General W.H.M. Lowe was given command of operations in Dublin. Army reinforcements from Belfast, the Currage, Templemore and Athlone enabled the British to begin the cordoning off of the positions held by the insurgents. Machine-gun fire from the Shelbourne Hotel forced Commandant Mallin to evacuate most of St Stephen's Green and concentrate his forces in the Royal College of Surgeons. Looting became widespread in the city centre. That evening the Viceroy, Lord Wimborne, proclaimed martial law throughout Dublin city and county.