South-Eastern Theater of the Australian War of Independence

South-Eastern Theater of the Australian War of Independence
The South-Eastern Theater of the Australian War of Independence consists of the major military and naval operations in the states of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, and the coastal fortifications and seaports of Southern Van Diemens Land. (Operations in the interior of Van Diemens in 1859 are considered part of the South-Pacific Theater.)

The South-Eastern Theater was the venue for several major campaigns launched by the British Army of New South Wales to capture the Republic capital of Melbourne, Victoria; many of these were frustrated by the Eurekan Army of Southern Australia, commanded by General Ryder B. Carbone. Governor Sir William Denison sought a general to match Carbone's boldness, appointing in turn Maj. Gens. John Fox Burgoyne, and Henry Wise to command his principal South-Easter armies. While Wise gained a tactical victory over Ryder at the Battle of Tarcoola in July 1856, it was not enough to blunt the Republic's drive westward into becoming the Western Theater in 1857. Operations in Victoria shifted from attacking the Republic but turned into defending Sydney and NSW, in that Republic forces were able to invade north into the heart of NSW and South Queensland, but only after several bloody battles of the Liberation Campaign and a eight-month siege near the cities of Brisbane and Port Macquarie. The surrender of Wise's army at Cunnamulla Court House in June 1859 brought major operations in the area to a close.