Waterloo Creek massacre - Wikipedia Waterloo Creek massacre ' Mounted Police and Blacks ', an 1852 lithograph by W.L. Walton, depicting the killing of Aboriginal warriors at Slaughterhouse Creek by colonial police troopers. The Waterloo Creek massacre ( also Slaughterhouse Creek massacre ) refers to a series of clashes between mounted police, civilian vigilantes and Gamilaraay Australians in December 1837 - January 1838 which took place south - west of Moree, New South Wales, Australia. The events have been subject to much dispute arising from conflicting views of relatives and connections of the participants about the nature and number of fatalities, and the lawfulness of the action. Interpretation of events at Waterloo Creek was raised during an Australian controversy known as the `` history wars '' which commenced in the 1990s. Contents 1 The events 1.1 ' Disproportionate force ' 2 Official inquiry 2.1 Police statements 3 Later historians ' views 4 See also 5 References The events A Sydney mounted police detachment was dispatched by acting Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales Colonel Kenneth Snodgrass, to track down the Namoi, Weraerai and Kamilaroi people who had killed five stockmen in separate incidents on recently established pastoral runs on the upper Gwydir River area of New South Wales. After two months the mounted police, consisting of two sergeants and twenty troopers led by Major James Nunn, arrested 15 Aborigines along the Namoi River. They released all but two, one of whom was shot whilst attempting to escape. The main body of Kamilaroi eluded the troopers, thus Major Nunn 's party along with two stockmen pursued the Kamilaroi for three weeks from present - day Manilla on the Namoi River north to the upper Gwydir River. On the morning of 26 January in a surprise attack on Nunn 's party, Corporal Hannan was wounded in the leg with a spear and subsequently four or five Aborigines were shot dead in retaliation. The Aborigines fled down the river as the troopers regrouped, rearmed and pursued them led by the second - in - command, Lieutenant George Cobban. Cobban 's party found their quarry about a mile down the river at a point now known as Waterloo Creek, where a second engagement took place. The encounter lasted several hours and no Aborigines were captured. ' Disproportionate force ' As there had been no declaration of martial law or other authorising legislation, the police lacked authority to use more than reasonable force proportionate to any risk to the safety of persons or property. Nobody had a licence to kill. The troopers may therefore have used disproportionate force directed towards individuals who posed no risk to anybody or anything. There was a suspicion that the troopers might have acted as an ill - disciplined military force rather than as a regular police force. Official inquiry On 5 March 1838, Nunn submitted a report on his expedition to the newly arrived Governor Gipps. Within the following month the Colony 's Executive Council ( the Colonial government constituted by the Governor and his advisers ) accepted a recommendation of their Attorney General, Mr J.H. Plunkett, that there be an official inquiry into the expedition, including the Aboriginal deaths. The colonial government and the Colonial Office in England were both conscious of a need to extend the rule of law to Aborigines as well as other `` British subjects '' in the Colony. On 6 April 1838 the Executive Council decided to issue regulations in the form of a government notice announcing that there would be an inquiry ( that is, a coronial inquiry ) into the death of any Aboriginal at the hands of a Colonist in the same way as that held when the death of a Colonist occurred through violence or suddenly. However, the decision to publish this Inquiry notice was delayed, with the Executive Council deciding to defer publication until after `` public excitement '' ( about the Myall Creek murderers ' executions ) had abated. On 14 August 1838 the Legislative Council appointed a Committee of Inquiry into `` the present state of Aborigines '', to be presided over by the Anglican Bishop, William Broughton. Gipps 's own inquiry into the Nunn expedition was delayed. He claimed to be unable to produce eyewitness evidence from mounted police owing to demands on police attendance elsewhere, and he could not afford to alienate the police volunteers upon whom policing then depended. Additionally, Colonists away from urban areas were tending to take the law into their own hands. Some argue that there was a breakdown in law and order, affecting the capacity of the NSW Government to govern. Although the Nunn inquiry was reactivated on 22 July 1839 at the Merton Courthouse, New South Wales, there were no convictions and the matter was dropped. The only eyewitness accounts of the fatal main engagement were provided by Lieutenant Cobban and Sergeant John Lee. Its outcome did not result in any further judicial proceedings. Attorney General Plunkett was reluctant to prosecute any of Nunn 