Taranaki 2010

Well the trip went well. The weather was (mostly) kind and I'd like to thank Michael Harcourt for his help. The students were great and helped make it the success that it was. My personal highlights were the Gilfillan Farm and the Cave/Bunker which were new. Although the farm, Kohia Pa and Turuturu Mokai left me wondering about how much we really care about the past.

So the final itinerary:

Tuesday
Papaitonga
Wednesday
Gilfillan Farm (Who'd have guessed it was there?)

The Cave/Bunker (So very cool)


Memorial Tower (176 steps)
Moutoa Gardens
Kowhai Park & Save Mart (Lunch and shopping)
Ohawe Soldiers MemorialTe Ngutu O Te Manu (A camping ground? Really?) ... How many people died here?


Thursday
Kohia Pa (or whats left) ... the first shots of the war.....Waitara Camp (now a Bowling club)

Puketakauere PaTe Arei PaPukerangiora Pa and SapPuke Ariki (Great Provincial Museum - thanks Amanda!)

Friday
Turuturu Mokai (Someone tell Hawera its not a rubbish dump! Also noted here.)




The Cameron Blockhouse
It was a great trip and the students especially made it enjoyable but we have to thank Carol from Wanganui Information, Amanda at Puke Ariki and the gentleman at Brixton who showed us where Te Kohia Pa was (Someone knocked down the Brixton Hall in Belichs video). Sorry I didn't get his name.

The Taranaki Fieldtrip 2010

Leaving today and back on the 25th

Visiting:
Papaitonga
The Cameron Blockhouse
Turuturu Mokai Redoubt
Moutoa Gardens
Kowhai Park & Save Mart (if time permits)
Gilfillan Farm
A Dark Surprise
Te Ngutu O Te Manu
The Waitara
Pukerangiora Pa and Sap
Puke Ariki
Tawhiti Museum

Have a nice week.

The Internal II

Most of you took the time over the weekend to consider your topic and questions. The topic needs to be based around some general themes without being too specific. I will cover a discussion I had yesterday in the library:

ie "Whalers interaction with Maori" is OK but since it is within the general "Contact" period should look at the EFFECTS of Ocean AND Shore Whalers interaction on/with Maori and the INFLUENCE this had over Missionary pressure leading up to the Treaty.

So the Topic could be ......

Not only is this a better more broad based Topic it opens itself up easily to creating 3 questions which cover the period 1800-1840..

Ocean Whalers are different to Shore Whalers and should be treated separately.

Their interaction leads to conflict and the worst of European behaviour/habits

Leading to Missionary disquiet and pressure on the colonial office.

So the questions could be......

See you in the library.

The Internal

Finally the Internal....

Take the weekend to consider your topic and mull over the possible focussing questions. Its not easy but you have plenty of choice, I want you to some idea on Monday when we start in the Library.

And of course this weekend the Football World Cup starts .... enjoy the 3min Advert.I know Tom will like it!

Paying the Piper

The wars could be said to be an attempt to impose British Authority by the Settler Government. But the desire for land seems to be just as important, and the behaviour of Russell and Whitaker in particular appear to show that the need for land was a driving force behind the campaigns into the Waikato... below are some links to the 1966 Encyclopedia:

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/whitaker-sir-frederick/1

In 1862 Whitaker supported the Runanga policy in the hope that it would ease land alienation; in the following year he advanced a complex policy to achieve this end by force. He and Russell had already dominated Domett; in 1863 he, as Premier, and Russell, as Defence Minister, easily converted the Native Minister, Fox, to their belligerent policy.

