The
Second Taranaki War is a term used by some historians for the period of hostilities between
MāoriThe Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand . The group probably arrived in southwestern Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300...
and the New Zealand Government in the
TaranakiTaranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island and is the 10th largest region of New Zealand by population. It is named for the region's main geographical feature, Mount Taranaki....
district of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
between 1863 and 1866. The term is avoided by some historians, who either describe the conflicts as merely a series of West Coast campaigns that took place between the
Taranaki WarThe First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861....
(1860-1861) and
Titokowaru's WarTitokowaru
's War was a military conflict that took place in the South Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island from June 1868 to March 1869 between the Ngāti Ruanui Māori tribe and the New Zealand Government...
(1868-69), or an extension of the
First Taranaki WarThe First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861....
.
The conflict, which overlapped the wars in
WaikatoWaikato is a Region of New Zealand. With coasts on the western and north-eastern sides of the North Island, it stretches from Lake Taupo and northern King Country in the south, north to the Coromandel Peninsula. It is bounded by Auckland on the north, Bay of Plenty on the east, Hawke's Bay on...
and
TaurangaTauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.Settled by Europeans in the early 19th century, and constituted as a city in 1963., Tauranga City is the fifth largest urban area in New Zealand, with an urban population of The city lies in the...
, was fuelled by a combination of factors: lingering Māori resentment over the sale of land at Waitara in 1860 and government delays in resolving the issue; a large-scale
land confiscationThe New Zealand land confiscations took place during the 1860s to take the land of Māori who refused to sell for white settlement. The confiscation law targeted Māori against whom the government had waged war during the New Zealand land wars...
policy launched by the government in late 1863; and the rise of the
HauhauHauhau is a Māori term that was applied to a branch of the religious movement Pai Marire, founded by Te Ua Haumēne of the Taranaki tribe in New Zealand in the 1860s. The movement inculcated that Māori would regain land that they had lost to Europeans during the colonisation process of New...
movement, an extremist part of the
Pai MarireThe Pai Mārire movement was a syncretic Māori religion that flourished in New Zealand from about 1863 to 1874. Founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumene, it incorporated Biblical and Māori spiritual elements and promised its followers deliverance from Pākehā domination, providing a...
syncreticSyncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. This may involve attempts to merge and analogise several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an...
religion, which was strongly opposed to the alienation of Māori land and eager to strengthen Māori identity. The Hauhau movement became a unifying factor for Taranaki Māori in the absence of individual Māori commanders.
The style of warfare after 1863 differed markedly from that of the 1860-61 conflict, in which Māori had taken set positions and challenged the army to an open contest. From 1863 the army, working with greater numbers of troops and heavy artillery, systematically took possession of Māori land by driving off the inhabitants, adopting a "
scorched earthA scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
" strategy of laying waste to Māori villages and cultivations, with indiscriminate attacks on villages, whether warlike or otherwise. As the troops advanced, the Government built an expanding line of redoubts, behind which settlers built homes and developed farms. The effect was a creeping confiscation of almost a million acres (4,000 km²) of land, with little distinction between the land of loyal or rebel Māori owners.
The Government's war policy was opposed by the British commander, General Duncan Cameron, who clashed with Governor Sir George Grey and offered his resignation in February 1865. He left New Zealand six months later. Cameron, who viewed the war as a form of land plunder, had urged the Colonial Office to withdraw British troops from New Zealand and from the end of 1865 the Imperial forces began to leave, replaced by an expanding New Zealand military force. Among the new colonial forces were specialist Forest Ranger units, which embarked on lengthy search-and-destroy missions deep into the bush.
The Waitangi Tribunal has argued that apart from the attack on Sentry Hill in April 1864, there was an absence of Māori aggression throughout the entire Second War, and that therefore Māori were never actually at war. It concluded: "In so far as Māori fought at all – and few did – they were merely defending their
kainga, crops and land against military advance and occupation."
Background and causes of the war
The conflict in Taranaki had its roots in the
First Taranaki WarThe First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861....
, which had ended in March 1861 with an uneasy truce. Neither side fulfilled the terms of the truce, leaving many of the issues unresolved. Chief among those issues was (1) the legality of the sale of a block of land at
WaitaraWaitara is the name of a town and a river in the northern part of the Taranaki region of the North Island of New Zealand. Waitara is located just off State Highway 3, 15 km northeast of New Plymouth....
