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)