His Cabinet was in essence the spearhead of the Auckland pro-war party. Full ministerial responsibility for native affairs was accepted, in an effort to neutralise the Governor, Grey, and three crucial Acts followed. The Suppression of Rebellion Act suspended habeas corpus and introduced martial law into disturbed districts; the New Zealand Settlements Act provided for the punitive confiscation of rebel natives' land (some 4¼ million acres were at first envisaged); while the Loan Act (which, because it conflicted with an Imperial Act, ought to have been reserved, but in fact received Grey's assent) authorised a loan of £3 million to develop this extensive domain.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/maori-wars/3

...the wars were mainly a series of pitched battles in which each tribe made a final, desperate stand on its tribal domain: Atiawa at Waitara, Waikato at Rangiriri, Ngati Maniapoto at Orakau, and Ngai-te-Rangi at Gate pa. ... for the survivors the future was clouded with bitterness: they had to endure confiscation, the permanent loss of their valued land.

....the European victory was final. Time and numbers were on their side and the confiscated lands were gradually settled by European farmers.

... 3,215,172 acres of Maori land were confiscated in the Waikato, Taranaki, and the Bay of Plenty. Of this area 1,341,362 acres were subsequently purchased or returned, mainly to “friendly” or “loyalist” Maoris. In confiscating the land, little heed was paid to the degree of “guilt” of the “rebels”, and it was noticeable that the best of the confiscated land was retained by the Government for European settlement.

.. .Under the Native Lands Acts of 1862 and 1865 the Crown's right of pre-emption was abolished, a Maori Land Court was established to individualise Maori land titles and European settlers were permitted to purchase land directly from the individuals named in the Court's orders. This was part of a wider policy designed to fulfil the promise of the Treaty of Waitangi to grant Maoris the rights and privileges of European citizens, including representation in Parliament.

But it was the land legislation which had the most disastrous results for the Maoris who became involved.

Confrontation at the Gate Pa

In Tauranga, the local Ngaitirangi tribe led by Rawiri Puhirake had been supporters of the Waikato tribes fighting the British. Cameron had sent a small force to camp Te Papa to control the tribe. The Ngaitirangi gathered in the Te Papa area to fight the British. IT seemed like a good idea to confront the British on their own terms. They built a pa close to the camp, when this provoked little response, they built another one even closer and sent this message:

To the Colonel,Friend, -Salutations to you. The end of that. Friend, do you give heed to our laws for regulating the fight.

Rule 1. If wounded or captured whole, and butt of the musket or hilt of the sword be turned to me, he will be saved.

Rule 2. If any Pakeha, being a soldier by name, shall be travelling unarmed and meets me, he will be captured, and handed over to the direction of the law.

Rule 3. The soldier who flees, being carried away by his fears, and goes to the house of the priest with his gun (even though carrying arms) will be saved. I will not go there.

Rule 4. The unarmed Pakehas, women and children, will be spared.The end. These are binding laws for Tauranga.

Worth a Look (Papers past)

This was just what Cameron wanted. He quickly abandoned the Waikato and travelled to Taurange with a large force. In all there were over 1700 Imperial and local Militia concentrated at Te Papa. They brought with them some of the heaviest artillery yet …

Worth a Look (Papers Past)

Belich wrote:''The concentration of British artillery was of considerable power even in absolute terms. When it is considered that these guns fired unhampered by enemy artillery from a distance of 350 to 800 yards [320 to 730 meters] at a target of less that 3,000 square yards [2,500 square meters], their power appears awesome. Gate Pa was the ultimate test of strength between British and Maori military technologies, between modern artillery and the modern pa. In a wider sense, it was to be the first of many contests between breech-loading, rifled, composite-cast heavy artillery and trench-and-bunker earthworks."

Worth a Look (Papers Past)

Worth a Look (Papers Past)

Once again Cameron faced a Modern Pa, but this one was differerent to other fortifications. The pa was shelled from 9am until almost 4pm. When a breach had been made in the outer fence a force of 300 was sent into the pa. There was no firing as they advanced up to and then into the Pa. Suddenly firing broke out. Confusion followed and the force was driven back.British casualties were more than a third of the assault force with 100 men killed or wounded. Ten officers were killed while 28 non-commissioned officers and privates were killed and 73 wounded. The 43rd Regiment lost 20 killed (including its colonel, Colonel Booth, 4 captains and a lieutenant) and 12 wounded.