, which had sparked the first war, but Māori unrest was exacerbated by (2) a new land confiscation strategy launched by the Government and (3) the emergence of a fiery nationalist religious movement.
Disputed Waitara land
In 1861 Governor
Thomas Gore BrowneColonel Sir Thomas Robert Gore Browne KCMG CB was a British colonial administrator, who was Governor of St Helena, Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Tasmania and Governor of Bermuda.-Early life:...
had promised to investigate the legitimacy of the sale of the Waitara land, but as delays continued, Taranaki and
Ngāti RuanuiNgāti Ruanui is a Māori iwi traditionally based in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 7,035 people claimed affiliation to the iwi. However, most members now live outside the traditional areas of the iwi.-Early history:...
Māori became increasingly impatient. During the earlier war they had driven settlers off farmland at Omata and Tataraimaka, 20km south of
New PlymouthNew Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers came....
, and occupied it, claiming it by right of conquest and vowing to hold it until the Waitara land was returned to them. On March 12, 1863, 300 men from the
57th RegimentThe 57th Regiment of Foot was a regiment of line infantry in the British Army.-History:The regiment started out as the 59th Regiment of Foot raised in Gloucester in 1755....
, led by Colonel Sir Henry James Warre, marched out to Omata to retake the land and a month later, on April 4, Browne's successor, Governor Sir George Grey, marched to Tataraimaka with troops and built a redoubt and re-occupied the land in what the
Waitangi TribunalThe Waitangi Tribunal is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established by an Act of Parliament in 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on claims brought by Māori relating to actions or omissions of the Crown, in the period since 1840, that breach the...
described as a hostile act. The five tribes encamped in the area – Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngatiruanui, Ngatirauru and Whanganui – promptly requested assistance from
Ngāti ManiapotoNgāti Maniapoto is an iwi based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa back to people who arrived in New Zealand on the waka Tainui...
and
WaikatoWaikato is a Region of New Zealand. With coasts on the western and north-eastern sides of the North Island, it stretches from Lake Taupo and northern King Country in the south, north to the Coromandel Peninsula. It is bounded by Auckland on the north, Bay of Plenty on the east, Hawke's Bay on...
Māori to respond to what they regarded as an act of war.
A month later Grey began planning to return Waitara to the Māori, and on May 11 issued a proclamation renouncing all government claims to the land. But he did nothing to signal his intention and on May 4, a week before he acted, Māori began killing British troops traversing their land. The Government declared those killings to be the outbreak of a new Taranaki war and Grey immediately wrote to the Colonial Office in London, requesting three additional regiments be sent to New Zealand. He also ordered the return to New Plymouth of troops that had been moved to Auckland at the close of the earlier Taranaki hostilities, where they had been building a road southward in preparation for the
invasion of the WaikatoThe Invasion of Waikato was an invasion during the New Zealand Wars fought in the North Island of New Zealand from July 1863 to April 1864 between the military forces of the Colonial Government and a federation of Māori tribes known as the King Movement ...
.
Land confiscations
In December 1863 the Parliament passed the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, a piece of punitive legislation allowing unlimited
confiscation of Māori landThe New Zealand land confiscations took place during the 1860s to take the land of Māori who refused to sell for white settlement. The confiscation law targeted Māori against whom the government had waged war during the New Zealand land wars...
by the government, ostensibly as a means of suppressing "rebellion". Under the Act, Māori who had been "in rebellion" could be stripped of their land, which would be surveyed, divided and either given as 20 hectare farms to military settlers as a means of establishing and maintaining peace, or sold to recover the costs of fighting Māori. Volunteers were enlisted from among gold miners in
OtagoOtago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. It has an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. It has a population of...
and
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
for military service and a total of 479,848 hectares were confiscated in Taranaki by means of proclamations in January and September 1865. Little distinction was made between the land of "rebels" and Māori loyal to the government.
According to the Waitangi Tribunal, Māori recognised that the British intention was to seize the greater part of their land for European settlement through a policy of confiscation and saw that their best hope of keeping their homes, lands and status lay in taking up arms. The 1927 Royal Commission on Confiscated Land, chaired by senior Supreme Court judge Sir William Sim, concluded: "The Natives were treated as rebels and war declared against them before they had engaged in rebellion of any kind ... In their eyes the fight was not against the Queen's sovereignty, but a struggle for house and home."
