Batteries connected in reverse

[Tezzadactyl]

Hi all,
I have a 95 Medalist 36v cart. During my battery maintenance today whereby I remove and clean all cables and battery terminals, I connected the positive and negative cables that go to the solenoid/controller in reverse.
I didn't realize this until I went to move the car back in to the shed and when I turned the key, selected forward and pressed the accelerator, nothing happened. Put it in reverse and tried again, nothing. It was then that I thought "What have I done wrong?", lifted the seat to see smoke coming from one terminal on the controller. I immediately disconnected the battery leads.
I left it sit for a while then connected the leads correctly but it won't move in forward or reverse. The reverse beeper is the only thing that works, but it keeps going when I select forward, although it is definitely quieter when in forward.
I have started looking for a new controller, but I can't find anything that looks like the controller in my cart.
Before I start to freak out over what this stuff up has cost me, is there a way that I can check to see if I've fried the controller, or if it is something else? My only hope is that the smoke I saw was coming only from where the cable is connected to the terminal, not from any other part of the controller.
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Terry