It was late 1879 in the Australian outback, and Captain Moonlite and his gang of young bushrangers were desperate and on the brink of starvation. Depending on who you believe, they’d come to Wantabadgery Station—roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne—either on the unkept promise of work, or with the full intention of robbing the locals.
Whatever their motives, Moonlite and his hungry men stormed the little settlement and its surrounding businesses, stealing supplies and booze and taking 25 prisoners. A shootout with law enforcement ensued, during which a police constable was mortally wounded—as was Moonlite’s beloved gang member, James Nesbitt. Local newspaper reports at the time said that Moonlite wept over Nesbitt “like a child, laid his head upon his breast, and kissed him passionately.”
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