The rise of Hauhauism
In 1862 the so-called Hau Hau Movement emerged among Taranaki Māori. The movement was an extremist part of the
Pai MārireThe Pai Mārire movement was a syncretic Māori religion that flourished in New Zealand from about 1863 to 1874. Founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumene, it incorporated Biblical and Māori spiritual elements and promised its followers deliverance from Pākehā domination, providing a...
religion that was both violent and vehemently anti-
PākehāPākehā are New Zealanders who are not of Māori blood lines. They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
. Adherence to the Hauhau movement, which included incantations, a sacred pole, belief in supernatural protection from bullets, and occasionally beheadings, the removal of the hearts of enemy and cannibalism, spread rapidly through the North Island from 1864, welding tribes in a bond of passionate hatred against the pakeha.
Hostilities resume
The fragile peace that had existed in Taranaki since the truce of March 1861 was broken
with two separate but related events southwest of New Plymouth. In March 1863 a group of Māori encamped on land they had seized at Tataraimaka were ousted with force by British troops in what they regarded as an act of war. The Waitangi Tribunal, in its 1996 report, also claimed the military reoccupation of Tataraimaka was a hostile act that implied war had been unilaterally resumed.
Two months later, on May 4, 1863, a party of about 40 Māori ambushed a small military party of the 57th Regiment on a coastal road west of
OakuraOakura is a small settlement in Taranaki, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 45 15 kilometres south-west of New Plymouth. Okato is 12 km further south-west. The Oakura River flows past the town and into the North Taranaki Bight...
, killing all but one of the 10 soldiers as an act of revenge. The ambush may have been planned as an assassination attempt on Grey, who regularly rode the track between New Plymouth and the Tataraimaka military post. Three weeks later Māori laid another ambush near the Poutoko Redoubt, 13km from New Plymouth, injuring a mounted officer of the 57th Regiment.
The Militia and Taranaki Rifle Volunteers were called up for guard and patrol duty around New Plymouth and in June a 50-man corps of forest rangers was formed within the Taranaki Rifles by Captain
Harry AtkinsonHenry Albert Atkinson served as Premier of New Zealand on four separate occasions in the late 19th century, and was Colonial Treasurer for a total of ten years...
to follow Māori into the bush and clear the country surrounding New Plymouth of hostile bands. The force was later expanded to two companies and named the Taranaki Bush Rangers.
On June 4 the new British commander, Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron, led 870 members of the 57th Regiment and
70th RegimentThe 70th Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army formed in 1758 and united with the 31st Regiment of Foot in 1881 to form The East Surrey Regiment .- History :...
to attack and defeat a party of about 50 Māori still occupying the Tataraimaka block beside the Katikara River. About 24 Māori and three Imperial troops were killed in the engagement. The Māori were also shelled by the HMS
Eclipse from about 1.5km offshore.
On October 2 a large force of the 57th Regiment, Volunteers and militia engaged Māori near Poutoko Redoubt,
OmataOmata is a locality in Taranaki, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 45 just southwest of New Plymouth.The population was 474 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 27 from 2001.....
, 9km south of New Plymouth.
VCsThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
were awarded to two members of the 57th for bravery during the battle.
The Hauhau movement intervenes
In late 1863 Taranaki Māori built a strongly entrenched position at Kaitake, high on a steep ridge overlooking
OakuraOakura is a small settlement in Taranaki, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 45 15 kilometres south-west of New Plymouth. Okato is 12 km further south-west. The Oakura River flows past the town and into the North Taranaki Bight...
. The
pā-Places:*Pa, Burkina Faso, a department in Balé Province, West Africa*Pā , a fortified Maori village*PA postcode area, named after Paisley, Scotland, United Kingdom*Palo Alto, California*Panama...
was shelled in December by the 57th Regiment and through the week of March 20 to 25, 1864, the pā and nearby fortifications at Te Tutu and Ahuahu were stormed and taken by a force of 420 of the 57th, 70th and Volunteers and Militia commanded by Colonel Sir Henry James Warre, with four
Armstrong gunsThe term Armstrong Gun was primarily used to describe the unique design of the rifled breech-loading field and heavy guns designed by Sir William Armstrong and manufactured in England from 1855 by the Elswick Ordnance Company and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich...
