the police fired twice as many.
Constable William Duross said he fired 24 or 25 cartridges from a
Spencer repeating rifle.
Constable Thomas Dowling says he fired about 100 rounds, but that "I
believe several of them did not fire so many."
Constable Arthur had a Martini-Henry Carbine and was served out with
20 rounds when he left Benalla and "kept nearly all of it." He claimed
to have fired 10 rounds at the verandah when the gang had come out and
then Constable Kelly later gave him another 5 rounds.
One man said he fired his Spencer rifle 3 or 4 times (that would be
around 21 cartridges).
Constable Kirkham was armed with a Martini-Henry rifle and testified
that he might have used 40 rounds and had 2 revolvers that he did not
fire at all.
Constable Barry said that he fired 25 shots from a Martini carbine.
Constable Reilly testified that he did not fire at all as he had a
double-barrelled breechloader.
In Hare's party, only he and Constable Canny had the double barrelled
shotguns, and in the Wangaratta contingent, Steele and some of his men
(including Dwyer, who also had a Colt revolver) had them also, but
others in the party had the long Martini-Henry and "old Enfield
rifles".
Constable Phillips had the Martini-Henry rifle and Sr. Constable Kelly
had the Martini Carbine.
So, we have established that many of the police did not fire at all
and those that did seemed to have fired much less than 100 rounds
each.
Also, they did not fire continuously, they were instructed to only
fire when the outlaws came to the doors or windows or when the gang
fired at them. They were also told to open fire in order to give
cover, such as when Constable Johnston set fire to the Inn, though
some did fire at other times. It was reported that the trackers did
indiscriminate and heavy firing and a few days after the siege one of
the constables who revisited the siege site found many shell casings
in the trench or what the Commission (and others) referred to as "the
drain."
Regarding the ammunition situation, the regulation number of rounds was:
20 balls Martini....24 for guns....18 for revolvers.
However, they got extra ammunition during the siege.
George Allen said that he and the other reporters on the platform "had
emptied the [train] van of all its contents, the luggage and
ammunition, and stuff to find ammunition for the men, a lot of the
saddles and stuff, and piled those up.."
A telegram was sent to Benalla to send up more ammunition, also.
According to Sgt. Whelan, there was a small cask with Martini-Henry
and Carbine Rifle ammunition (which held 500 rounds) and not all of
that was used and there was lots of loose ammunition besides that.
Reporter McWhirter testified that:
"Many of the men had taken wrong ammunition with them, and the
consequences was that they had to send back for ammunition, and Mr.
Melvin and myself sorted the carbine and Martini Henry ammunition and
gave it out to the men as the messengers came to the station for it."
Rawlins took the first lot out (and had taken the wrong kind and had
to go back for the correct kind...I am wondering if that is what
McWhirter might have been referring to? or was it a separate event?)
and then Sr. Constable Kelly took some around and Phillips came for
ammo.
One of the Royal Commissioners made this statement about the Glenrowan
siege: "It has been stated there was a great deal of ammunition
uselessly expended there."
That statement may be true, but there is no way that 15,000 rounds
were expended given all the evidence!
Something that Max Brown said in "Australian Son" about the sending
for of a cannon to blow down the Inn to get Steve and Dan to surrender
sounds slightly more reasonable as to how much firepower and ordance
might have been used that day (at least on the police end):
"As if 2,000 bullets and fifty troopers were not enough!"
If that figure is close to being right (and I have no idea if it is or
not, even considering all the criteria from above), then I seriously
doubt that the 4 outlaws fired off the remaining 13,000 rounds!
.JPG)
