THE LATE DISASTER AT RUARURU.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2417, 21 September 1868, Page 3

THE LATE DISASTER AT RUARURU.

—♦ — COLONEL MCDONNELL'S DESPATCH. FULLER DETAILS OF THE FIGHT. Speaking of the late battle at Ruaruru, the Wellington Independent saysWe cannot look upon the news that has come from the front by the Murt as being otherwl ® e absolutely disastrous. It may be that our forces have killed twenty-seren Maoris, though even that is doubtful; but ten-aye, a hundred times that number slam-would not make up the loss to the colony of ' ntr Von Teuipsky, of gallant Buck, of gaiinj dashing Hastings, and of the other office s and men who fell on this occasion. Onr contemporary then goes on to ID 9 u,r ® .. is to be done:-" What are we to dow these bloodthirsty rebels, who abstain from no treachery, who respect no usa S e civilised warfare, who regard no conditions of truce, who only make a hollow pretence of peace so' that /ey may find time to prepare for committing fresh outrages ? always to wait till they murder settlers, and only then make reprisals? face the existing difficulty, and set onndws to tire task of exterminating those lapus on the West Coast, who, during he hs eight years, have been the _ pejpe of all the atrocities in there d,Btnc, *"{gJ have occurred ? There is no use blinking the ugly facta of the case. There ar - tain number of natives on the Westooast who will never cease to rob and bum and

murder. These men must be shewn no mercy, They should be treated as wild beasts—hunted down and slain. . Modern history teaches us that irreclaimable savages, who rendered colonization impossible aod the lives of peaceful settlers iusecure, have been, in the interests of society, exterminated. Rajah Brooke, in the Islands of the Eastern Archipelago, rendered an important service to his country by tho partial use of such means; and _ Governor Uyre saved Great Britain millions of money by hanging the ringleader and summarily stamping out the rebellion in Jamaica. This is not the first time we have boldly ' avowed such sentiments; and although that arithmetical politician, the Hon. Johu Hall, has called them atrocious—and though that small wit of the Upper House, the Hon. Mr Mantel), has stigmatised_ our language as disgraceful to an Englishman, yet we do not abate one jot or tittle of our prcvious assertions. We are not advocating a war against the whole Maori race—than which no course could he mure unjust or impolitic—but what we emphatically assert is this—there are certain hapus of tribes on the West Coast whose deeds of rapine and murder have made them the curse of the colony, and we would exterminate them, It does not matter what means are employed so long as the work is done effectually. Head-money, blood-money, killing by contract—any or either of those means may be adopted, and we shall lie content so long as the business is accomplished, and the colony rid of a terrible danger and a ruinous taxation. If the worst hapus on the West Coast were dealt with in the manner prescribed, we should hear little of outbreaks elsewhere. We are convinced that the time has come for the people of Wellington to give an emphatic demonstration of their opinion. The Government lias no policy; and now that the colony is plunged into war, they are unable to grapple with the difficulties of the situation. lu truth the whole native policy of the Government has been nothing but a display of temporising and impotence. They have no aim and end. Tliey fight only when the deadly tomahawk of the Hauhau hag been buried in the brain of the settler: they gladly make peace when the cowardly murderers wish a respite to prepare for other deeds of bloodshed. The blood of the colonists in this island is now fairly up, and they will no longer he contented witli a system of cowardice and dishonesty on the part of Ministers. We are informed that many of the leading citizens have determined to call a monster public meeting to consider the present critical aspect of affairs which has arisen on the borders of this province, and that they contemplate going en masse to the very doors of the Assembly, with a petition demanding that the Government shall plainly declare the policy and the measures which they intend to adopt for suppressing the present native rebellion on the West Coast." The following is Colonel McDonnell's despatch to the Government. ,Camp, Waihi, 9 th Sept., 1868. Sir,—l have the honor to state, for the information of the Hon. the Mini ter for Colonial Defence, that I left here at 4 a m. on the 7th inst. with the force as per margin, intending to reach Te Kua-aruru through the bush, attack that village, and return by Te Ngutuotemanu. On reaching Mawhitiwhiti, we struck inland on the main track to Te Ngutuotemanu, and