. Cultivations of more than 2.5ha of maize, potatoes, tobacco and other crops were also found in bush clearings and destroyed. Kaitake was occupied by a company of the 57th Regiment and a company of the Otago Volunteers.
Almost a fortnight later, on April 6, a combined force of 57th Regiment and the newly-formed Taranaki Military Settlers, a total of 101 men, set off from Kaitake to destroy native crops near the Ahuahu village, set amid dense bush south of Oakura. A detachment suffered 19 casualties – seven killed and 12 wounded – after being surprised by a Māori attack as they rested without their weapons at the order of their commander, Captain P.W.J. Lloyd. Māori casualties were slight. The naked bodies of the seven dead, including Lloyd, were later recovered; all had been decapitated as part of a Hauhau rite. The mutilations were the first of a series inflicted on British and New Zealand soldiers carried out by Hauhau devotees between 1864 and 1873. Lloyd had only recently arrived in New Zealand from England and his lack of caution was blamed on his unfamiliarity with Māori war tactics. The easy victory of the Māori over the numerically stronger British-led force gave a powerful impetus to the Hauhau movement. The heads of the slain soldiers were later discovered to have been taken to the east coast as part of a
Pai MarireThe Pai Mārire movement was a syncretic Māori religion that flourished in New Zealand from about 1863 to 1874. Founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumene, it incorporated Biblical and Māori spiritual elements and promised its followers deliverance from Pākehā domination, providing a...
recruitment drive.
Attack on Sentry Hill
Three weeks later, on April 30, 1864, the measure of devotion to the Hauhau movement displayed itself in the reckless march by 200 warriors on the Sentry Hill redoubt, 9km north-west of New Plymouth, in a one-sided battle that cost the lives of possibly a fifth of the Māori force. The redoubt had been built in late 1863 by Captain W. B. Messenger and 120 men of the Military Settlers on the crown of a hill that was the site of an ancient pā, and garrisoned by a detachment of 75 men from the 57th Regiment under Captain Shortt, with two Coehorn
mortarsA mortar is a muzzle-loading indirect fire weapon that fires shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It typically has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber.- Function :...
. The construction of the outpost was regarded by the Atiawa as a challenge, being built close to the Māori position at Manutahi and on their land. In April 1864 a war party was formed of the best fighting men from the west coast iwi that had joined the rapidly-spreading Hauhau movement. In a 1920 interview with historian James Cowan, Te Kahu-Pukoro, a fighter who took part in the attack, explained: "The Pai-marire religion was then new, and we were all completely under its influence and firmly believed in the teaching of Te Ua and his apostles. Hepanaia Kapewhiti was at the head of the war-party. He was our prophet. He taught us the Pai-marire
karakiaKarakia are Māori incantations and prayers.Karakia are generally used to ensure a favourable outcome of important undertakings. They are also considered a formal greeting when beginning a ceremony...
(chant), and told us that if we repeated it as we went into battle the pakeha bullets would not strike us. This we all believed."
Led by Hepanaia, the warriors participated in sacred ceremonies around a pole at the Manutahi pā, with all the principal Taranaki chiefs present:
Wiremu KingiWiremu Kingi Te Rangitake , Māori Chief of the Te Āti Awa Tribe, was leader of the Māori forces in the First Taranaki War....
and Kingi Parengarenga, as well as
Te WhitiTe Whiti o Rongomai III was a Māori spiritual leader and founder of the village of Parihaka, in New Zealand's Taranaki region....
and
Tohu KakahiTohu Kakahi was a Māori leader and prophet at Parihaka, who along with Te Whiti o Rongomai organised passive resistance against the occupation of Taranaki in the 1870s in New Zealand....
, both of whom would later become prophets at
ParihakaParihaka is a small community in Taranaki region, New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre of a major campaign of non-violent resistance to European...
. The force, armed with muskets, shotguns, tomahawks and spears, marched to Sentry Hill and at 8am launched their attack, ascending the slope that led to the redoubt. Te Kahu-Pukoro recalled:
About 34 Māori and one imperial soldier were killed. Among those shot dead, at almost point-blank range, were chiefs Hepanaia, Kingi Parengarenga (Taranaki), Tupara Keina (Ngatiawa), Tamati Hone (Ngati Ruanui) and Hare Te Kokai, who had advocated the frontal attack on the redoubt. According to Cowan, the slaughter temporarily weakened the new confidence in Pai-marire, but chief prophet Te Ua had a satisfying explanation: that those who fell were to blame because they did not repose absolute faith in the karakia, or incantation.