's expeditionary force, due to the time delays, the unavailability of reliable evidence and popular opposition. The Executive Council decided to take no further action. It accepted that the Aboriginal deaths at Waterloo Creek were the consequence of the police, led by a military officer, acting honestly even if mistakenly or unwisely, under orders and in execution of their duty, to repel an `` aggressive attack '' by Aboriginals. Police statements Lieutenant Cobban claimed he rode to the rear of the group and found a large cache of Aboriginal weapons in the bush and secured them. When he returned to the river, he admitted to seeing two Aborigines being shot, trying to escape and believed that at most three or four Aborigines had been killed in the conflict. Sergeant John Lee was with the main detachment of mounted police that pursued the Aborigines into the river. He claimed that forty to fifty Aborigines were killed. Later historians ' views More recently, historians and other commentators have offered varying accounts of the site of the conflict and the number of casualties. R.H.W. Reece : The site was at the junction of the Slaughterhouse Creek and the Gwydir River, and 60 or 70 Aborigines were killed. Lyndall Ryan : Sergeant Lee 's estimate of 40 to 50 killed is the most reliable. Keith Windschuttle : What occurred at Waterloo Creek was a legitimate police action in which at most three to four Aborigines were killed in the second encounter. Roger Milliss : 200 - 300 Gamilaraay people were killed around the site of Snodgrass Lagoon at the Lower Waters of Waterloo Creek. See also List of massacres of Indigenous Australians References Jump up ^ Historical Records Of Australia, ( Enclosure A6 to Minute No. 20 of 1839 ), 22 July 1839. Depositions at inquiry re collision between mounted police under J.W. Nunn and aborigines Jump up ^ Ryan, L. ( 2003 ), Attwood, Bain ; Foster, S.G., eds., Waterloo Creek, Northern New South Wales, 1838, Frontier Conflict : The Australian Experience, Canberra : National Museum of Australia, pp. 33 -- 43, ISBN 1876944110 Jump up ^ Historical Records Of Australia p. 251. ^ Jump up to : Ryan p. 36 Jump up ^ Deposition of George Geddes McKenzie Cobban, 17 May 1839, Historical Records of Australia, series i, vol. XX, pp. 253 -- 6. ^ Jump up to : Lindsay, Geoff ( 2007 ). `` Aborigines, Colonists and the Law 1838 '' ( PDF ). The Francis Forbes Society For Australian Legal History. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018. Jump up ^ Attwood, Bain ( 1999 ), ' My Country ' : A history of the Djadja Wurrung 1837 - 1864, 25, Monash Publications in History, ISSN 0818 - 0032, retrieved 5 March 2018 Jump up ^ Historical Records Of Australia p. 252 Jump up ^ Ryan p. 38 Jump up ^ Ryan p. 39 Jump up ^ Cited by Ryan, p. 40 Jump up ^ Milliss, Roger ( 1992 ). Waterloo Creek : The Australia Day Massacre of 1838. George Gipps and the British Conquest of New South Wales. Ringwood, Victoria : McPhee Gribble. p. 834. ISBN 9780869141564. Australian frontier wars Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars ( 1795 -- 1816 ) Battle of Richmond Hill Battle of Parramatta Tedbury 's War ( 1804 -- 05 ) Bathurst War ( 1824 ) Black War ( Tasmania ) ( 1828 -- 32 ) Cape Grim massacre ( 1828 ) Port Phillip District Wars ( 1830 -- 50 ) Yagan Resistance ( 1831 -- 33 ) Convincing Ground massacre ( 1833 / 34 ) Battle of Pinjarra ( 1834 ) Broken River ( 1836 ) Waterloo Creek massacre ( 1838 ) Myall Creek massacre ( 1838 ) Campaspe Plains massacre ( 1839 ) Blood Hole massacre ( 1839 ) Maria massacre ( 1840 ) Gippsland massacres ( 1840s ) Eumerella Wars ( 1840s -- 1860s ) Rufus River massacre ( 1841 ) Pelican Creek tragedy ( 1842 ) Evans Head massacre ( 1842 ) Battle of One Tree Hill ( 1843 ) Darkey Flat Massacre ( circa 1845 ) Avenue Range Station massacre ( 1848 ) Waterloo Bay massacre ( 1849 ) East Ballina massacre ( 1853 ) Cullin - La - Ringo massacre ( 1861 ) Flying Foam Massacre ( 1868 ) Kalkadoon Wars ( 1870 -- 90 ) Jandamarra Guerilla War ( 1894 -- 97 ) Mowla Bluff massacre ( 1916 ) Forrest River massacre ( 1926 ) Coniston massacre ( 1928 ) Caledon Bay crisis ( 1932 -- 34 ) Coordinates : 29 ° 47 ′ 36 '' S 149 ° 27 ′ 12 '' E ﻿ / ﻿ 29.79333 ° S 149.45333 ° E ﻿ / - 29.79333 ; 149.45333 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waterloo_Creek_massacre&oldid=840651819 '' Categories : Conflicts in 1838 Crime in New South Wales Deaths by firearm in New South Wales 1838 in Australia Australian National Heritage List 19th century in New South Wales Massacres of Indigenous Australians January 1838 events Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from February 2018 Use Australian English from March 2018 All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from May 2018 Coordinates not on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Lietuvių Edit links This page was last edited on 11 May 2018, at 07 : 35. 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Question: who was involved in the waterloo creek massacre
Answer: mounted police