Bathurst War

The Bathurst county in which the war was fought.

Date	January 1824 – 28 December 1824
Location	Bathurst, New South Wales Australia
Result	British victory Surrender of the Wiradjuri

Belligerents

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Wiradjuri

Commanders and leaders

Governor Thomas Brisbane

Major Morisset

Windradyne

Strength

75 British soldiers

Several Cavalry

200+ Armed settlers

1,500

Casualties and losses

5 killed
9 wounded

11 + Killed
Many Wounded

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.

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 50 miles (80 km) 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.

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 100-mile (160 km) 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.

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Wikipedia