Easter Rising: A History From Beginning to End (Irish History Book 1) by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2016-07-17T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

The Easter Rising, Days Two and Three

“‘Those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword’ say the Scriptures, and it may well be that in the progress of events the working class of Ireland may be called upon to face the stern necessity of taking the sword (or rifle) against the capitalist class.”

—James Connolly

The British became much more serious and aggressive on the second day of the Easter Rising, Tuesday, April 26. Lord Wimborne, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (Britain’s chief political representative in Ireland), declared martial law, and early in the day, the commander in charge of putting down the rising, Brigadier-General William Lowe (a veteran of the Second Boer War), entered the city. While he moved cautiously since he was unsure of how many rebels he faced and had only just over one thousand troops under him at the time, he was able to quickly secure City Hall.

As previously stated, the rebels were highly strategic in their movements, but failures on their part early on would cost them dearly. Mainly, they failed to capture and secure the railroads, ports, and roads into Dublin. This meant that the British could resupply with fresh forces, food, and whatever else they needed indefinitely to put down the rebellion. The rebels were therefore easily outnumbered early on in their efforts. This did not mean that they did not try, however, and sometimes fierce fighting erupted around these strategic areas. But by the end of the week, Britain had managed to send in about sixteen thousand troops, as well as ample amounts of modern artillery and supplies that they would use without hesitation against the Irish rebels, infrastructure, and even civilians.

Lowe became aware that many members of the Citizen Army had spent the night on St. Stephen’s Green. In the early morning, he sent more than one hundred troops, armed with machine guns, to attack the green. The rebels stationed there fought valiantly, but they were forced to retreat into one of the other buildings, where they largely remained until the uprising was put down.

The rebels continued to hold out hope that the people of Ireland would take up arms with them, especially since there were few casualties and several successes on the first day of fighting. However, this support never materialized, and the less than two thousand troops were left to fight on their own. That they held out for almost a week is nothing short of remarkable.

The rebels did not just hold out hope for support; they actively sought it. That afternoon, after the loss of City Hall and St. Stephen’s Green, Patrick Pearse, the appointed leader, marched out to O’Connell Street (where Bloody Sunday, 1913, had begun) in Dublin’s city center and issued a “manifesto to the citizens of Dublin,” calling on them for support. While Pearse was a stirring orator, his pleas largely went unanswered and very few additional Irish men or women came forward to support the rising.

Because the British controlled Ireland, presumably, they had

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.