to seaward of the track that is supposed to exist, and marked out on the map to Te Kua-aruru, After proceeding some distance on a very old trail, it ceased altogether; we then headed in the supposed direction of the place named. We got into a very rough country, intersected with gullies and streams, and a perfect network of supplejacks. About 1 p.m. we ascended a bush ridge, and on the advice of Honi Papara, our guide, struck for the sea, to try and hit a track. After struggling in the bush for another hour, we heard voices a-head, and I sent a native up a tree to reconnoitre. He could only see smoke. Pushing on in the direction of the voices, we came upon three or four bark huts, which were rushed by the Kupapas, who fired into them, the inmates rushing away, leaving two killed, and three children, who were taken. I then left the Kupapas to bring up the rear, and directed Major Yon Tempsky to lead on with the men under bis immediate command, sending Honi Papara and a few friendly natives in front. We Boon got into a fair track, and after proceeding about 400 or 500 yards, we saw some more huts and a tent to the right of the path, and afterwards, to our surprise, found it was Titokowaru's sleeping place. Of course, there was no one inside, the shots that had been fired having warned them. Following sharp on the track, we crossed a creek, and on rising the opposite bank we received a sharp fire, as fast as possible. I got the men formed up, and returned it. In a very few miuutes we were fired upon from front, right and rearbut except within the palisading in the clearing iii our front we could see no enemy. In examining the place more closely, I found we were at the rear of Te Ngutuotemanu, and not at Rua'-aruru, and that a new stockade had been erected, and the old one rebuilt. As I could see that it would be impossible to rush, and, eren if successful, to hold the place as the enemy were not only occupying but round three sides of it, and up in the rata trees, some of which were hollow at the butt and : loop-holed,. I determined to collect the wounded, now seven in number, and endeavour to push to my left, the only point that ap peared' open. There was no track, and the few natives who were with us not knowing of one, I directed Inspector Hunter to accompany the wounded with Captain Newlaud, instructing the latter to Jkeep Honi Papara in view, who had promised to strike a way out. I was obliged to trust to his knowledge of the country, he having lived there for some time. I then returned to Major Von Tempsky and sent Kemp to collect as many of his men as he could, and send them to join Captain Newland in front. I then desired Major Von Tempsky to collect the rest of the men to form a rear guard and come on at once. I told Captain i umming to come on witli me. During the whole of this time the enemy were firing heavily at us in every direction. Our way had to be cut through supplejacks and undergrowth, which, with theeight stretchers we now had, was a work of toil and difficulty. We at length reached the creek that tuns through Timaru, but still no track. Presently the news was brought to me that Major Von Tempsky, Captain Buck, Captain M'Donn«ll (N.C.), and Lieutenant Hunter were shot dead; but just then Captain M'Donnell came up and stated that Major Von Tempsky, Captain Buck, and Lieut. Hunter were killed, and that lie had told Lieut. Hastings that the only chance was to carry out the orders that had been given to Major Von Tempsky, at once. Hiß reply was " Captain Buck is senior," and that he would consult him. Captain McDonnell then went to see Captain Buck, but found he was killed, and the enemy by this time in possession of the place where the bodies of him, Major Von Tempsky, and two men lay. He returned then, and pointed out to Mr Hastings the necessity of retiring. The fire at this time was very heavy from the front, rear and right, and from the tops of the rata trees. He then followed on my trail, with eight natives and ten Europeans, and reported as above. 1 had now with me about eighty men, including natives—hardly sufficient to carry our wounded now increased in number, and to keep down the fire from our right. Knowing that a large proportion of the force was in rear with several good officers, I moved on, feeling sure they were covering our retreat; but I presently found the enemy had got between us, and it appears from what hubInspector . I'.oberts tells me that soon after Captain McDonnell had left, the Hau-haus succeeded in completely surrounding tho rearguard, and it was only with the greatest difficulty they cut their way through them. The Hau-haus then left him (as he struck to the left further into the bush) and came after ub overtaking us just before wo struck the main track leading into Te Ngutuotimanu (as in map). Capt M'Donnell meanwhile had taken up a position at Te to . k . ee P,° ur front open ; our wounded had by this. time increased to twelve, who bad to be cafriiid, besides several slightly hit, but could walk. The men with our party worked, hard, bu were 80 done upas to require every pers™ and advice I and my officers to keep the majority from abandoning the wounded; one man killed dead I had to leave,

