Sergeant Michael Kennedy was killed in a gun battle with the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878.
On 26 October 1878, Ned and Dan Kelly, aided by friends Steve Hart and Joe Byrne, ambushed the police. Constable Thomas McIntyre was captured by the Gang while Constables Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan were shot dead. Sergeant Michael Kennedy then fought a lone gun battle against the four murderers until he was wounded and fell to the ground. Defenceless, he was then murdered by Ned Kelly.
Thomas McIntyre escaped and, tormented for the rest of his life over the affair, later wrote this account of what happened. After the shoot-out at Glenrowan, Thomas McIntyre was the only living witness to what had occurred at Stringybark Creek. Unsurprisingly, his version of events differed markedly from that given by Ned Kelly at Kelly's trial in Melbourne.
Ned Kelly later stated that Michael Kennedy was the bravest man he had ever met, and that he killed Kennedy to put him out of his misery, Kennedy having been mortally wounded.
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Below are some reports of the incident at Stringybark Creek, and some contemporary newspaper reports:
The police heard privately that the Kellys were in the Wombat Ranges at the head of the King River. On Friday 25 October 1878, two parties of police were secretly dispatched, one from Greta, consisting of five men, with Sergeant Steele in command, and one of four from Mansfield, with the intention of executing a pincer movement.
Sergeant Kennedy from the Mansfield party, in civilian dress, set off to search for the Kellys, accompanied by Constables McIntyre,
Lonigan, and Scanlan. The police set up a camp on a disused diggings near two miners huts at Stringybark Creek in a heavily timbered area.
About six a.m. on Saturday, Kennedy and Scanlan went down the creek to explore, and they stayed away nearly all day. It was McIntyre's duty to cook, and he attended closely to camp duty. During the morning a noise was heard, and McIntyre went out to have a look, but found nothing. He fired two shots out of his gun at a pair of parrots. This gunshot, he subsequently learned, was heard by Kelly, who must have been on the lookout for the police. At about 5 p.m., McIntyre was at the fire making tea, with Lonigan by him, when they were suddenly surprised with the cry, "Bail up; throw up your arms."
They looked up, and saw four armed men on foot. Three carried guns, and Ned Kelly two rifles. Two of the men they did not know, but the fourth was the younger Kelly. They had approached up the rises and long grass or rushes had provided them with excellent cover until they got close. McIntyre had left his revolver at the tent door, and was unarmed. He therefore held up his hands as directed, and faced them. Lonigan started for shelter behind a tree, and at the same time put his hand upon his revolver. Before he had moved two paces, Edward Kelly shot him in the temple. He fell at once, and as he laid on the ground said, "Oh Christ, I am shot." He died in a few seconds. Kelly had McIntyre searched, and when they found he was unarmed, they let him drop his hands. They got possession of Lonigan and McIntyre's revolvers. Kelly remarked, "What a pity; what made the fool run?" The men helped themselves to articles from the tent. Kelly talked to McIntyre, and expressed his wonder that the police should have been so foolhardy as to look for him in the ranges. He made inquiries about four men, and said he would roast each of them alive if he caught them. Steele and Flood were two of the four. He asked McIntyre what he fired at and said they must have been fools not to suppose he was ready for them. It was evident that he knew the exact state of the camp, the number of men, and the description of the horses. He asked where the other two were, and said he would put a hole through McIntyre if he told a lie. McIntyre told him and hoped they would not be shot in cold blood. Kelly replied "No, I am not a coward. I'll shoot no man if he holds up his hands."
One of the gang told McIntyre to take some tea and asked for tobacco. He gave them tobacco and had a smoke himself. Dan Kelly suggested that he should be handcuffed, but Ned pointed to his rifle and said, "I have got something better here. Don't you attempt to go; if you do I'll track you to Mansfield and shoot you at the police station." McIntyre asked whether he was to be shot. Kelly replied, "No, why should I want to shoot you? Could I not have done it half an hour ago if I had wanted?" He added, "At first I thought you were Constable Flood. If you had been, I would have roasted you in the fire." Kelly asked for news of the Sydney man, the murderer of Sergeant Wallings. McIntyre said the police had shot him. "I suppose you came out to shoot me?" "No," replied McIntyre, "we came to apprehend you." "What," asked Kelly, " brings you out here at all? It is a shame to see fine big strapping fellows like you in a lazy loafing billet like policemen." He told McIntyre if he was let go he must leave the police, and McIntyre said he would. The best thing McIntyre could do was to get his comrades to surrender, for if they escaped he would be shot. "If you attempt to let them know we are here, you will be shot at once.
McIntyre asked what they would do if he induced his comrades to surrender. Kelly said he would detain them all night, as he wanted a sleep, and let them go next morning without their arms or horses. McIntyre told Kelly that he would induce his comrades to surrender if he would keep his word, but he would rather be shot a thousand times than sell them. He added that one of the two was father of a large family. Kelly said, "You can depend on us." Kelly stated that Fitzpatrick, the man who tried to arrest his brother in April, was the cause of all this; that his (Kelly's) mother and the rest had been unjustly "lagged" at Beechworth. Kelly then caught sound of the approach of Kennedy and Scanlan, and the four men concealed themselves, some behind logs, and one in the tent. They made McIntyre sit on a log, and Kelly said, "Mind, I have a rifle for you if you give any alarm." Kennedy and Scanlan rode into the camp. McIntyre went forward, and said, "Sergeant, I think you had better dismount and surrender, as you are surrounded. Kelly at the same time called out, "Put up your hands." Kennedy appeared to think it was Lonigan who called out, and that a jest was intended, for he smiled and put his hand on his revolver case. He was instantly fired at, but not hit; and Kennedy then realised the hopelessness of his position, jumped off his horse, and said, "It's all right, stop it, stop it." Scanlan, who carried the Spencer rifle, jumped down and tried to make for a tree, but before he could unsling his rifle, he was shot down. A number of shots were fired.
McIntyre found that the men intended to shoot the whole of the party, so he jumped on Kennedy's horse, and dashed down the creek. As he rode off he heard Daniel Kelly call out, "Shoot that ******". Several shots were fired but none reached him. Apparently the rifles were empty and only the revolvers available, or he would have been hit. He galloped through the scrub for two miles, and then his horse became exhausted. It had evidently been wounded. He took off the saddle and bridle, and wounded from a severe fall during his escape and with his clothes in tatters, he concealed himself in a wombat hole until dark. At dark, he started on foot, and walked for an hour with his boots off to make no noise before collapsing from exhaustion at Bridge's Creek, After a rest, and using a bright star, and a small compass, he took a westerly course to strike the Benalla and Mansfield telegraph line and on Sunday afternoon at about 3pm after a journey of about 20 miles, he reached John McColl's place, about a mile from Mansfield. A neighbouring farmer's buggy took him to the police camp at the township, where be reported all he knew to Sub-Inspecter Pewtress.
Two hours or so after McIntyre reported the murder of the troopers, Sub-Inspector Pewtress set out for the camp, accompanied by McIntyre and seven or eight townspeople. They had only one revolver and one gun. They reached the camp with the assistance of a guide, at half-past 2 in the morning. There they found the bodies of Scanlan and Lonigan. They searched at daylight for the sergeant, but found no trace of him. The tent had been burnt and everything taken away or destroyed. The post-mortem, by Dr. Reynolds, showed that Lonigan had received seven wounds, one through the eyeball. Scanlan's body had four shot-marks with the fatal wound was caused by a rifle ball which went clean through the lungs. Scanlan was 33, Lonigan 37 years of age. Three additional shots had been fired into Lonigan's dead body before the men left the camp. The extra shots were fired so that all of the gang might be equally implicated.
During the search for Kennedy, on 29 October, two relatives of the Kellys known as "Dummy Wright" and "Wild Wright" were arrested in Mansfield. Wild Wright had to be threatened with a revolver before he consented to handcuffs. The two Wrights were brought to the police court and charged with using threatening language towards members of the search party. The older brother, Wild Wright, was remanded for seven days and the other released.
No trace had yet been discovered of Kennedy, and the same day as Scanlan and Lonigan's funeral, another search party was started, which also failed. At four o'clock on the following Wednesday another party started, headed by James Tomkins, president of the Mansfield shire, and Sub-Inspector Pewtress, accompanied by several residents, and on the following morning the body of the unfortunate sergeant was found by H. G. Sparrow.