The 68th Regiment lost 4 killed and 16 wounded. The Naval Brigade lost 13 killed (including virtually all of its officers) and 26 wounded. Total Maori losses were estimated at 25.In the confusion and rain that followed the Maori garrison faded into the bush.(New 2008: The blame game immediately followed.

Worth a Look (Papers Past) & again Papers Past

The Settlers and Government expecting a great victory charged the soldiers and the dead officers with cowardice. Cameron was also seen as a scapegoat, no-one it seemed was prepared to give the Maori their due. The Pa was by most measures a wondeful piece of construction. It withstood a massive bombardment and the defences seem to have forseen the style of attack with defences turned inward which mean there were no defenders to attack - they were all safely ensconced within their bunkers. having made their point the Ngaiterangi abandoned the Pa as was the custom.

Worth a Look (Papers Past)

Two months later a force of 1700 troops routed a 500 of Maori caugt in the middle of building a pa at Te Ranga. This defeat seemed to pacify the Ngatiterangi who surrendered their weapons at Te Papa a month later.

The next major confrontation would not be in the field but in the courthouse.

Camerons Frustraton

Greys intention was always to destroy the base of the King. That meant advancing into the Waikato and attacking him in his Turangawaiwai. His motives were simple. Remove the King and he would remove the one obstacle to establishing (his) hegemony over the country. Colonial Administrators wanted more. Much, much, more. Russell and Whitaker dominated the Government but also had a personal reason for wanting to invade and confiscate Maori land.Their small cabal of investors were envious of the Maori farms which supplied Auckland and the Australian colonies with produce.

They saw great potential if this land could be acquired cheaply (Confiscation is about as cheap as you can get) and then sold at a profit to the ever growing number of settlers arriving in the colony. Maori farms remained communally owned and the Waikato was the seat of the Kingite ‘Land League’ which stubbornly refused to become alienated from any more of its land.The Settler Government acquired the £3m loan which paid for the arrival of the ‘Fencibles’, militia who would be paid for their service to the Government with grants of land in the confiscated areas, fulfilling two goals. This force meant the Settler government could show that they were playing their part in the war as well as providing a long term force capable of mobilisation at a moments notice (The NZ version of the Minute men?).

Worth a Look (Papers Past)

Worth a Look (Papers Past)

The invasion itself went slowly. General Cameron was a professional soldier who had a distinguished career, he was expected to crush the Kingites in short order. The Great South Road made it easy for him to shift men and supplies to the Waikato but not into it. Progress was slow and made even slower by Maori attacks on the fringes of Auckland. This necessitated leaving soldiers behind to protect both Auckland and the supply lines. It took three months to reach Meremere.In some respects Maori tactics had been to successful.

A force of 1500 warriors had erected the Meremere line and waited patiently for the British to arrive. But 3 months was to long and many had been forced to return home, leaving a force to small to defend the fortifications. After a brief fire-fight, which included Maori use of artillery, the defenders melted back into the forest and Cameron marched on.

Worth a look (Papers Past)

Worth a Look (Papers Past)

To Rangiriri, which was again a massive set of fortifications (amongst the worlds largest according to Belich) which ran between the river and a Lake forcing the British to attack head on. Because they controlled the river they were able to land troops behind the line and attack from both sides. Despite this advantage the Maori held out, repulsing several attacks at least one of which reached the central redoubt before being pushed back.
The next morning under what the Maori claimed was a flag of truce, the British captured 180 Maori, the rump of the army that had initially been prepared to fight them – the rest had again disappeared. Not surprisingly within 18 months almost all of these prisoners had escaped.Cameron marched on.

