Orakau

Cameron had lost interest in the Waikato. He had wanted to draw the Kingite army out into open battle but had been continually frustrated over the 7 month campaign. It seemed that the King would simply continue to withdraw into the interior drawing him further and further from his base of operations. The further he progressed the more troops he needed to protect his lines of communication, the fewer he had to attack the ever larger fortifications that the Maori constructed. Remember it was only 28 years since the decimation of Napoleons Grand Army in the Russian winter. (about 10% made it back to France).

A few Maori who arrived to late for the fighting in the Waikato decided that they would defy the British and despite warnings built a quick pa at Orakau. Rewi Maniapoto was bound by family lines and loyalty to assist at the Pa. Altogether about 300 were in the fortification when the British arrived. To their surprise it lacked the back door route for an easy retreat that other Pa had. Surrounded and under siege the Maori there held out for several days. Lacking water or ammunition they ate raw kumara and fired peach pits at the British.

During the afternoon of the 31st March, 200 Tuwharetoa, under Te Heuheu Horonuku, were seen on a nearby eminence, but well-directed shellfire discouraged their attempt to relieve the pa

Offers to surrender were rejected.

Early in the afternoon of the third day, because he was impressed by the defenders' courage, Cameron sent William Mair forward with a flag of truce to urge the pa to surrender. Rewi replied, “Kaore e mau te rongo, ake, ake!” (“Peace shall never be made, never, never!”) This was conveyed to Mair by Hauraki Tonganui, a Ngati Tuwharetoa chief who was noted for his stentorian voice, and who had been conversing with Mair while Rewi considered the message.

Later another offer was made:

Mair then asked that the women and children be sent out of the pa. While Rewi was considering this, Ahumai Te Paerata, a tall handsome young woman, daughter of the old West Taupo chief Te Paerata, stood up and replied on behalf of the women: “Ki te mate nga tane, me mate ano nga wahine me nga tamariki.” (“If the men die, the women and children must die also.”)

Quotes are from: http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/O/OrakauSiegeOf/OrakauSiegeOf/en

When a 5th Assault threatened to overwhelm the palisades the defenders choose to leave. The next morning they simply walked through the cordon and then fled for the safety of a nearby swamp. Cavalry chased them down killing many but failed to kill or capture Rewi, who escaped with the bulk of the defenders.

For Maori it seemed to be a defeat but Pakeha seemed to see it as another failure. Once again the Kingites had escaped and their ability to defeat the Maori in a single great engagement.
Then word arrived that an opportunity had presented itself near Tauranga.

Progress in the Waikato

Thanks to nzhistory.net and the NZ Historical Atlas for this image

The war in the Waikato.

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?)

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.



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. It is here that John Bryce won his medal for bravery (we’ll talk about this later) 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