The exact place at Germans Creek near a large tree where this occurred was identified in 2006. On leaving the scene Ned stole Sergeant Kennedy's handwritten note for his wife and his gold fob watch. Asked later why he stole the watch, Ned replied, "What's the use of a watch to a dead man?" Kennedy's watch was returned to his kin many years later.
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"A general feeling of regret was expressed throughout the city yesterday afternoon when it became known that any hopes which had been entertained with regard to the safety of the missing Sergeant [Michael] Kennedy had been dispelled by the discovery of the dead body of the unfortunate officer. The melancholy intelligence was brought into Mansfield between 1 and 2 o'clock yesterday, by a search party under the direction of Inspector Pewtress and Mr. Tomkins, the president of the shire. Many conjectures had been made as to the probable fate of the missing sergeant, but while a general impression appeared to gain ground amongst the people in the locality that Edward Kelly and his band of marauders had taken Kennedy with them to the King River, scarcely anybody ventured to do more than hope that the gallant officer, who appears to have been ruthlessly shot, had not been murdered. The worst fears, however, have at length been realised, and the desperadoes have added another diabolical deed to their atrocious crimes. From the particulars telegraphed by our correspondent it appears that the search party, consisting of 10 volunteers and five constables, arrived at Stringy-bark Creek at half-past 7 o'clock on Thursday morning, and renewed the search. Shortly afterwards their labours were rewarded by one of the volunteers named Henry Sparrow, an overseer at the Mount Battery Station, finding Sergeant Kennedy's body within half a mile of the camp where Constables Scanlan and Lonergan received their death wounds. The body presented a frightful spectacle, and from the manner in which it had been mutilated was scarcely recognisable. The unfortunate sergeant had evidently attempted to escape from his murderers by the same track as that taken by Constable McIntyre when he jumped upon Kennedy's horse and rode off, as bullet marks were visible on some of the trees in the line of the track. He had been shot through the side of the head, the bullet coming out in front, and carrying away part of the face, while several other bullet wounds were found on his body, one of which had penetrated the lungs. His jacket was singed is if a bullet had been fired into his body from very close quarters, probably after the unfortunate man had fallen. The remains were placed upon horseback, and conveyed into the township, where the excitement over the deeds of the outlaws appears to be increasing. Sergeant Kennedy was a vigilant officer and generally well liked, and much sympathy is expressed for his widow and five children, who, however, are believed to be in tolerably good circumstances."
Argus (Melbourne), 1 Nov 1878.
"The means by which the following account was obtained I am compelled in honour to keep secret, but I place every reliance upon the source from whence it came. One portion of the sad narrative is confirmed from the fact that when the remains of Sergeant Kennedy were discovered there were found near him some sheets of writing paper, fastened together with a small paper binder, with three leaves torn from it, and upon the missing leaves it is supposed the letter was written to his wife. It has since been proved that this paper was bought in Mansfield by the late Sergeant Kennedy previous to starting on the fatal expedition. The particulars given below were related by Kelly himself personally to a confederate some time after the murders were committed, whose name I cannot reveal. The following is the account referred to: —
McIntye's evidence as given in the Mansfield Guardian is, in the main, pretty correct. Upon seeing McIntyre gallop away, Kennedy continued to fire at us without effect as we sheltered ourselves. We let him fire about five shots from his revolver, he remaining nearly in the one position, and standing. A shot was fired by one of my mates, after which he started to run, followed by my brother and myself. After running about a quarter of a mile, and apparently seeing no chance of escape, as we were making upon him with our weapons, Kennedy got behind a tree, and as I came within pistol shot he fired his last remaining charge. As I saw him levelling fair at my head, I suddenly fell on my knees, and as I did so I heard the bullet whiz past over my head. I then fired at Kennedy, who fell wounded at the foot of the tree where his body was afterwards found. The other two men, Hart and Byrne, who were coming up to us, seeing that the sergeant was secured, turned and went in pursuit of McIntyre, who had escaped on Kennedy's horse. The sergeant never moved from the spot where he fell, but complained of the pain he felt from the bullet wound. I should say we were with him nearly two hours trying to get what information we could out of him. He always endeavoured to turn the conversation in the direction of his domestic affairs, his home, his wife and family, and very frequently of the little one he had recently buried in the Mansfield Cemetery, to whom he seemed very much attached, evidently knowing he would soon be by its side. I could not help feeling very much touched at his pitiable condition, and after a little I said, "Well, Kennedy, I am sorry that I shot you. Here take my gun and shoot me." Kennedy replied, "No, I forgive you, and may God forgive you too." He then wrote as much on some slips in his note book as his fast failing strength would allow him. After he had written what he could with his pencil he handed the paper to me, and asked if I would give it to his wife. I took the paper, and promised that when I had a safe opportunity I would do so. The sergeant then appeared to be suffering very much and in great agony. I could not look upon him so, and did not wish to leave him alone to linger out in such pain, so I suddenly, without letting him see what I intended, put the muzzle of my gun to within a few inches of Kennedy's breast. When he saw that I was going to shoot him he begged of me to leave him alive saying, "Let me alone to live, if I can, for the sake of my poor wife and family. You surely have shed blood enough." I fired, and he died instantly, without another groan. We then took his cloak and covered it over his body, and left him to be buried by those who might find him. I did not cut off his ear as reported, it must have been eaten away."
Argus (Melbourne), 13 Dec 1878.
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A marble headstone over the grave commemorates Police Sergeant Michael Kennedy, killed in the gun battle with the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878. An inscription was added to the memorial at a later date in memory of his wife Bridget Mary who died in 1924.
According to the Benalla Standard, "some hitch is likely to arise regarding the erection of a tombstone in the Mansfield cemetery over the graves of sergeant Kennedy and constables Lonegan and Scanlon, who were murdered by the Kelly gang." A number of gentlemen, with the assistance of the Government grant, have secured about £200, with which it was intended to erect a suitable tombstone over the graves of the unfortunate policemen. On account of two of the deceased being Roman Catholics and the third a Protestant, it was decided that the bodies should first be laid together, and in order to effect this the consent was obtained from Mrs. Kennedy and the relatives of the other two for the necessary removal, so that the three bodies shall be placed side by side in the ground over which the tombstone is to be erected. To this step Father O'Reilly, the priest residing at Mansfield, has objected, and he refuses to sanction either the removal of the bodies from the Roman Catholic ground or the interment of the Protestant body in the Roman Catholic ground. We consider the Roman Catholic bishop should be appealed to in this ease for permission to sanction the request asked. It seems hard that these brave fellows, who lived, fought, and died together, should have their ashes separated under such circumstances by the mandate of one parson. If the request is not complied with, we would suggest that the three bodies be exhumed and placed under the large monument about to be erected in the cross streets of Mansfield by the Murdered Police Memorial Fund Committee.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW), 7 Jan 1880.
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In 1879, G. Wilson Hall printed a book in Mansfield called The Kelly Gang, Outlaws of the Wombat Ranges. It included a song called "Stringybark Creek" which is believed to have been written by Joe Byrne. It described in verse the story of what had happened. The first verse is:
A sergeant and three constables
Rode Out from Mansfield town,
Near the end of last October
For to hunt the Kellys down.
So they travelled to the Wombat
And they thought it quite a lark,
And they camped upon the borders
Of a creek called Stringbark.
The song has been recorded many times, including the Australian folk-rock band the Bushwackers on their 1979 album, Bushfire.
Sergeant Michael Kennedy is Related to Michael Joseph and Mary Anne Quirke (Fitzgerald) from New Zealand.
As of 2008 Sergeant Michael Kennedy has a Great Grandson serving in the Victorian Police Force and in September 2014 he accepted Sergeant Michael Kennedy's Posthumous Victoria Police Star on Australian National Police Remembrance Day.
On 26 October 1878, Ned and Dan Kelly, aided by friends Steve Hart and Joe Byrne, ambushed the police. Constable Thomas McIntyre was captured by the Gang while Constables Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan were shot dead. Sergeant Michael Kennedy then fought a lone gun battle against the four murderers until he was wounded and fell to the ground. Defenceless, he was then murdered by Ned Kelly.