t\nd Dr Best was badly hit in going to ascertain his state. The doctor had to .he carried off on rifles, having no more stretchers with my psrty. The natives now swarmed in our rear, and kept up a heavy 'fire which I was obliged to return only owusionnlly, as my ammunition was very short j Captain Onmming and myself loading tind firing now and then, and I was afraid the enemy might have got round to tho crossing of the Waingongora river before I could reach it, Wo attained the opening at Alii- Pai Pa just at dusk, and here received a parting volley from the enemy; they followed oil yelling and commenced a war dance in the open ground out of the bush. I caused my men to cheer, anil gave them a volley which 1 should think took effect as their dance ended rather abruptly, and they did not molest us any more. 1 may stale that for some time I hid not heard any distant firing, and therefore concluded the remainder of the force had got in advance of me. 1 pushed aeio>s on to the river and found a few of the friendly natives holding tho crossing. Weg.it the men and wounded safely across, and readied camp about 10 p.m. A mixed party of natives and Europeans, the latter numbering about eighty had arrived before me, and reported that all the officers were killed or wounded and left behind, myself included. On roll being called 1 found that Sub-Inspector Roberts, Captain Palmer, Lieut. Hastings and Ensign Hertzell, with about eighty men and lour natives, were still absent. I caused three rockets to be fired, and sent a parly to the heights above the river, and they SMunded bugle, but no response was heard : being satisfied that I could do nothing until daylight, the officers and men exhausted—even dismissed—l had arranged to start the natives to hunt up the. missing men in the morning, and, just as they were about to start, a party was seen approaching the camp, which pro Ted to be sub-Inspec-tor Roberts Knsign llertzell, and sixty-two men, with four natives who reported Captain Palmer and Lieut. Hastings as having been killed. 1 enclose the statement of SubInspector Roberts of what took place from the time when he became senior officer of the reir guard. Colonel M'Donnell pays the highest compliments to the courage and' daring of tlie officers, and stales 1 bis onfilence, that if Major Von Tempsky had lived a few minutes longer, much fewer men would have been lost. It appears, however, according to M'Donnell's statement that most of the men became dispirited when they found the enemy in such force on all sides of them. The conduct of the Kupapas was excellent. The despatch concludes: I beg to enclose a list of my casualties, which, I deeply deplore are very heavy, but I am satisfied that of the enemy is much heavier. Tne Kupapas killed fifteen, and the known killed by the Europeans was thirteen, making a total of twenty-eight.' This does not include the loss they must have suffered when we were figliiiug our way out.—l have, &c., Thos. M'Donnell, Lient.-Coloncl. • .N. B.—l omitted to mention that Father Koland again accompanied the force, and shared the same dangers. He also assisted to carry the wounded with my party, and his example was a great incentive to my men to persevere. For fear there might be any mistake, I regret to have to state that the dead had all to be left behind. M'Donnell, Lieut.-Colonel. INSPECTOR ROBERTS' REPORT. Sept. 9, 1868. Sir,—l have the honour to report for your information that after the retreat commenced I consulted Captain Buck commanding the Wellington Rifles who was the senior officer in rear, whether we could take the dead. We concluded that it was not possible, and immediately after litis Captain Buck was shot in assisting to bring out a wounded man. I then sounded the halt and officers and call, and tried to form the retreat into some order. Whilst doing this I took some men with ine to bring in the bodies of Captains Buck and Palmer; whilst so engaged Lieutenant Hastings, Corporal Kus-ell, and four men were killed. " Lieutenant Hastings I felt a severe loss, he proving himself a cool and efficient officer. Even after being hit lie requested Ensign Hirtzell to hide the circumstance from the men, dreading to create further panic." Corporal Russell's death also proved to me a severe loss, his services being most efficient—doing his duty coolly and bravely throughout. Having got the men