Editing Easter Rising (section)

=== Tuesday and Wednesday ===
Lord Wimborne, the Lord Lieutenant, declared [[martial law]] on Tuesday evening and handed over civil power to Brigadier-General [[William Lowe (British Army officer)|William Lowe]]. British forces initially put their efforts into securing the approaches to Dublin Castle and isolating the rebel headquarters, which they believed was in Liberty Hall. The British commander, Lowe, worked slowly, unsure of the size of the force he was up against, and with only 1,269 troops in the city when he arrived from the [[Curragh Camp]] in the early hours of Tuesday 25 April. City Hall was taken from the rebel unit that had attacked Dublin Castle on Tuesday morning.<ref>Coogan 2001, p. 107</ref>{{sfn|Townshend|2006|p=191}}

In the early hours of Tuesday, 120 British soldiers, with machine guns, occupied two buildings overlooking St Stephen's Green: the [[Shelbourne Hotel]] and United Services Club.{{sfn|Caulfield|1995|p=122}} At dawn they opened fire on the Citizen Army occupying the green. The rebels returned fire but were forced to retreat to the [[Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland|Royal College of Surgeons]] building. They remained there for the rest of the week, exchanging fire with British forces.<ref name="rte-timeline"/>

Fighting erupted along the northern edge of the city centre on Tuesday afternoon. In the northeast, British troops left Amiens Street railway station in an armoured train, to secure and repair a section of damaged tracks. They were attacked by rebels who had taken up position at [[Annesley Bridge]]. After a two-hour battle, the British were forced to retreat and several soldiers were captured.{{sfn|Caulfield|1995|pp=145–146}} At [[Phibsborough]], in the northwest, rebels had occupied buildings and erected barricades at junctions on the [[North Circular Road, Dublin|North Circular Road]]. The British summoned [[Ordnance QF 18-pounder|18-pounder field artillery]] from [[Athlone]] and shelled the rebel positions, destroying the barricades. After a fierce firefight, the rebels withdrew.{{sfn|Caulfield|1995|pp=145–146}}

That afternoon Pearse walked out into O'Connell Street with a small escort and stood in front of Nelson's Pillar. As a large crowd gathered, he read out a '[[s:Manifesto to the Citizens of Dublin, 25 April, 1916|manifesto to the citizens of Dublin]],' calling on them to support the Rising.<ref>Foy and Barton, p. 180</ref>

The rebels had failed to take either of Dublin's two main railway stations or either of its ports, at [[Dublin Port]] and [[Dún Laoghaire|Kingstown]]. As a result, during the following week, the British were able to bring in thousands of reinforcements from Britain and from their garrisons at [[the Curragh]] and [[Belfast]]. By the end of the week, British strength stood at over 16,000 men.{{sfn|Townshend|2006|p=191}}{{sfn|McGarry|2010|pp=167–169}} Their firepower was provided by field artillery which they positioned on the [[Northside, Dublin|Northside]] of the city at Phibsborough and at Trinity College, and by the patrol vessel ''[[Irish patrol vessel Muirchú|Helga]]'', which sailed up the Liffey, having been summoned from the port at Kingstown. On Wednesday, 26 April, the guns at Trinity College and ''Helga'' shelled Liberty Hall, and the Trinity College guns then began firing at rebel positions, first at Boland's Mill and then in O'Connell Street.{{sfn|Townshend|2006|p=191}} Some rebel commanders, particularly James Connolly, did not believe that the British would shell the '[[Second city of the United Kingdom|second city]]' of the British Empire.{{sfn|McGarry|2010|p=192}}<ref>Foy and Barton, p. 181</ref>

[[File:Osteraufstand - Dublin - britisches Militär.jpg|thumb|left|British soldiers in position behind a stack of barrels during the Rising in Dublin]]

The principal rebel positions at the GPO, the Four Courts, Jacob's Factory and Boland's Mill saw little action. The British surrounded and bombarded them rather than assault them directly. One Volunteer in the GPO recalled, "we did practically no shooting as there was no target".{{sfn|McGarry|2010|p=175}} Entertainment ensued within the factory, "everybody merry & cheerful", bar the "occasional sniping", noted one Volunteer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cammack |first=Zan |title=Ireland's Gramophones |date=2021 |publisher=Clemson University Press |isbn=978-1-949979-77-0 |pages=93}}</ref> However, where the rebels dominated the routes by which the British tried to funnel reinforcements into the city, there was fierce fighting.

At 5:25 PM a dozen Volunteers, including [[Eamon Martin (Irish Republican)|Eamon Martin]], Garry Holohan, Robert Beggs, Sean Cody, Dinny O'Callaghan, Charles Shelley, and Peadar Breslin, attempted to occupy Broadstone railway station on Church Street. The attack was unsuccessful and Martin was injured.<ref name="rte-timeline"/><ref>Witness Statement by Eamon Martin to Bureau of Military History, 1951</ref><ref>Witness Statement of Sean Cody to Bureau of Military History, 1954</ref><ref>Witness Statement of Nicholas Kaftan to Bureau of Military History</ref><ref>Witness Statement of Charles Shelley to Bureau of Military History, 1953</ref>

On Wednesday morning, hundreds of British troops encircled the Mendicity Institution, which was occupied by 26 Volunteers under Seán Heuston. British troops advanced on the building, supported by snipers and machine-gun fire, but the Volunteers put up stiff resistance. Eventually, the troops got close enough to hurl grenades into the building, some of which the rebels threw back. Exhausted and almost out of ammunition, Heuston's men became the first rebel position to surrender. Heuston had been ordered to hold his position for a few hours, to delay the British, but had held on for three days.<ref>O'Brien, Paul. [http://www.theirishstory.com/2012/08/15/heustons-fort-the-battle-for-the-mendicity-institute-1916/ Heuston's Fort – The Battle for the Mendicity Institute, 1916] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414204843/http://www.theirishstory.com/2012/08/15/heustons-fort-the-battle-for-the-mendicity-institute-1916/ |date=14 April 2016 }}. The Irish Story. 15 August 2012.</ref>

Reinforcements were sent to Dublin from Britain and disembarked at Kingstown on the morning of Wednesday 26 April. [[Battle of Mount Street Bridge|Heavy fighting occurred]] at the rebel-held positions around the [[Grand Canal of Ireland|Grand Canal]] as these troops advanced towards Dublin. More than 1,000 [[Sherwood Foresters]] were repeatedly caught in a crossfire trying to cross the canal at Mount Street Bridge. Seventeen Volunteers were able to severely disrupt the British advance, killing or wounding 240 men.<ref>Coogan {{which|date=September 2016}}, p. 122</ref> Despite there being alternative routes across the canal nearby, General Lowe ordered repeated frontal assaults on the Mount Street position.{{sfn|Caulfield|1995|p=196}} The British eventually took the position, which had not been reinforced by the nearby rebel garrison at Boland's Mills, on Thursday,<ref>O'Brien, p. 69</ref> but the fighting there inflicted up to two-thirds of their casualties for the entire week for a cost of just four dead Volunteers.{{sfn|McGarry|2010|p=173}} It had taken nearly nine hours for the British to advance {{convert|300|yd|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name="rte-timeline"/>

On Wednesday [[Linenhall Barracks]] on [[Constitution Hill, Dublin|Constitution Hill]] was burnt down under the orders of Commandant Edward Daly to prevent its reoccupation by the British.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.easter1916.ie/index.php/places/a-z/linenhall-barracks/ |title=Easter 1916 |access-date=2 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220083428/http://www.easter1916.ie/index.php/places/a-z/linenhall-barracks |archive-date=20 February 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>