Thomas McIntyre escaped and, tormented for the rest of his life over the affair, later wrote this account of what happened. After the shoot-out at Glenrowan, Thomas McIntyre was the only living witness to what had occurred at Stringybark Creek. Unsurprisingly, his version of events differed markedly from that given by Ned Kelly at Kelly's trial in Melbourne.
Ned Kelly later stated that Michael Kennedy was the bravest man he had ever met, and that he killed Kennedy to put him out of his misery, Kennedy having been mortally wounded.
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Below are some reports of the incident at Stringybark Creek, and some contemporary newspaper reports:
The police heard privately that the Kellys were in the Wombat Ranges at the head of the King River. On Friday 25 October 1878, two parties of police were secretly dispatched, one from Greta, consisting of five men, with Sergeant Steele in command, and one of four from Mansfield, with the intention of executing a pincer movement.
Sergeant Kennedy from the Mansfield party, in civilian dress, set off to search for the Kellys, accompanied by Constables McIntyre,
Lonigan, and Scanlan. The police set up a camp on a disused diggings near two miners huts at Stringybark Creek in a heavily timbered area.
About six a.m. on Saturday, Kennedy and Scanlan went down the creek to explore, and they stayed away nearly all day. It was McIntyre's duty to cook, and he attended closely to camp duty. During the morning a noise was heard, and McIntyre went out to have a look, but found nothing. He fired two shots out of his gun at a pair of parrots. This gunshot, he subsequently learned, was heard by Kelly, who must have been on the lookout for the police. At about 5 p.m., McIntyre was at the fire making tea, with Lonigan by him, when they were suddenly surprised with the cry, "Bail up; throw up your arms."
They looked up, and saw four armed men on foot. Three carried guns, and Ned Kelly two rifles. Two of the men they did not know, but the fourth was the younger Kelly. They had approached up the rises and long grass or rushes had provided them with excellent cover until they got close. McIntyre had left his revolver at the tent door, and was unarmed. He therefore held up his hands as directed, and faced them. Lonigan started for shelter behind a tree, and at the same time put his hand upon his revolver. Before he had moved two paces, Edward Kelly shot him in the temple. He fell at once, and as he laid on the ground said, "Oh Christ, I am shot." He died in a few seconds. Kelly had McIntyre searched, and when they found he was unarmed, they let him drop his hands. They got possession of Lonigan and McIntyre's revolvers. Kelly remarked, "What a pity; what made the fool run?" The men helped themselves to articles from the tent. Kelly talked to McIntyre, and expressed his wonder that the police should have been so foolhardy as to look for him in the ranges. He made inquiries about four men, and said he would roast each of them alive if he caught them. Steele and Flood were two of the four. He asked McIntyre what he fired at and said they must have been fools not to suppose he was ready for them. It was evident that he knew the exact state of the camp, the number of men, and the description of the horses. He asked where the other two were, and said he would put a hole through McIntyre if he told a lie. McIntyre told him and hoped they would not be shot in cold blood. Kelly replied "No, I am not a coward. I'll shoot no man if he holds up his hands."
One of the gang told McIntyre to take some tea and asked for tobacco. He gave them tobacco and had a smoke himself. Dan Kelly suggested that he should be handcuffed, but Ned pointed to his rifle and said, "I have got something better here. Don't you attempt to go; if you do I'll track you to Mansfield and shoot you at the police station." McIntyre asked whether he was to be shot. Kelly replied, "No, why should I want to shoot you? Could I not have done it half an hour ago if I had wanted?" He added, "At first I thought you were Constable Flood. If you had been, I would have roasted you in the fire." Kelly asked for news of the Sydney man, the murderer of Sergeant Wallings. McIntyre said the police had shot him. "I suppose you came out to shoot me?" "No," replied McIntyre, "we came to apprehend you." "What," asked Kelly, " brings you out here at all? It is a shame to see fine big strapping fellows like you in a lazy loafing billet like policemen." He told McIntyre if he was let go he must leave the police, and McIntyre said he would. The best thing McIntyre could do was to get his comrades to surrender, for if they escaped he would be shot. "If you attempt to let them know we are here, you will be shot at once.
McIntyre asked what they would do if he induced his comrades to surrender. Kelly said he would detain them all night, as he wanted a sleep, and let them go next morning without their arms or horses. McIntyre told Kelly that he would induce his comrades to surrender if he would keep his word, but he would rather be shot a thousand times than sell them. He added that one of the two was father of a large family. Kelly said, "You can depend on us." Kelly stated that Fitzpatrick, the man who tried to arrest his brother in April, was the cause of all this; that his (Kelly's) mother and the rest had been unjustly "lagged" at Beechworth. Kelly then caught sound of the approach of Kennedy and Scanlan, and the four men concealed themselves, some behind logs, and one in the tent. They made McIntyre sit on a log, and Kelly said, "Mind, I have a rifle for you if you give any alarm." Kennedy and Scanlan rode into the camp. McIntyre went forward, and said, "Sergeant, I think you had better dismount and surrender, as you are surrounded. Kelly at the same time called out, "Put up your hands." Kennedy appeared to think it was Lonigan who called out, and that a jest was intended, for he smiled and put his hand on his revolver case. He was instantly fired at, but not hit; and Kennedy then realised the hopelessness of his position, jumped off his horse, and said, "It's all right, stop it, stop it." Scanlan, who carried the Spencer rifle, jumped down and tried to make for a tree, but before he could unsling his rifle, he was shot down. A number of shots were fired.
McIntyre found that the men intended to shoot the whole of the party, so he jumped on Kennedy's horse, and dashed down the creek. As he rode off he heard Daniel Kelly call out, "Shoot that ******". Several shots were fired but none reached him. Apparently the rifles were empty and only the revolvers available, or he would have been hit. He galloped through the scrub for two miles, and then his horse became exhausted. It had evidently been wounded. He took off the saddle and bridle, and wounded from a severe fall during his escape and with his clothes in tatters, he concealed himself in a wombat hole until dark. At dark, he started on foot, and walked for an hour with his boots off to make no noise before collapsing from exhaustion at Bridge's Creek, After a rest, and using a bright star, and a small compass, he took a westerly course to strike the Benalla and Mansfield telegraph line and on Sunday afternoon at about 3pm after a journey of about 20 miles, he reached John McColl's place, about a mile from Mansfield. A neighbouring farmer's buggy took him to the police camp at the township, where be reported all he knew to Sub-Inspecter Pewtress.
Two hours or so after McIntyre reported the murder of the troopers, Sub-Inspector Pewtress set out for the camp, accompanied by McIntyre and seven or eight townspeople. They had only one revolver and one gun. They reached the camp with the assistance of a guide, at half-past 2 in the morning. There they found the bodies of Scanlan and Lonigan. They searched at daylight for the sergeant, but found no trace of him. The tent had been burnt and everything taken away or destroyed. The post-mortem, by Dr. Reynolds, showed that Lonigan had received seven wounds, one through the eyeball. Scanlan's body had four shot-marks with the fatal wound was caused by a rifle ball which went clean through the lungs. Scanlan was 33, Lonigan 37 years of age. Three additional shots had been fired into Lonigan's dead body before the men left the camp. The extra shots were fired so that all of the gang might be equally implicated.
During the search for Kennedy, on 29 October, two relatives of the Kellys known as "Dummy Wright" and "Wild Wright" were arrested in Mansfield. Wild Wright had to be threatened with a revolver before he consented to handcuffs. The two Wrights were brought to the police court and charged with using threatening language towards members of the search party. The older brother, Wild Wright, was remanded for seven days and the other released.
No trace had yet been discovered of Kennedy, and the same day as Scanlan and Lonigan's funeral, another search party was started, which also failed. At four o'clock on the following Wednesday another party started, headed by James Tomkins, president of the Mansfield shire, and Sub-Inspector Pewtress, accompanied by several residents, and on the following morning the body of the unfortunate sergeant was found by H. G. Sparrow.
The exact place at Germans Creek near a large tree where this occurred was identified in 2006. On leaving the scene Ned stole Sergeant Kennedy's handwritten note for his wife and his gold fob watch. Asked later why he stole the watch, Ned replied, "What's the use of a watch to a dead man?" Kennedy's watch was returned to his kin many years later.
