<P> 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 . At Phibsborough, in the northwest, rebels had occupied buildings and erected barricades at junctions on the North Circular Road . The British summoned 18 - pounder field artillery from Athlone and shelled the rebel positions, destroying the barricades . After a fierce firefight, the rebels withdrew . They later made an unsuccessful attack on troops at Broadstone railway station . </P> <P> 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' manifesto to the citizens of Dublin', calling on them to support the Rising . </P> <P> The rebels had failed to take either of Dublin's two main railway stations or either of its ports, at Dublin Port and 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 . Their firepower was provided by field artillery which they positioned on the northside of the city at Phibsborough and at Trinity College, and by the patrol vessel 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 . Some rebel commanders, particularly James Connolly, did not believe that the British would shell the' second city' of the British Empire . </P> <P> 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". However, where the insurgents dominated the routes by which the British tried to funnel reinforcements into the city, there was fierce fighting . </P>

Who were the main leaders of the 1916 rising