extended I recommenced my retreat trying to form a junction with you, failing in this I pushed for the Waingongora; halted at dark in the bnsh and remained quietly until 2 a m., when the moon was sufficiently high to give me light and guidance through the dense bush. I was not again attacked by the ene.ny, and arrived in camp about 8 a.m. on the morning of the Bth. I succeeded in bringing ten wounded with me,unfortunately, one man just expiring I had to leave behind. I wish to bring to your notice the great assistance I received from Ensign Hirtzell all through the moat trying march, and beg to mention the cool and gallant conduct of Volunteer Sergeant Livingstone, to whose untiring efforts I owe in a great measure my being able to bring the wounded through the bush, as also Sayte, Anderson, ioovey, and Fleur, who were conspicuous for the assistance they gave me I must also bring before your notice the valuable assistance of five of the Native Contingent as trackers in my retreat through the bush. —-I have, &c., J, Roberts, Sub-Inspector No. 5 Division A. C. AN KTE-TVITNESS'B ACCOUNT, The Evening Herald publishes the following account of tlie tragedy at Te Ruaruru, by an actor in this disastrous affair Sir,—l take this opportunity of writing to you after a most fearful fight, and with great slaughter on our side; in fact, we were brought into a regular ambuscade, and then left to do the best we could. You may form an idea when there are forty-six missing. We had to leave our dead and some wounded on the field. We had no. commanders whatever, and we may thank the loyal natives for bringing us out of the bush ; for if they had iiot been there, not one of us would have ever got home alive. In the first place when we got within about 500 yards of the pah, Te Ruaruru, tlie loyal natives attacked the outlying picket of the rebels; the bugle then sounded for us to come up, we did so, and when within about thirty yards of the pall we received a dreadful flre. We then took cover alongside a creek, the rebels firing into us all the time. Here Major Von Tempsky, Captain Buck, and Lieut. Hunter, were killed ; Captain Palmer and Lieut, Rowan wounded. Captain Palmer died on the way home, Some ten or twelve men were killed and wounded. Too much praise cannot be given to Major Hunter for his gallant behaviour. Two or three times he asked the Colonel to let him charge the pah, and the latter refused. I believe had we done so, a good many lives might have been saved. After the officers were killed the men were panio stricken. Colonel McDonnell left about eighty men with Lieut. Hastings, Ensign Hirtzell, and Sub-Inspector Roberts, to cover the retreat. The carnage then commenceJ. At one tree eighteen men fell with Lieut. Hastings, so you may guess how we were situated ; surrounded on every side by natives, you may say, no commander, and worse, our Colonel making his way home and leaving us to do tlie best we could for ourselves. Here, the men gave themselves up for lost; in faet the expression of Sergeant Llewellyan to me was —"we will all be killed, and let us fight to the last, for we will never reach home." Happily for ub night came on, and we retired into a dense bush; we had no tra.k, nor knowledge of where we were, Then we stopped until the moon got up, and two or three Maoris that were with us took it for a guide; and brought us out at about six o'clock in the morning, the Colonel being safe at home the night before, and so ended one of the most difgraceful affairs that was ever known. A few old soldiers being of our party, gave the men a little confidence in explaining the nature of our situation, and the best way to get out of it. Sub-Inspector Roberts and Ensign llurtzell behaved most courageously, and kept the men's courage up. Col. M'Donnell left us behind to do the best we could for ourselves, and made his own way home. Poor Hastings' last words

were-" Retire men, never mind me, lam dying." _ Suck, Von Tempsky, and Hunter never spoke; and so ended one of the most disastrous affairs that ever took place in New Zealand. ' ' BOLDNESS OP TIII3 REBELS. The special correspondent of the Wanganui Chronicle, writing from the front on the lltli, says:—" There are two very strong nnd distinct accounts given—the one throwing the whole blaine on Colonel McDonnell, and the other entirely exonerating him from blame. The truth probably is between the two. The number of the enemy killed is, I fear, under the number reported from the best information obtainable. There were not more than fife of the rebels killed, namely, three men and two children. The Ketioneatca (Ahltana's people) were present at the light; it had been hoped that they would remain neutral; Tito Kawaru thus gains an accession of some uO or 70 men to his force. Last night, at about 