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"A general feeling of regret was expressed throughout the city yesterday afternoon when it became known that any hopes which had been entertained with regard to the safety of the missing Sergeant [Michael] Kennedy had been dispelled by the discovery of the dead body of the unfortunate officer. The melancholy intelligence was brought into Mansfield between 1 and 2 o'clock yesterday, by a search party under the direction of Inspector Pewtress and Mr. Tomkins, the president of the shire. Many conjectures had been made as to the probable fate of the missing sergeant, but while a general impression appeared to gain ground amongst the people in the locality that Edward Kelly and his band of marauders had taken Kennedy with them to the King River, scarcely anybody ventured to do more than hope that the gallant officer, who appears to have been ruthlessly shot, had not been murdered. The worst fears, however, have at length been realised, and the desperadoes have added another diabolical deed to their atrocious crimes. From the particulars telegraphed by our correspondent it appears that the search party, consisting of 10 volunteers and five constables, arrived at Stringy-bark Creek at half-past 7 o'clock on Thursday morning, and renewed the search. Shortly afterwards their labours were rewarded by one of the volunteers named Henry Sparrow, an overseer at the Mount Battery Station, finding Sergeant Kennedy's body within half a mile of the camp where Constables Scanlan and Lonergan received their death wounds. The body presented a frightful spectacle, and from the manner in which it had been mutilated was scarcely recognisable. The unfortunate sergeant had evidently attempted to escape from his murderers by the same track as that taken by Constable McIntyre when he jumped upon Kennedy's horse and rode off, as bullet marks were visible on some of the trees in the line of the track. He had been shot through the side of the head, the bullet coming out in front, and carrying away part of the face, while several other bullet wounds were found on his body, one of which had penetrated the lungs. His jacket was singed is if a bullet had been fired into his body from very close quarters, probably after the unfortunate man had fallen. The remains were placed upon horseback, and conveyed into the township, where the excitement over the deeds of the outlaws appears to be increasing. Sergeant Kennedy was a vigilant officer and generally well liked, and much sympathy is expressed for his widow and five children, who, however, are believed to be in tolerably good circumstances."
Argus (Melbourne), 1 Nov 1878.
"The means by which the following account was obtained I am compelled in honour to keep secret, but I place every reliance upon the source from whence it came. One portion of the sad narrative is confirmed from the fact that when the remains of Sergeant Kennedy were discovered there were found near him some sheets of writing paper, fastened together with a small paper binder, with three leaves torn from it, and upon the missing leaves it is supposed the letter was written to his wife. It has since been proved that this paper was bought in Mansfield by the late Sergeant Kennedy previous to starting on the fatal expedition. The particulars given below were related by Kelly himself personally to a confederate some time after the murders were committed, whose name I cannot reveal. The following is the account referred to: —
McIntye's evidence as given in the Mansfield Guardian is, in the main, pretty correct. Upon seeing McIntyre gallop away, Kennedy continued to fire at us without effect as we sheltered ourselves. We let him fire about five shots from his revolver, he remaining nearly in the one position, and standing. A shot was fired by one of my mates, after which he started to run, followed by my brother and myself. After running about a quarter of a mile, and apparently seeing no chance of escape, as we were making upon him with our weapons, Kennedy got behind a tree, and as I came within pistol shot he fired his last remaining charge. As I saw him levelling fair at my head, I suddenly fell on my knees, and as I did so I heard the bullet whiz past over my head. I then fired at Kennedy, who fell wounded at the foot of the tree where his body was afterwards found. The other two men, Hart and Byrne, who were coming up to us, seeing that the sergeant was secured, turned and went in pursuit of McIntyre, who had escaped on Kennedy's horse. The sergeant never moved from the spot where he fell, but complained of the pain he felt from the bullet wound. I should say we were with him nearly two hours trying to get what information we could out of him. He always endeavoured to turn the conversation in the direction of his domestic affairs, his home, his wife and family, and very frequently of the little one he had recently buried in the Mansfield Cemetery, to whom he seemed very much attached, evidently knowing he would soon be by its side. I could not help feeling very much touched at his pitiable condition, and after a little I said, "Well, Kennedy, I am sorry that I shot you. Here take my gun and shoot me." Kennedy replied, "No, I forgive you, and may God forgive you too." He then wrote as much on some slips in his note book as his fast failing strength would allow him. After he had written what he could with his pencil he handed the paper to me, and asked if I would give it to his wife. I took the paper, and promised that when I had a safe opportunity I would do so. The sergeant then appeared to be suffering very much and in great agony. I could not look upon him so, and did not wish to leave him alone to linger out in such pain, so I suddenly, without letting him see what I intended, put the muzzle of my gun to within a few inches of Kennedy's breast. When he saw that I was going to shoot him he begged of me to leave him alive saying, "Let me alone to live, if I can, for the sake of my poor wife and family. You surely have shed blood enough." I fired, and he died instantly, without another groan. We then took his cloak and covered it over his body, and left him to be buried by those who might find him. I did not cut off his ear as reported, it must have been eaten away."
Argus (Melbourne), 13 Dec 1878.
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A marble headstone over the grave commemorates Police Sergeant Michael Kennedy, killed in the gun battle with the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878. An inscription was added to the memorial at a later date in memory of his wife Bridget Mary who died in 1924.
According to the Benalla Standard, "some hitch is likely to arise regarding the erection of a tombstone in the Mansfield cemetery over the graves of sergeant Kennedy and constables Lonegan and Scanlon, who were murdered by the Kelly gang." A number of gentlemen, with the assistance of the Government grant, have secured about £200, with which it was intended to erect a suitable tombstone over the graves of the unfortunate policemen. On account of two of the deceased being Roman Catholics and the third a Protestant, it was decided that the bodies should first be laid together, and in order to effect this the consent was obtained from Mrs. Kennedy and the relatives of the other two for the necessary removal, so that the three bodies shall be placed side by side in the ground over which the tombstone is to be erected. To this step Father O'Reilly, the priest residing at Mansfield, has objected, and he refuses to sanction either the removal of the bodies from the Roman Catholic ground or the interment of the Protestant body in the Roman Catholic ground. We consider the Roman Catholic bishop should be appealed to in this ease for permission to sanction the request asked. It seems hard that these brave fellows, who lived, fought, and died together, should have their ashes separated under such circumstances by the mandate of one parson. If the request is not complied with, we would suggest that the three bodies be exhumed and placed under the large monument about to be erected in the cross streets of Mansfield by the Murdered Police Memorial Fund Committee.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW), 7 Jan 1880.
----------
In 1879, G. Wilson Hall printed a book in Mansfield called The Kelly Gang, Outlaws of the Wombat Ranges. It included a song called "Stringybark Creek" which is believed to have been written by Joe Byrne. It described in verse the story of what had happened. The first verse is:
A sergeant and three constables
Rode Out from Mansfield town,
Near the end of last October
For to hunt the Kellys down.
So they travelled to the Wombat
And they thought it quite a lark,
And they camped upon the borders
Of a creek called Stringbark.
The song has been recorded many times, including the Australian folk-rock band the Bushwackers on their 1979 album, Bushfire.
Sergeant Michael Kennedy is Related to Michael Joseph and Mary Anne Quirke (Fitzgerald) from New Zealand.
As of 2008 Sergeant Michael Kennedy has a Great Grandson serving in the Victorian Police Force and in September 2014 he accepted Sergeant Michael Kennedy's Posthumous Victoria Police Star on Australian National Police Remembrance Day.
Sergeant Michael Kennedy was killed in a gun battle with the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878.
On 26 October 1878, Ned and Dan Kelly, aided by friends Steve Hart and Joe Byrne, ambushed the police. Constable Thomas McIntyre was captured by the Gang while Constables Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan were shot dead. Sergeant Michael Kennedy then fought a lone gun battle against the four murderers until he was wounded and fell to the ground. Defenceless, he was then murdered by Ned Kelly.
Thomas McIntyre escaped and, tormented for the rest of his life over the affair, later wrote this account of what happened. After the shoot-out at Glenrowan, Thomas McIntyre was the only living witness to what had occurred at Stringybark Creek. Unsurprisingly, his version of events differed markedly from that given by Ned Kelly at Kelly's trial in Melbourne.