Return to Te Arei
On September 8, 1864 a force of 450 men of the 70th Regiment and Bushrangers returned to Te Arei, scene of the final British campaign of the First Taranaki War, and took the Hauhau pā of Manutahi after its inhabitants abandoned it, cutting down the niu flagstaff and destroying the palisading and
whare, or homes, inside. Three days later Colonel Warre led a strong force of the 70th Regiment as well as 50
kupapaKūpapa is a Māori-language term used to describe Māori fighting for the Government in the New Zealand Land Wars of the nineteenth century . Also described as Queenites or Loyal Māori, their motives for fighting against other Māori were often based on traditional tribal rivalry, old scores or a...
("friendly" Māori) to Te Arei and also took possession of the recently abandoned stronghold.
Wanganui area campaigns
The focus of Hauhau activities shifted south with the Battle of Moutoa, on the Wanganui River, on May 14, 1864, in which Lower Wanganui
kupapa routed a Hauhau war party intending to raid
WanganuiWanganui is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region.Like several New Zealand centres, it was officially designated a city until administrative reorganisation in 1989, and is now run by a District Council...
. Among the 50 Hauhau killed was the prophet Matene Rangitauira, while the defending forces suffered 15 deaths. Sporadic fighting between Upper and Lower Wanganui iwi continued through to 1865 and in April 1865 a combined force of 200 Taranaki Military Settlers and Patea Rangers, under Major Willoughby Brassey of the New Zealand Militia, was sent to Pipiriki, 90km upriver from Wanganui, to establish a military post. Three redoubts were built above the river, an act that was taken by local Māori as a challenge. On July 19 a force of more than 1000 Māori began a siege of the redoubts that lasted until July 30, with heavy exchanges of fire on most days. A relief force of 300 Forest Rangers, Wanganui Rangers and Native Contingent, as well as several hundred Lower Wanganui Māori, arrived with food and ammunition but discovered the Hauhau positions abandoned. Māori losses were between 13 and 20; the colonial force suffered four wounded.
Cameron's West Coast campaign
In January 1865 General Cameron took the field in the Wanganui district, under instructions by Governor Grey to secure "sufficient possession" of land between Wanganui and the
PateaPatea is the second-largest town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Patea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Wanganui on State Highway 3. Hawera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the east. The Patea River flows through the town from the...
River to provide access to
WaitotaraWaitotara is a town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. Waverley is 10 km to the north-west, and Wanganui is 34 km to the south-east. State Highway 3 passes through it. The Waitotara River flows past the east side of the town....
. The Government claimed to have bought land at Waitotara in 1863, and in turn had sold more than in October 1864, but the sale was disputed by some Māori, who refused to leave. A secure route from Wanganui to Patea would form a key part of the Government's strategy for a throughfare between Wanganui and New Plymouth, with redoubts and military settlements to protect it along the way.
Cameron's campaign became notable for its caution and slow pace, and sparked an acrimonious series of exchanges between Governor Grey and Cameron, who developed a distaste for the operations against Māori, viewing it as a war of land plunder and explaining the campaign could not deliver the "decisive blow" that might induce the Māori to submit. Cameron considered that the British army did most of the fighting and suffered most of the casualties in order to enable settlers to take Māori land. Many of his soldiers also had great admiration for the Māori, for their courage and chivalrous treatment of the wounded. Cameron offered his resignation to Grey on February 7 and left New Zealand in August.