10 p.m., the rebels advanced to within about 401) yards of the Waihi Camp, and fired a very heavy volley into it, and again this morning at 2 a.m. They were no doubt of a party who had been searching the hush for the poor fellows left there. The drunkenness to which Ihave already alluded still continues. Mr Booth has this evening shut up the public houses and prohibited those who hold bush licenses from selling spirits to any members of the local forces, unless under an order from an officer. There is evidently great want of management somewherethe township is in a very unprotected state, and these men, instead'of being allowed to idle about the town, one would think, might be profitably employed in throwing up a redoubt for the place. The Pakakehi and other neutral natives still remain quiet, and promise to remain so. The hospital is short of supplies in lint and stimulants. On one occasion I know that at Waihi there were no *timul».nts for the wounded, Hnd in the absence of anything better, cold vinegar and water was given to a wounded man. I do not know that this happened often, but there should be no difficulty in having an ample stock of everything necessary for sick and wounded men.' ldo not know where the blame lies, but I think not with Dr Walker. The report that a man of the name of ffeck deserted from the Constabulary to the enemy is not correct; it appears that he was absent and not discovered for several days, lieiice the mistake. The Evening Herald thus refers to the ARRIVAL OP THE WOtIND ;D. The p.B. Woodpecker arrived ypsterday at five p.m. from Patea, with nine of the men wounded iu the last engagement; and also assistant surgeon Best w'ouiideil. The names of the wounded men are:—Constables J. Hogan, A.C.; T. Walton, A.C.; W. O'Brien, A.C.; James Shannighan, A.C. Privates J. Flynn, T.V.; W. Hollow,'iy, T.V.; James Hambiin, T.V.; W. Colville, W.R.; Geney, W.R. A store opposite the Rutland Hotel, having been turned into an hospital, the men were, conveyed there, and their wounds attended to by Drs Gibson and Earle. One of the wounded men who came there by the Woodpecker, Constable O'Brien, was one of the defenders of the redoubt at Turo Turo Mokai, and was the only man in the gate angle that was not touched. We stated, some days since, that Lacy, the sentry, had died at Patea; we are happy to be able to correct the report. Lacy is doing well. Patea appears to have been abandoned lo Bacchus. Rum ad libitum, and as much license as tlie most thirsty coutd desire, have marred the effects of discipline at Patea, and reflected upon the authorities. : OTHER ITEU6. We take the following from the Wanganui papers and private letters : The brave and reverend Father Roland accompanied the men into the thick of the fight, assisting to carry away and attend the wounded and dying. His hat was shot through, and lie had several narrow escapes. Major Hunter behaved nobly. It is declared to be: madness on the part of M'Donnell to take his men into a dense bush, whore surprise by a rebel picquet was si easy and retreat so disastrous. Tlie treatment of the wounded in Wanganui hospital is loudly complained of. All accounts confirm previous reports of the bravery of the officers. A correspondent writes: Some old Crimean soldiers compare the affair, in respect to the great? loss Of officers to Inkermann. The friendly Maotis behaved well. The Friendlies were the means of saving at least half of those who did return. They covered our retreat in a wonderful way, and said "We will not retire while one pakelia remains alive." The engagement commenced at 2 p.m. on the 7th inst,, and continued till 2 o'clock next morning. Many non-commissioned officers and men behaved most gallantly. Sub-Inspector Roberts shot three Hau-haus in a tree while out trying to bring in the dead bodies of Captains Buck and Palmer j it was whilst so engaged that Lieut. Hastings, Corporal Russell and four men were killed. One correspondent says 23 of the Hauhaus were killed and a considerable number wounded. The only capture made was of a girl. The Evening Herald of the 10th inst. says: —"lnformation has been received from Waihi that the men are very much dissatisfied with the Commanding Officer for leaving the dead in the hands of the enemy, and it is said that but for the interference of a gallant officer whose conduct has lately been tlie subject of inquiry, it was likely the expression of dissatisfaction would have grown into open mutiny. It is even whispered that it is a doubtful question whether those who were left behind were all dead; but it is maintained that the Commanding Officer should have brought away his dead, even at a greater sacrifice, and the feeling of horror is very great that our brave fellows have been left to be mutilated by a brutal enemy."