He captured the empty Ngaruawahia, capital of the King. He then reached a third line of fortifications. This was the Paterangi line, even bigger than those at Rangiriri. Intelligence said this was defended by a far larger force than at the previous battle. If a few defenders could hold him back there what could a larger force in better prepared positions do? Cameron decided to repeat his tactics, and bypassed the line by landing at Rangiaowhia, a village the Maori believed to be neutral. Many old people and children were killed when the whare caught alight during the fighting here.

Afterwards when Cameron advanced on Paterangi he again found it abandoned. The King and most of his followers had again vanished travelling south into the fastness of the Maniapoto. He could go no further. His lines of communication were to long and he would have to leave the security of the river and venture into the forests of the interior. He needed another way of proving his mettle.

Orakau was an unfortunate accident for the Kingites. Newly arrived Ngati Porou unhappy at missing out on previous battles chose to build a pa in a poorly positioned site.It was easily surrounded, had no escape route, and was incomplete. to make matters worse it had little food and no water. To compound matters they were surprised and had no chance to send their women away.
That Cameron killed 80 odd Maori was some consolation but the escape of Rewi Maniapoto was a dissappointment. Despondent Cameron then recieved news of a opportunity at Tauranga...

Moving against the King: The Waikato War

Grey returned perhaps expecting that his old policies (Flour & Sugar) would continue to work. Maori and Pakeha relations had changed with the Settlers determined to enforce the dominance of the British empire and their right to wastelands. Grey was also forced to work with the Settler Government under the conrol of Russell and Whitaker who were keen to acquire land. Maori for their part appear determined to retain control of their lands, and Greys platitudes no longer worked.Grey wanted to attack the King but lacked necessary resources. In particular he needed more troops. He could get some troops from local militia but not the thousands of professional troops he wanted.

Grey had seen the Wars in the North and Taranaki falter and fail because of a lack of logistical suport and a lack of manpower. To create a sound infrastructure for an invasion he constructed the Great South Road. This led directly from Auckland to the banks of the Mangatawhiri Stream. A regiment could disembark at Queen Street and virtually march directly into battle if necessary.. Grey just needed the troops.The Imperial Government would not give him troops without good reason. Grey had no valid reason so he lied. Then he lied some more, and some more.

In the ‘wars’ video Belich mentions the drunken rambling of the Maori called Whare who talked about a planned attack by Maori and French collaborators on Auckland. It was this ‘threat’ that Grey continued to hammer on about, much as Busby had harped on about the French threat in the 1830’s. Why the Maori would attack their best market Grey never explained. What they would achieve by driving the Pakeha out of New Zealand was never explained. However I guess within the Colonial Office the idea that natives might resent them and want to kill them wasn’t far from their thoughts (of course they would be confirmed in the Indian Mutiny of 1857). So the Colonial Office sent troops, lots and lots of troops. Thousands of troops.

As 1862 moved into 1863 Greys war machine grew,The Government for its own part took out a £3m loan secured by the promise of confiscated lands. It recruited troops from Australia on the promise of free land. (The 'Fencibles' ) While Dommett was Premier he was supported by Russell and Whitaker as representative of Auckland pushed hard for the war and would profit spectacularly from the confiscations. Unfortunately many of the fencibles would recieve land that was almost unworkable for poor farmers. Russell and Whitaker would buy up much of this land later for a pittance.

So Grey assured Maori he did not seek war but would ‘dig around the King’. In order to facilitate this he tried to establish local Runanga where Chiefs would work with local magistrates to run the "Maori" areas. It foundered becasue the Kingites would not cooperate nor would the chiefs sell their land.

Meanwhile he built his army and then built the Great South Road pointing into the heart of the Waikato. Once he had an army capable of defeating the King, Grey set about starting the war. The Mangatawhiri Stream lay on the Kings Rohe (border), north was settler Auckland, south was the Kingitanga.

Crossing the stream meant war. In July he crossed the stream but backdated the declaration that any Maori who did not acknowledge the Queens authority would be in rebellion.The Waikato War had started.

Worth a look (Papers Past)