Ned Kelly later stated that Michael Kennedy was the bravest man he had ever met, and that he killed Kennedy to put him out of his misery, Kennedy having been mortally wounded.
----------
Below are some reports of the incident at Stringybark Creek, and some contemporary newspaper reports:
The police heard privately that the Kellys were in the Wombat Ranges at the head of the King River. On Friday 25 October 1878, two parties of police were secretly dispatched, one from Greta, consisting of five men, with Sergeant Steele in command, and one of four from Mansfield, with the intention of executing a pincer movement.
Sergeant Kennedy from the Mansfield party, in civilian dress, set off to search for the Kellys, accompanied by Constables McIntyre,
Lonigan, and Scanlan. The police set up a camp on a disused diggings near two miners huts at Stringybark Creek in a heavily timbered area.
About six a.m. on Saturday, Kennedy and Scanlan went down the creek to explore, and they stayed away nearly all day. It was McIntyre's duty to cook, and he attended closely to camp duty. During the morning a noise was heard, and McIntyre went out to have a look, but found nothing. He fired two shots out of his gun at a pair of parrots. This gunshot, he subsequently learned, was heard by Kelly, who must have been on the lookout for the police. At about 5 p.m., McIntyre was at the fire making tea, with Lonigan by him, when they were suddenly surprised with the cry, "Bail up; throw up your arms."
They looked up, and saw four armed men on foot. Three carried guns, and Ned Kelly two rifles. Two of the men they did not know, but the fourth was the younger Kelly. They had approached up the rises and long grass or rushes had provided them with excellent cover until they got close. McIntyre had left his revolver at the tent door, and was unarmed. He therefore held up his hands as directed, and faced them. Lonigan started for shelter behind a tree, and at the same time put his hand upon his revolver. Before he had moved two paces, Edward Kelly shot him in the temple. He fell at once, and as he laid on the ground said, "Oh Christ, I am shot." He died in a few seconds. Kelly had McIntyre searched, and when they found he was unarmed, they let him drop his hands. They got possession of Lonigan and McIntyre's revolvers. Kelly remarked, "What a pity; what made the fool run?" The men helped themselves to articles from the tent. Kelly talked to McIntyre, and expressed his wonder that the police should have been so foolhardy as to look for him in the ranges. He made inquiries about four men, and said he would roast each of them alive if he caught them. Steele and Flood were two of the four. He asked McIntyre what he fired at and said they must have been fools not to suppose he was ready for them. It was evident that he knew the exact state of the camp, the number of men, and the description of the horses. He asked where the other two were, and said he would put a hole through McIntyre if he told a lie. McIntyre told him and hoped they would not be shot in cold blood. Kelly replied "No, I am not a coward. I'll shoot no man if he holds up his hands."
One of the gang told McIntyre to take some tea and asked for tobacco. He gave them tobacco and had a smoke himself. Dan Kelly suggested that he should be handcuffed, but Ned pointed to his rifle and said, "I have got something better here. Don't you attempt to go; if you do I'll track you to Mansfield and shoot you at the police station." McIntyre asked whether he was to be shot. Kelly replied, "No, why should I want to shoot you? Could I not have done it half an hour ago if I had wanted?" He added, "At first I thought you were Constable Flood. If you had been, I would have roasted you in the fire." Kelly asked for news of the Sydney man, the murderer of Sergeant Wallings. McIntyre said the police had shot him. "I suppose you came out to shoot me?" "No," replied McIntyre, "we came to apprehend you." "What," asked Kelly, " brings you out here at all? It is a shame to see fine big strapping fellows like you in a lazy loafing billet like policemen." He told McIntyre if he was let go he must leave the police, and McIntyre said he would. The best thing McIntyre could do was to get his comrades to surrender, for if they escaped he would be shot. "If you attempt to let them know we are here, you will be shot at once.
McIntyre asked what they would do if he induced his comrades to surrender. Kelly said he would detain them all night, as he wanted a sleep, and let them go next morning without their arms or horses. McIntyre told Kelly that he would induce his comrades to surrender if he would keep his word, but he would rather be shot a thousand times than sell them. He added that one of the two was father of a large family. Kelly said, "You can depend on us." Kelly stated that Fitzpatrick, the man who tried to arrest his brother in April, was the cause of all this; that his (Kelly's) mother and the rest had been unjustly "lagged" at Beechworth. Kelly then caught sound of the approach of Kennedy and Scanlan, and the four men concealed themselves, some behind logs, and one in the tent. They made McIntyre sit on a log, and Kelly said, "Mind, I have a rifle for you if you give any alarm." Kennedy and Scanlan rode into the camp. McIntyre went forward, and said, "Sergeant, I think you had better dismount and surrender, as you are surrounded. Kelly at the same time called out, "Put up your hands." Kennedy appeared to think it was Lonigan who called out, and that a jest was intended, for he smiled and put his hand on his revolver case. He was instantly fired at, but not hit; and Kennedy then realised the hopelessness of his position, jumped off his horse, and said, "It's all right, stop it, stop it." Scanlan, who carried the Spencer rifle, jumped down and tried to make for a tree, but before he could unsling his rifle, he was shot down. A number of shots were fired.
McIntyre found that the men intended to shoot the whole of the party, so he jumped on Kennedy's horse, and dashed down the creek. As he rode off he heard Daniel Kelly call out, "Shoot that ******". Several shots were fired but none reached him. Apparently the rifles were empty and only the revolvers available, or he would have been hit. He galloped through the scrub for two miles, and then his horse became exhausted. It had evidently been wounded. He took off the saddle and bridle, and wounded from a severe fall during his escape and with his clothes in tatters, he concealed himself in a wombat hole until dark. At dark, he started on foot, and walked for an hour with his boots off to make no noise before collapsing from exhaustion at Bridge's Creek, After a rest, and using a bright star, and a small compass, he took a westerly course to strike the Benalla and Mansfield telegraph line and on Sunday afternoon at about 3pm after a journey of about 20 miles, he reached John McColl's place, about a mile from Mansfield. A neighbouring farmer's buggy took him to the police camp at the township, where be reported all he knew to Sub-Inspecter Pewtress.
Two hours or so after McIntyre reported the murder of the troopers, Sub-Inspector Pewtress set out for the camp, accompanied by McIntyre and seven or eight townspeople. They had only one revolver and one gun. They reached the camp with the assistance of a guide, at half-past 2 in the morning. There they found the bodies of Scanlan and Lonigan. They searched at daylight for the sergeant, but found no trace of him. The tent had been burnt and everything taken away or destroyed. The post-mortem, by Dr. Reynolds, showed that Lonigan had received seven wounds, one through the eyeball. Scanlan's body had four shot-marks with the fatal wound was caused by a rifle ball which went clean through the lungs. Scanlan was 33, Lonigan 37 years of age. Three additional shots had been fired into Lonigan's dead body before the men left the camp. The extra shots were fired so that all of the gang might be equally implicated.
During the search for Kennedy, on 29 October, two relatives of the Kellys known as "Dummy Wright" and "Wild Wright" were arrested in Mansfield. Wild Wright had to be threatened with a revolver before he consented to handcuffs. The two Wrights were brought to the police court and charged with using threatening language towards members of the search party. The older brother, Wild Wright, was remanded for seven days and the other released.
No trace had yet been discovered of Kennedy, and the same day as Scanlan and Lonigan's funeral, another search party was started, which also failed. At four o'clock on the following Wednesday another party started, headed by James Tomkins, president of the Mansfield shire, and Sub-Inspector Pewtress, accompanied by several residents, and on the following morning the body of the unfortunate sergeant was found by H. G. Sparrow.
The exact place at Germans Creek near a large tree where this occurred was identified in 2006. On leaving the scene Ned stole Sergeant Kennedy's handwritten note for his wife and his gold fob watch. Asked later why he stole the watch, Ned replied, "What's the use of a watch to a dead man?" Kennedy's watch was returned to his kin many years later.