Cameron's march from Wanganui, with about 2000 troops, mainly the 57th Regiment, began on January 24 and came under daylight attack that day and the next from Hauhau forces led by Patohe while camped on an open plain at Nukumaru, suffering more than 50 casualties and killing about 23 Māori. The Hauhau warriors were part of a contingent of 2000 based at Weraroa pā, near Waitotara, who were determined to halt Cameron's march northward. Pai-Mārire chief prophet Te Ua Haumene was also at the pā, but took no part in the fighting. Cameron's force, by then boosted to 2300, moved again on February 2, crossing the Waitotara River by raft and establishing posts at Waitotara,
PateaPatea is the second-largest town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Patea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Wanganui on State Highway 3. Hawera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the east. The Patea River flows through the town from the...
and several other places before arriving at the Waingongoro River, between
HaweraWith a population of , Hawera is the second-largest town in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island. It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight, 75 kilometres south of New Plymouth on State Highway 3 and 20 minutes' drive from Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont.It is also on State...
and
ManaiaManaia is a rural town in South Taranaki District, New Zealand. Opunake is 29 km to the northwest, and Hawera is 13 km to the southeast. Kaponga is 15 km north. State Highway 45 passes through the town...
, on March 31, where a large camp and redoubts were built. Troops encountered fire at Hawera, but his only other major encounter was at Te Ngaio, in open country between Patea and
KakarameaKakaramea is a town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. State Highway 3 passes through it. Patea is about 6 km to the south-east, and Hawera is about 20 km to the north-west.-Education:...
, on March 15 when the troops were ambushed by about 200 Māori, including unarmed women. Cameron claimed 80 Māori losses, the heaviest loss of Hauhau tribes in the West Coast campaign. His force suffered one killed and three wounded in the Te Ngaio attack, which was the last military attempt by Māori to halt Cameron's northward advance. Cameron's own troops were also losing enthusiasm for the campaign, with one 18th century writer reporting sympathetic Irish soldiers in the 57th Regiment saying, "Begorra, it's a murder to shoot them. Sure, they are our own people, with their potatoes and fish, and children."
Difficulties with landing supplies on the harbourless coast, as well as the recognition that the land route to New Plymouth was both difficult and hostile, convinced Cameron that it would be prudent to abandon his advance and he returned to Patea, leaving several of the redoubts manned by the 57th Regiment.
Cameron had also declined to attack Weraroa pā, claiming he had an insufficient force to besiege the stronghold and keep communications open. He also refused to waste men's lives on the attack of such an apparently strong position. As historian B.J. Dalton points out, he had already outflanked the pā, neutralising its strategic importance. By July a frustrated Grey decided to act on his own to take Weraroa, which he claimed was the key to the occupation of the West Coast. On July 20, without Cameron's knowledge, he joined Captain
Thomas McDonnellThomas McDonnell was a 19th century New Zealand public servant, military leader and writer.-Childhood and Early Life:Thomas McDonnell, Jnr was born to Thomas McDonnell, Snr., an early British merchant and speculator who served a brief term as Additional British Resident, and his wife Anna...
to lead a mix of colonial forces in raids on several Hauhau villages near the pā, taking 60 prisoners. The pā was shelled the next day and Grey captured the pā after learning it had been abandoned, earning public praise after sustained criticism of the pace of Cameron's campaign.
Warre's campaign
While Cameron made his slow advance northward along the South Taranaki coast, Warre extended his string of redoubts in the north, by April 1865 establishing posts from Pukearuhe, 50km north of New Plymouth, to
OpunakeOpunake is a small town on the southwest coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 45 kilometres southwest of New Plymouth. Rahotu is 16 km to the northwest. Manaia is 29 km to the southeast. State Highway 45 passes through the town....
, 80km south of the town. The redoubts brought the length of Taranaki coastline occupied to 130km, but the forts commanded practically only the country within rifle range of their parapets. Isolated skirmishing between Māori and British forces led to raids by Warre on June 13 to destroy villages inland of
WareaWarea is a community in the west of Taranaki, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 45, 26 kilometres north of Opunake.-Business history:...
, while on July 29 a mix of British troops and Taranaki Mounted Volunteers returned to Warea, burning villages and bayoneting and shooting those Māori they encountered.
Chute's forest campaign
On September 2, 1865, Grey proclaimed peace to all Māori who had taken part in the West Coast "rebellion", but with little effect. By September 20 there were further deaths following a Māori ambush at Warea and reprisals by the 43rd Regiment and Mounted Corps. Further skirmishing took place near Hawera and Patea in October and November. Cameron's replacement, Major-General
Trevor ChuteMajor-General Sir Trevor Chute KCB, July 31, 1816–March 12, 1886 , was an Irish soldier in the British army, whose six week campaign during the Second Taranaki War was the last to be carried out in New Zealand by imperial troops.-Family Background:...
