The Complete Inner History of the KellyGang and their Pursuers (20)

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CHAPTER 1V

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When McIntyre galloped away on Kennedy's horse he stooped on to the horse's neck and the scarf he was wearing was flying about him. Dan Kelly followed him some distance, but McIntyre quickly got out of range. The Kellys were under the impression that McIntyre had been shot. Ned came up to Kennedy where he had fallen. He was satisfied that Kennedy could not live. Kennedy begged that his life be spared, so that he might again see his wife and children. He was in great pain; but his appeal to be spared was refused. Ned Kelly's subsequent explanation was that Kennedy was hopelessly wounded, and could not live long. He was suffering great agony, and, as McIntyre had escaped to give the alarm, they could not remain to look after him. If left alive Kennedy would, Kelly said, be left to a slow, torturing death at the mercy of ants, flies, and the packs of dingoes, which were fairly numerous in those parts. Therefore he decided to put an end to the sufferings of the wounded sergeant, and, as the latter momentarily turned his head, Kelly fired and shot him through the heart.

Thus perished three of the bravest men of the Victorian police force. It is little wonder that the story of the dreadful tragedy awakened everywhere feelings of horror and indignation and led to a renewal of the determination of the authorities to stamp out the Kellys.

Constable McIntyre galloped away for some distance through the scrub. His horse fell, but he mounted again and pushed on. Again the horse went down, and this time McIntyre assumed that the animal had been wounded by the Kellys. He therefore took off the saddle and bridle and pushed on for about a mile on foot.

He discovered a large wombat hole, and, fearing that he was being pursued, crawled into it and wrote in his notebook:- "Ned Kelly and others stuck us up to-day, when we were disarmed. Lonigan and Scanlan shot. I am hiding in a wombat hole till dark. The Lord have mercy on me. Scanlan tried to get his gun out." Later on after leaving his narrow shelter, he wrote in his book again:- "I have been travelling all night, and am very weary. 9 a.m. , Sunday. I am now lying on the edge of a creek named Bridges." (This was Blue Range Creek.)

McIntyre reached McColl's farm about midday on Sunday. He related the story of events on the Wombat Ranges , and was given a horse to ride into Mansfield , a distance of about three miles. Here he excitedly repeated his story, and it was some time before he was able to give a really coherent account of what had happened. At the subsequent inquest he stated that Lonigan, was shot dead just as he reached the shelter of a big log, that Scanlan was shot without being, able to use his rifle, and that Sergeant Kennedy had surrendered before McIntyre snatched the reins of Kennedy's horse, and scrambing into the saddle, galloped away.

Had Sergeant Kennedy surrendered as McIntyre described, then his body would have been discovered quite close to that of Scanlan. But Kennedy's body was not discovered until the following Thursday morning, five days after the tragedy, about a quarter of a mile, and across the creek from where Scanlan had fallen. The discovery of Kennedy's body a quarter of a mile away bears out Ned Kelly's statement that the sergeant had kept up a running fire, that he retreated from tree to tree, until he fell mortally wounded.

McIntyre evidently considered that it would not look well for him if he admitted that he had taken Kennedy's horse while the latter, during a gallant fight, was using it as a barrage against the bushrangers' fire. McIntyre varied this evidence at Beechworth in August, 1880, at Ned Kelly's trial, in order to square it with established facts. Allowance appears to have been made for his hysterical condition when giving evidence at the inquest at Mansfield .

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This document gives you the text of this book about the KellyGang. The text has been retyped from a copy of the original. We have taken care to reproduce this document but areas of the original text may been damaged. We also apologise for any typographical errors. JJ Kenneally was one of the first authors to tell this story from the KellyGang's point of view