-----
"A general feeling of regret was expressed throughout the city yesterday afternoon when it became known that any hopes which had been entertained with regard to the safety of the missing Sergeant [Michael] Kennedy had been dispelled by the discovery of the dead body of the unfortunate officer. The melancholy intelligence was brought into Mansfield between 1 and 2 o'clock yesterday, by a search party under the direction of Inspector Pewtress and Mr. Tomkins, the president of the shire. Many conjectures had been made as to the probable fate of the missing sergeant, but while a general impression appeared to gain ground amongst the people in the locality that Edward Kelly and his band of marauders had taken Kennedy with them to the King River, scarcely anybody ventured to do more than hope that the gallant officer, who appears to have been ruthlessly shot, had not been murdered. The worst fears, however, have at length been realised, and the desperadoes have added another diabolical deed to their atrocious crimes. From the particulars telegraphed by our correspondent it appears that the search party, consisting of 10 volunteers and five constables, arrived at Stringy-bark Creek at half-past 7 o'clock on Thursday morning, and renewed the search. Shortly afterwards their labours were rewarded by one of the volunteers named Henry Sparrow, an overseer at the Mount Battery Station, finding Sergeant Kennedy's body within half a mile of the camp where Constables Scanlan and Lonergan received their death wounds. The body presented a frightful spectacle, and from the manner in which it had been mutilated was scarcely recognisable. The unfortunate sergeant had evidently attempted to escape from his murderers by the same track as that taken by Constable McIntyre when he jumped upon Kennedy's horse and rode off, as bullet marks were visible on some of the trees in the line of the track. He had been shot through the side of the head, the bullet coming out in front, and carrying away part of the face, while several other bullet wounds were found on his body, one of which had penetrated the lungs. His jacket was singed is if a bullet had been fired into his body from very close quarters, probably after the unfortunate man had fallen. The remains were placed upon horseback, and conveyed into the township, where the excitement over the deeds of the outlaws appears to be increasing. Sergeant Kennedy was a vigilant officer and generally well liked, and much sympathy is expressed for his widow and five children, who, however, are believed to be in tolerably good circumstances."
Argus (Melbourne), 1 Nov 1878.
"The means by which the following account was obtained I am compelled in honour to keep secret, but I place every reliance upon the source from whence it came. One portion of the sad narrative is confirmed from the fact that when the remains of Sergeant Kennedy were discovered there were found near him some sheets of writing paper, fastened together with a small paper binder, with three leaves torn from it, and upon the missing leaves it is supposed the letter was written to his wife. It has since been proved that this paper was bought in Mansfield by the late Sergeant Kennedy previous to starting on the fatal expedition. The particulars given below were related by Kelly himself personally to a confederate some time after the murders were committed, whose name I cannot reveal. The following is the account referred to: —
McIntye's evidence as given in the Mansfield Guardian is, in the main, pretty correct. Upon seeing McIntyre gallop away, Kennedy continued to fire at us without effect as we sheltered ourselves. We let him fire about five shots from his revolver, he remaining nearly in the one position, and standing. A shot was fired by one of my mates, after which he started to run, followed by my brother and myself. After running about a quarter of a mile, and apparently seeing no chance of escape, as we were making upon him with our weapons, Kennedy got behind a tree, and as I came within pistol shot he fired his last remaining charge. As I saw him levelling fair at my head, I suddenly fell on my knees, and as I did so I heard the bullet whiz past over my head. I then fired at Kennedy, who fell wounded at the foot of the tree where his body was afterwards found. The other two men, Hart and Byrne, who were coming up to us, seeing that the sergeant was secured, turned and went in pursuit of McIntyre, who had escaped on Kennedy's horse. The sergeant never moved from the spot where he fell, but complained of the pain he felt from the bullet wound. I should say we were with him nearly two hours trying to get what information we could out of him. He always endeavoured to turn the conversation in the direction of his domestic affairs, his home, his wife and family, and very frequently of the little one he had recently buried in the Mansfield Cemetery, to whom he seemed very much attached, evidently knowing he would soon be by its side. I could not help feeling very much touched at his pitiable condition, and after a little I said, "Well, Kennedy, I am sorry that I shot you. Here take my gun and shoot me." Kennedy replied, "No, I forgive you, and may God forgive you too." He then wrote as much on some slips in his note book as his fast failing strength would allow him. After he had written what he could with his pencil he handed the paper to me, and asked if I would give it to his wife. I took the paper, and promised that when I had a safe opportunity I would do so. The sergeant then appeared to be suffering very much and in great agony. I could not look upon him so, and did not wish to leave him alone to linger out in such pain, so I suddenly, without letting him see what I intended, put the muzzle of my gun to within a few inches of Kennedy's breast. When he saw that I was going to shoot him he begged of me to leave him alive saying, "Let me alone to live, if I can, for the sake of my poor wife and family. You surely have shed blood enough." I fired, and he died instantly, without another groan. We then took his cloak and covered it over his body, and left him to be buried by those who might find him. I did not cut off his ear as reported, it must have been eaten away."
Argus (Melbourne), 13 Dec 1878.
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A marble headstone over the grave commemorates Police Sergeant Michael Kennedy, killed in the gun battle with the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878. An inscription was added to the memorial at a later date in memory of his wife Bridget Mary who died in 1924.
According to the Benalla Standard, "some hitch is likely to arise regarding the erection of a tombstone in the Mansfield cemetery over the graves of sergeant Kennedy and constables Lonegan and Scanlon, who were murdered by the Kelly gang." A number of gentlemen, with the assistance of the Government grant, have secured about £200, with which it was intended to erect a suitable tombstone over the graves of the unfortunate policemen. On account of two of the deceased being Roman Catholics and the third a Protestant, it was decided that the bodies should first be laid together, and in order to effect this the consent was obtained from Mrs. Kennedy and the relatives of the other two for the necessary removal, so that the three bodies shall be placed side by side in the ground over which the tombstone is to be erected. To this step Father O'Reilly, the priest residing at Mansfield, has objected, and he refuses to sanction either the removal of the bodies from the Roman Catholic ground or the interment of the Protestant body in the Roman Catholic ground. We consider the Roman Catholic bishop should be appealed to in this ease for permission to sanction the request asked. It seems hard that these brave fellows, who lived, fought, and died together, should have their ashes separated under such circumstances by the mandate of one parson. If the request is not complied with, we would suggest that the three bodies be exhumed and placed under the large monument about to be erected in the cross streets of Mansfield by the Murdered Police Memorial Fund Committee.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW), 7 Jan 1880.
----------
In 1879, G. Wilson Hall printed a book in Mansfield called The Kelly Gang, Outlaws of the Wombat Ranges. It included a song called "Stringybark Creek" which is believed to have been written by Joe Byrne. It described in verse the story of what had happened. The first verse is:
A sergeant and three constables
Rode Out from Mansfield town,
Near the end of last October
For to hunt the Kellys down.
So they travelled to the Wombat
And they thought it quite a lark,
And they camped upon the borders
Of a creek called Stringbark.
The song has been recorded many times, including the Australian folk-rock band the Bushwackers on their 1979 album, Bushfire.
Sergeant Michael Kennedy is Related to Michael Joseph and Mary Anne Quirke (Fitzgerald) from New Zealand.
As of 2008 Sergeant Michael Kennedy has a Great Grandson serving in the Victorian Police Force and in September 2014 he accepted Sergeant Michael Kennedy's Posthumous Victoria Police Star on Australian National Police Remembrance Day.
On 26 October 1878, Ned and Dan Kelly, aided by friends Steve Hart and Joe Byrne, ambushed the police. Constable Thomas McIntyre was captured by the Gang while Constables Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan were shot dead. Sergeant Michael Kennedy then fought a lone gun battle against the four murderers until he was wounded and fell to the ground. Defenceless, he was then murdered by Ned Kelly.
Thomas McIntyre escaped and, tormented for the rest of his life over the affair, later wrote this account of what happened. After the shoot-out at Glenrowan, Thomas McIntyre was the only living witness to what had occurred at Stringybark Creek. Unsurprisingly, his version of events differed markedly from that given by Ned Kelly at Kelly's trial in Melbourne.
Ned Kelly later stated that Michael Kennedy was the bravest man he had ever met, and that he killed Kennedy to put him out of his misery, Kennedy having been mortally wounded.