, arrived in New Plymouth on September 20 to take command of operations just as Premier
Frederick WeldSir Frederick Aloysius Weld, GCMG , was a New Zealand politician and a governor of various British colonies. He was the sixth person to serve as Premier of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasmania, and Governor of the Straits Settlements.-Early life:Weld...
's policy of military self-reliance took effect and the withdrawal of British troops from New Zealand began. The 70th and 65th Regiments were the first to leave the country, with Imperial regiments gradually being concentrated at Auckland.
In contrast to Cameron, who preferred to operate on the coast, Chute embarked on a series of aggressive forest operations, following Māori into their strongholds and storming pā. Following orders from Grey to open a campaign against the West Coast tribes, Chute marched from Wanganui on December 30 1865, with 33 Royal Artillery, 280 of the 14th Regiment, 45 Forest Rangers under Major
Gustavus von TempskyMajor Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky was a Prussian adventurer, artist, newspaper correspondent and soldier in New Zealand, Australia, California, Mexico and the Mosquito Coast of Central America...
, 300 Wanganui Native Contingent and other Māori with a Transport Corps of 45 men, each driving a two-horse dray.
Chute's force burned the village of Okutuku, inland of Waverley on January 3, 1866 and stormed the pā with bayonets the next day, killing six Māori and suffering seven casualties. On January 7 they repeated the strategy at Te Putahi above the Whenuakura River, killing 14 Māori and losing two Imperial soldiers. Chute reported the Hauhau Māori had been driven inland and followed them. On January 14 he launched an attack on the strongly fortified Otapawa pā, about 8km north of Hawera. The pā, occupied by Tangahoe, Ngati-Ruanui and Pakakohi tribes, was considered the main stronghold of South Taranaki Hauhaus. Chute claimed 30 Māori were killed, but the deaths came at a high price: 11 of his force were killed and 20 wounded in what was describe as an impetuous frontal attack on a pā he wrongly assumed had been abandoned. The force moved northward, crossing the Waingongoro River and destroying another seven villages.
On January 17, 1866 Chute launched his most ambitious campaign, leading a force of 514, including Forest Rangers and Native Contingent, to New Plymouth along an ancient inland Māori war track to the east of Mt Taranaki. The momentum of the advance quickly ran out as they encountered a combination of heavy undergrowth and torrential rain. Carrying just three days' provisions, the column ran out of food and did not arrive in New Plymouth until January 26, having been forced to eat a dog and two horses en route. The march was hailed as a triumph, but
BelichJames Christopher Belich, ONZM is a New Zealand revisionist historian, known for his work on the New Zealand Wars.Of Croatian descent, he was born in Wellington in 1956, the son of Sir James Belich, who later became Mayor of Wellington....
commented: "Chute narrowly escaped becoming one of the few generals to lose an army without the presence of an enemy to excuse him." Chute marched back to Wanganui via the coast road, having encircled Mt Taranaki. The five-week campaign had resulted in the capture and destruction of seven fortified pā and 21 villages, inflicting heavy casualties.
The Nelson
Examiner noted: "There were no prisoners made in these late engagements as General Chute ... does not care to encumber himself with such costly luxuries." Politician Alfred Saunders agreed there were "avoidable cruelties".
McDonnell's campaign
In early 1866 military settlers began taking possession of land confiscated from Taranaki Māori to create new townships including Kakaramea, Te Pakakohi and Ngarauru. As surveyors moved on to the land, the Government recalled forces from
OpotikiOpotiki is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Opotiki District Council and comes under the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.-Ethnicity :* Maori 54%...
on the east coast to form a camp at Patea to provide additional security. The force consisted of the Patea and Wanganui Rangers, Taranaki Military Settlers, Wanganui Yeomanry Cavalry and
kupapa Māori and was commanded by Major
Thomas McDonnellThomas McDonnell was a 19th century New Zealand public servant, military leader and writer.-Childhood and Early Life:Thomas McDonnell, Jnr was born to Thomas McDonnell, Snr., an early British merchant and speculator who served a brief term as Additional British Resident, and his wife Anna...
, an able but ruthless commander.
