The Royal Commission commenced its comments on this incident in the following words:
"One of the earliest combined movements of the police in pursuit of the outlaws was not calculated to favorably impress the mind of the public as regards the capacity of the officers. The "Sebastopol charge" as it has been designated, and which took place on the [[ev78-10--4Mansfield Murders|7th November 1878]], proved an utter fiasco, calculated simply to excite ridicule, and for this Superintendent Sadleir must be held directly responsible" ([[2nd Report of the Royal Commission|RC 2nd report VI]]) see also ([[Royal Commission report day 46 page 2|RC15801]]) ([[The True Story of the KellyGang of Bushrangers Chapter 7 page 1|CHC]]) ([[The Complete Inner History of the KellyGang and their Pursuers (30)|JJK]]) ([[The Complete Inner History of the KellyGang and their Pursuers (42)|JJK]])
The police recieved a report from a drunken splitter (bark stripper) that the '''KellyGang''' had been seen in bush near the Sherritt family home on 2/11/[[ev78-10--4Mansfield Murders|1878]]. That was reported to the police on 5/11/1878. ([[Royal Commission report day 10 page 14|RC1946]])