----------
Below are some reports of the incident at Stringybark Creek, and some contemporary newspaper reports:
The police heard privately that the Kellys were in the Wombat Ranges at the head of the King River. On Friday 25 October 1878, two parties of police were secretly dispatched, one from Greta, consisting of five men, with Sergeant Steele in command, and one of four from Mansfield, with the intention of executing a pincer movement.
Sergeant Kennedy from the Mansfield party, in civilian dress, set off to search for the Kellys, accompanied by Constables McIntyre,
Lonigan, and Scanlan. The police set up a camp on a disused diggings near two miners huts at Stringybark Creek in a heavily timbered area.
About six a.m. on Saturday, Kennedy and Scanlan went down the creek to explore, and they stayed away nearly all day. It was McIntyre's duty to cook, and he attended closely to camp duty. During the morning a noise was heard, and McIntyre went out to have a look, but found nothing. He fired two shots out of his gun at a pair of parrots. This gunshot, he subsequently learned, was heard by Kelly, who must have been on the lookout for the police. At about 5 p.m., McIntyre was at the fire making tea, with Lonigan by him, when they were suddenly surprised with the cry, "Bail up; throw up your arms."
They looked up, and saw four armed men on foot. Three carried guns, and Ned Kelly two rifles. Two of the men they did not know, but the fourth was the younger Kelly. They had approached up the rises and long grass or rushes had provided them with excellent cover until they got close. McIntyre had left his revolver at the tent door, and was unarmed. He therefore held up his hands as directed, and faced them. Lonigan started for shelter behind a tree, and at the same time put his hand upon his revolver. Before he had moved two paces, Edward Kelly shot him in the temple. He fell at once, and as he laid on the ground said, "Oh Christ, I am shot." He died in a few seconds. Kelly had McIntyre searched, and when they found he was unarmed, they let him drop his hands. They got possession of Lonigan and McIntyre's revolvers. Kelly remarked, "What a pity; what made the fool run?" The men helped themselves to articles from the tent. Kelly talked to McIntyre, and expressed his wonder that the police should have been so foolhardy as to look for him in the ranges. He made inquiries about four men, and said he would roast each of them alive if he caught them. Steele and Flood were two of the four. He asked McIntyre what he fired at and said they must have been fools not to suppose he was ready for them. It was evident that he knew the exact state of the camp, the number of men, and the description of the horses. He asked where the other two were, and said he would put a hole through McIntyre if he told a lie. McIntyre told him and hoped they would not be shot in cold blood. Kelly replied "No, I am not a coward. I'll shoot no man if he holds up his hands."
One of the gang told McIntyre to take some tea and asked for tobacco. He gave them tobacco and had a smoke himself. Dan Kelly suggested that he should be handcuffed, but Ned pointed to his rifle and said, "I have got something better here. Don't you attempt to go; if you do I'll track you to Mansfield and shoot you at the police station." McIntyre asked whether he was to be shot. Kelly replied, "No, why should I want to shoot you? Could I not have done it half an hour ago if I had wanted?" He added, "At first I thought you were Constable Flood. If you had been, I would have roasted you in the fire." Kelly asked for news of the Sydney man, the murderer of Sergeant Wallings. McIntyre said the police had shot him. "I suppose you came out to shoot me?" "No," replied McIntyre, "we came to apprehend you." "What," asked Kelly, " brings you out here at all? It is a shame to see fine big strapping fellows like you in a lazy loafing billet like policemen." He told McIntyre if he was let go he must leave the police, and McIntyre said he would. The best thing McIntyre could do was to get his comrades to surrender, for if they escaped he would be shot. "If you attempt to let them know we are here, you will be shot at once.
McIntyre asked what they would do if he induced his comrades to surrender. Kelly said he would detain them all night, as he wanted a sleep, and let them go next morning without their arms or horses. McIntyre told Kelly that he would induce his comrades to surrender if he would keep his word, but he would rather be shot a thousand times than sell them. He added that one of the two was father of a large family. Kelly said, "You can depend on us." Kelly stated that Fitzpatrick, the man who tried to arrest his brother in April, was the cause of all this; that his (Kelly's) mother and the rest had been unjustly "lagged" at Beechworth. Kelly then caught sound of the approach of Kennedy and Scanlan, and the four men concealed themselves, some behind logs, and one in the tent. They made McIntyre sit on a log, and Kelly said, "Mind, I have a rifle for you if you give any alarm." Kennedy and Scanlan rode into the camp. McIntyre went forward, and said, "Sergeant, I think you had better dismount and surrender, as you are surrounded. Kelly at the same time called out, "Put up your hands." Kennedy appeared to think it was Lonigan who called out, and that a jest was intended, for he smiled and put his hand on his revolver case. He was instantly fired at, but not hit; and Kennedy then realised the hopelessness of his position, jumped off his horse, and said, "It's all right, stop it, stop it." Scanlan, who carried the Spencer rifle, jumped down and tried to make for a tree, but before he could unsling his rifle, he was shot down. A number of shots were fired.
McIntyre found that the men intended to shoot the whole of the party, so he jumped on Kennedy's horse, and dashed down the creek. As he rode off he heard Daniel Kelly call out, "Shoot that ******". Several shots were fired but none reached him. Apparently the rifles were empty and only the revolvers available, or he would have been hit. He galloped through the scrub for two miles, and then his horse became exhausted. It had evidently been wounded. He took off the saddle and bridle, and wounded from a severe fall during his escape and with his clothes in tatters, he concealed himself in a wombat hole until dark. At dark, he started on foot, and walked for an hour with his boots off to make no noise before collapsing from exhaustion at Bridge's Creek, After a rest, and using a bright star, and a small compass, he took a westerly course to strike the Benalla and Mansfield telegraph line and on Sunday afternoon at about 3pm after a journey of about 20 miles, he reached John McColl's place, about a mile from Mansfield. A neighbouring farmer's buggy took him to the police camp at the township, where be reported all he knew to Sub-Inspecter Pewtress.
Two hours or so after McIntyre reported the murder of the troopers, Sub-Inspector Pewtress set out for the camp, accompanied by McIntyre and seven or eight townspeople. They had only one revolver and one gun. They reached the camp with the assistance of a guide, at half-past 2 in the morning. There they found the bodies of Scanlan and Lonigan. They searched at daylight for the sergeant, but found no trace of him. The tent had been burnt and everything taken away or destroyed. The post-mortem, by Dr. Reynolds, showed that Lonigan had received seven wounds, one through the eyeball. Scanlan's body had four shot-marks with the fatal wound was caused by a rifle ball which went clean through the lungs. Scanlan was 33, Lonigan 37 years of age. Three additional shots had been fired into Lonigan's dead body before the men left the camp. The extra shots were fired so that all of the gang might be equally implicated.
During the search for Kennedy, on 29 October, two relatives of the Kellys known as "Dummy Wright" and "Wild Wright" were arrested in Mansfield. Wild Wright had to be threatened with a revolver before he consented to handcuffs. The two Wrights were brought to the police court and charged with using threatening language towards members of the search party. The older brother, Wild Wright, was remanded for seven days and the other released.
No trace had yet been discovered of Kennedy, and the same day as Scanlan and Lonigan's funeral, another search party was started, which also failed. At four o'clock on the following Wednesday another party started, headed by James Tomkins, president of the Mansfield shire, and Sub-Inspector Pewtress, accompanied by several residents, and on the following morning the body of the unfortunate sergeant was found by H. G. Sparrow.
The exact place at Germans Creek near a large tree where this occurred was identified in 2006. On leaving the scene Ned stole Sergeant Kennedy's handwritten note for his wife and his gold fob watch. Asked later why he stole the watch, Ned replied, "What's the use of a watch to a dead man?" Kennedy's watch was returned to his kin many years later.