A series of attacks on small parties and convoys in June prompted retaliatory raids by McDonnell on local villages, including a bayonet raid on the Pokokaikai pā north of Hawera on August 1, 1866, in which two men and a woman were killed. McDonnell had only days earlier communicated with the pā and extracted a strong signal that they intended remaining peaceful. A commission of inquiry held into the Pokaikai raid concluded the attack had been unnecessary and that McDonnell's action in lulling the Māori into a state of security and then attacking them had been "improper and unjust". A convoy was ambushed by Māori on September 23 in retaliation, with one soldier hacked to death with a tomahawk.
In September 1866 the field headquarters of the South Taranaki force was established at a redoubt built at Waihi (Normanby) and further raids were launched from it in September and October against pā and villages in the interior, including Te Pungarehu, on the western side of the Waingongoro River, Keteonetea, Te Popoia and Tirotiromoana. Villages were burned and crops destroyed in the raids and villagers were shot or taken prisoner. At one village where McDonnell carried out a surprise raid, he reported 21 dead "and others could not be counted as they were buried in the burning ruins of the houses". When protests were raised over the brutality of the attacks, Premier
Edward StaffordSir Edward William Stafford, GCMG served as Premier of New Zealand on three occasions in the mid 19th century. His total time in office is the fifth longest of any New Zealand Premier or Prime Minister, and the longest of any leader without a political party...
said such a mode of warfare "may not accord with the war regulations, but it is one necessary for and suited to local circumstances".
With local Māori weakened and intimidated, fighting came to an end in November and an uneasy peace prevailed on the west coast until June 1868, with the outbreak of the third Taranaki War, generally known as
Titokowaru's WarTitokowaru
's War was a military conflict that took place in the South Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island from June 1868 to March 1869 between the Ngāti Ruanui Māori tribe and the New Zealand Government...
.
21st century postscript
The outcome of the armed conflict in Taranaki between 1860 and 1869 was a series of profound injustices to the Taranaki tribes, particularly the confiscation of huge areas of land from Māori wrongly described as being "in rebellion" against the Government.Since 2001, the New Zealand Government has negotiated
settlementsTreaty of Waitangi claims and settlements have been a significant feature of New Zealand race relations and politics since 1975. Over the last 30 years, New Zealand governments have increasingly provided formal legal and political opportunity for Māori to seek redress for breaches by the Crown of...
with four of the eight Taranaki tribes, paying more than $101 million in compensation for the confiscated lands, and apologising for the actions of the government of that day.
See also
- First Taranaki War
The First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861....
- Titokowaru's War
Titokowaru
's War was a military conflict that took place in the South Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island from June 1868 to March 1869 between the Ngāti Ruanui Māori tribe and the New Zealand Government...
- New Zealand land wars
The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...
- New Zealand land confiscations
The New Zealand land confiscations took place during the 1860s to take the land of Māori who refused to sell for white settlement. The confiscation law targeted Māori against whom the government had waged war during the New Zealand land wars...
- Waitara, New Zealand
Waitara is the name of a town and a river in the northern part of the Taranaki region of the North Island of New Zealand. Waitara is located just off State Highway 3, 15 km northeast of New Plymouth....
- Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements
Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements have been a significant feature of New Zealand race relations and politics since 1975. Over the last 30 years, New Zealand governments have increasingly provided formal legal and political opportunity for Māori to seek redress for breaches by the Crown of...
Further reading
- Belich, James (1996) Making peoples. Penguin Press.
- Binney, Judith (1995). Redemption songs: A life of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki. Auckland: Auckland University Press.
- Maxwell, Peter (2000). Frontier, the battle for the North Island of New Zealand. Celebrity Books.
- Simpson, Tony (1979). Te Riri Pakeha. Hodder and Stoughton.
- Sinclair, Keith
Sir Keith Sinclair, CBE was a poet and noted historian of New Zealand.Born and raised in Auckland, Sinclair was a student at Auckland University College, which was then part of the University of New Zealand. He was awarded a Ph.D...
(ed.) (1996). The Oxford illustrated history of New Zealand (2nd ed.) Wellington: Oxford University Press.
- Stowers, Richard (1996). Forest rangers. Richard Stowers.
- Vaggioli, Dom Felici (2000). History of New Zealand and its inhabitants, Trans. J. Crockett. Dunedin: University of Otago Press. Original Italian publication, 1896.
- "The people of many peaks: The Māori biographies". (1990). From The dictionary of New Zealand biographies, Vol. 1, 1769-1869. Bridget Williams Books and Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand.