Nationalities at the Eureka Stockade

There was a strong American contingent among the Eureka Stockade garrison. At the inaugural meeting of the Ballarat Reform League on 11 November 1854, it was reported by the Ballarat Times that at the appointed hour, the "Union Jack and the American ensign were hoisted as signals for the people to assemble."[5][note 1]

About twenty to thirty of the 120-150 strong rebel garrison at the stockade during the battle were Californians. Amid the rising number of rebels absent without leave throughout 2 December, a contingent of 200 Americans under James McGill arrived at 4 pm. Styled as "The Independent Californian Rangers' Revolver Brigade," they had horses and were equipped with sidearms and Mexican knives. In a fateful decision, McGill decided to take most of his two hundred Californian Rangers away from the stockade to intercept rumoured British reinforcements coming from Melbourne. Carboni details the rebel dispositions along:

"The shepherds' holes inside the lower part of the stockade had been turned into rifle-pits, and were now occupied by Californians of the I.C. Rangers' Brigade, some twenty or thirty in all, who had kept watch at the 'outposts' during the night."[7]

After the rebel garrison had already begun to flee and all hope was lost a number of Californians gamely joined in the final melee bearing their trademark colt revolvers.[8]

John Joseph, an American Negro, and James Campbell, a Jamaican, were both among the thirteen rebel prisoners to go on trial. Andrew Peters, who acted as a police spy, said during cross-examination that "There are some" black men on the diggings. Patrick Lynott recalled that "There were a good many black men" in the rebel camp.[9]

Henry Ross, who is believed to be the designer of the Eureka Flag, was from Toronto, Canada. The Swiss-born Charles Doudiet, whose sketchbook is held by the Art Gallery of Ballarat and contains such scenes from around the time of the armed uprising as the iconic Eureka Slaughter, had lived in Canada. Doudiet may have been present at the battle, and he notes in his sketchbook that he helped to convey his friend, the mortally wounded Ross, to the Free Trade Hotel, where the Eureka flag bearer died of a groin injury two days later. Robert Julien died defending the stockade, as did Thomas Budden, also a friend of Ross, both from Canada.[10]

Despite being present on the Ballarat gold fields, there is no record of any Chinese involvement at the Battle of the Eureka Stockade.

Frederick Vern was a skilled rebel political agitator and orator who oversaw the construction of the Eureka Stockade. He was said to be from German Hanover, although Carboni disputes this.[11] Vern had apparently received instruction in military methods. John Lynch wrote that his "military learning comprehended the whole system of warfare ... fortification was his strong point."[12] During a mass meeting at Bakery Hill on 29 November 1854, the crowd of around 10,000 was incited by Timothy Hayes shouting, "Are you ready to die?" and Fredrick Vern, who had been accused of abandoning the garrison four days later as soon as the danger arrived, with suspicions he could have been a double agent.[13][14][15] There were wanted posters advertising a 500-pound reward for information leading to the apprehension of Vern circulated by the government printer following the fall of the Eureka Stockade.

Edward Thonen was killed in action whilst defending the stockade. Carboni refers to him as the "lemonade seller." Thonen was originally from Elberfeld in Prussia.[16]

Rebel leader Peter Lalor was from Ireland, as were a majority of the rebel garrison on his list of those either killed in action or having died of wounds. Most of the thirteen rebels indicted for High Treason in 1855 were also from Ireland. Lalor made a blunder by choosing "Vinegar Hill" – the site of a battle during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 – as the Eureka Stockade password, which led to waning support for the armed uprising when news that the issue of Irish home rule had become involved began to circulate.[17][18]

Raffaello Carboni was an eyewitness to the battle and supported the armed uprising, serving as Peter Lalor's interpreter. Like many of the Europeans, he had experienced the Revolutions of 1848. Carboni's 1855 novel The Eureka Stockade is the first and only comprehensive eyewitness account of the Eureka Rebellion. The miner Oravalno was probably also from the Papal states, possibly of Savoyard background. From northern Italy were Joseph Barberis of Genoa (Kingdom of Savoy) and Polinellis of Bergamo, Lombardy. Antonio Capuano was born in Aversa, near Naples. Francis Romeo was from Corsica. However, his family came from Siena.

Among the government camp, Captain Henry Wise of the 40th regiment, who was killed in action, was born in Rome. There was also a lieutenant in the gold mounted police Gerald de C Hamilton, who was born in Florence.[19]

• Eureka Rebellion
• Republicanism and the Eureka Rebellion
• Revolutions of 1848

• Blake, Gregory (2012). Eureka Stockade: A ferocious and bloody battle. Newport: Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 978-1-92-213204-8.
• Carboni, Raffaello (1855). The Eureka Stockade: The Consequence of Some Pirates Wanting a Quarterdeck Rebellion. Melbourne: J. P. Atkinson and Co. – via Project Gutenberg.
• Clark, Manning, ed. (1966). Sources of Australian History. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
• Corfield, Justin; Wickham, Dorothy; Gervasoni, Clare (2004). The Eureka Encyclopedia. Ballarat: Ballarat Heritage Services. ISBN 978-1-87-647861-2.
• Craig, William (1903). My Adventures on the Australian Goldfields. London: Cassell and Company.
• Lynch, John (1940). Story of the Eureka Stockade: Epic Days of the Early Fifties at Ballarat (Reprint ed.). Melbourne: Australian Catholic Truth Society.
• O'Brien, Bob (1992). Massacre at Eureka: The untold story. Kew: Australian Scholarly Publishing. ISBN 978-1-87-560604-7.