-----
"A general feeling of regret was expressed throughout the city yesterday afternoon when it became known that any hopes which had been entertained with regard to the safety of the missing Sergeant [Michael] Kennedy had been dispelled by the discovery of the dead body of the unfortunate officer. The melancholy intelligence was brought into Mansfield between 1 and 2 o'clock yesterday, by a search party under the direction of Inspector Pewtress and Mr. Tomkins, the president of the shire. Many conjectures had been made as to the probable fate of the missing sergeant, but while a general impression appeared to gain ground amongst the people in the locality that Edward Kelly and his band of marauders had taken Kennedy with them to the King River, scarcely anybody ventured to do more than hope that the gallant officer, who appears to have been ruthlessly shot, had not been murdered. The worst fears, however, have at length been realised, and the desperadoes have added another diabolical deed to their atrocious crimes. From the particulars telegraphed by our correspondent it appears that the search party, consisting of 10 volunteers and five constables, arrived at Stringy-bark Creek at half-past 7 o'clock on Thursday morning, and renewed the search. Shortly afterwards their labours were rewarded by one of the volunteers named Henry Sparrow, an overseer at the Mount Battery Station, finding Sergeant Kennedy's body within half a mile of the camp where Constables Scanlan and Lonergan received their death wounds. The body presented a frightful spectacle, and from the manner in which it had been mutilated was scarcely recognisable. The unfortunate sergeant had evidently attempted to escape from his murderers by the same track as that taken by Constable McIntyre when he jumped upon Kennedy's horse and rode off, as bullet marks were visible on some of the trees in the line of the track. He had been shot through the side of the head, the bullet coming out in front, and carrying away part of the face, while several other bullet wounds were found on his body, one of which had penetrated the lungs. His jacket was singed is if a bullet had been fired into his body from very close quarters, probably after the unfortunate man had fallen. The remains were placed upon horseback, and conveyed into the township, where the excitement over the deeds of the outlaws appears to be increasing. Sergeant Kennedy was a vigilant officer and generally well liked, and much sympathy is expressed for his widow and five children, who, however, are believed to be in tolerably good circumstances."
Argus (Melbourne), 1 Nov 1878.
"The means by which the following account was obtained I am compelled in honour to keep secret, but I place every reliance upon the source from whence it came. One portion of the sad narrative is confirmed from the fact that when the remains of Sergeant Kennedy were discovered there were found near him some sheets of writing paper, fastened together with a small paper binder, with three leaves torn from it, and upon the missing leaves it is supposed the letter was written to his wife. It has since been proved that this paper was bought in Mansfield by the late Sergeant Kennedy previous to starting on the fatal expedition. The particulars given below were related by Kelly himself personally to a confederate some time after the murders were committed, whose name I cannot reveal. The following is the account referred to: —
McIntye's evidence as given in the Mansfield Guardian is, in the main, pretty correct. Upon seeing McIntyre gallop away, Kennedy continued to fire at us without effect as we sheltered ourselves. We let him fire about five shots from his revolver, he remaining nearly in the one position, and standing. A shot was fired by one of my mates, after which he started to run, followed by my brother and myself. After running about a quarter of a mile, and apparently seeing no chance of escape, as we were making upon him with our weapons, Kennedy got behind a tree, and as I came within pistol shot he fired his last remaining charge. As I saw him levelling fair at my head, I suddenly fell on my knees, and as I did so I heard the bullet whiz past over my head. I then fired at Kennedy, who fell wounded at the foot of the tree where his body was afterwards found. The other two men, Hart and Byrne, who were coming up to us, seeing that the sergeant was secured, turned and went in pursuit of McIntyre, who had escaped on Kennedy's horse. The sergeant never moved from the spot where he fell, but complained of the pain he felt from the bullet wound. I should say we were with him nearly two hours trying to get what information we could out of him. He always endeavoured to turn the conversation in the direction of his domestic affairs, his home, his wife and family, and very frequently of the little one he had recently buried in the Mansfield Cemetery, to whom he seemed very much attached, evidently knowing he would soon be by its side. I could not help feeling very much touched at his pitiable condition, and after a little I said, "Well, Kennedy, I am sorry that I shot you. Here take my gun and shoot me." Kennedy replied, "No, I forgive you, and may God forgive you too." He then wrote as much on some slips in his note book as his fast failing strength would allow him. After he had written what he could with his pencil he handed the paper to me, and asked if I would give it to his wife. I took the paper, and promised that when I had a safe opportunity I would do so. The sergeant then appeared to be suffering very much and in great agony. I could not look upon him so, and did not wish to leave him alone to linger out in such pain, so I suddenly, without letting him see what I intended, put the muzzle of my gun to within a few inches of Kennedy's breast. When he saw that I was going to shoot him he begged of me to leave him alive saying, "Let me alone to live, if I can, for the sake of my poor wife and family. You surely have shed blood enough." I fired, and he died instantly, without another groan. We then took his cloak and covered it over his body, and left him to be buried by those who might find him. I did not cut off his ear as reported, it must have been eaten away."
Argus (Melbourne), 13 Dec 1878.
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A marble headstone over the grave commemorates Police Sergeant Michael Kennedy, killed in the gun battle with the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878. An inscription was added to the memorial at a later date in memory of his wife Bridget Mary who died in 1924.
According to the Benalla Standard, "some hitch is likely to arise regarding the erection of a tombstone in the Mansfield cemetery over the graves of sergeant Kennedy and constables Lonegan and Scanlon, who were murdered by the Kelly gang." A number of gentlemen, with the assistance of the Government grant, have secured about £200, with which it was intended to erect a suitable tombstone over the graves of the unfortunate policemen. On account of two of the deceased being Roman Catholics and the third a Protestant, it was decided that the bodies should first be laid together, and in order to effect this the consent was obtained from Mrs. Kennedy and the relatives of the other two for the necessary removal, so that the three bodies shall be placed side by side in the ground over which the tombstone is to be erected. To this step Father O'Reilly, the priest residing at Mansfield, has objected, and he refuses to sanction either the removal of the bodies from the Roman Catholic ground or the interment of the Protestant body in the Roman Catholic ground. We consider the Roman Catholic bishop should be appealed to in this ease for permission to sanction the request asked. It seems hard that these brave fellows, who lived, fought, and died together, should have their ashes separated under such circumstances by the mandate of one parson. If the request is not complied with, we would suggest that the three bodies be exhumed and placed under the large monument about to be erected in the cross streets of Mansfield by the Murdered Police Memorial Fund Committee.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW), 7 Jan 1880.
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In 1879, G. Wilson Hall printed a book in Mansfield called The Kelly Gang, Outlaws of the Wombat Ranges. It included a song called "Stringybark Creek" which is believed to have been written by Joe Byrne. It described in verse the story of what had happened. The first verse is:
A sergeant and three constables
Rode Out from Mansfield town,
Near the end of last October
For to hunt the Kellys down.
So they travelled to the Wombat
And they thought it quite a lark,
And they camped upon the borders
Of a creek called Stringbark.
The song has been recorded many times, including the Australian folk-rock band the Bushwackers on their 1979 album, Bushfire.
Sergeant Michael Kennedy is Related to Michael Joseph and Mary Anne Quirke (Fitzgerald) from New Zealand.
As of 2008 Sergeant Michael Kennedy has a Great Grandson serving in the Victorian Police Force and in September 2014 he accepted Sergeant Michael Kennedy's Posthumous Victoria Police Star on Australian National Police Remembrance Day.
Inscription
Inscription
ERECTED
by
the Parliament of Victoria.
to the
Memory of
POLICE-SERGEANT
MICHAEL KENNEDY,
NATIVE OF WESTMEATH, IRELAND.
AGED 36 YEARS.
WHO,
IN THE EXECUTION OF DUTY,
WAS MURDERED BY ARMED CRIMINALS,
IN THE WOMBAT RANGES NEAR MANSFIELD
ON THE 26th OCTOBER, 1878
HE DIED IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY.
OF WHICH HE WAS AN ORNAMENT.
HIGHLY RESPECTED BY ALL GOOD CITIZENS AND
A TERROR TO EVIL-DOERS.
ALSO
BRIDGET MARY
BELOVED WIFE OF THE ABOVE
DIED 5th Nov. 1924, AGED 75 YEARS.
MAY THEIR SOULS REST IN PEACE.
Family Members
Spouse
Bridget Mary Kennedy
1849–1924
Children
John Thomas Kennedy
1877–1877
Gravesite Details
A marble headstone over the grave commemorates Police Sergeant Michael Kennedy, An inscription was added to the memorial at a later date in memory of his wife Bridget and son John.
Family Members
Children
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