The rebellion involved a group of escaped convicts who ransacked villages and engaged in shootouts over the course of two months. Led by 25-year-old English-born convict Ralph Entwistle, the group numbered up to 80 men at its peak, making it the largest convict uprising in New South Wales history since the Castle Hill rebellion of 1804. The rebels became known as the Ribbon gang on account of Entwistle wearing "a profusion of white streamers about his head".