NOTABLE FIGURES

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 54, 1 September 1934, Page 11

NOTABLE FIGURES

XEW ZEALAND HISTORY

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

SIR GEORGE WHITMORE

(By Guy H. Scholofield, 0.5. E., D.Sc,

F.E.Hist.S.)

(Copyright.)

Though Weld and Grey were, tho architects' of the self-reliance policy which ended victoriously tho Maori Wars, the man who inspired the Colonial soldiery with a new spirit, loading them intrepidly in bush and open country until Tc Kooti was rendered harmless, was Major-General Whitmorc.

Bom at Malta in IS3O, Whitmoro was the son of an engineer officer and the grandson of an engineer .commandant, his mother being • a daughter ot1 the Chief Justice of Malta. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and at tho Staff College, he Was commissioned inlS47 as an ensign in the Capo Mounted Rifles, with which ho saw scrvieo all through the Kaffir Wars of 1847 and 1851-53 and iv the Boer Rising of 184 S. As a lieutenant he commanded the escort of Sir Harry Smith. In 1852 ho was brigade-major. He had two horses shot under, him and was repeatedly thanked for courage and resource. In 1855 Whitmore proceeded to the Crimea (is aide-de-camp to Sir Henry Storks. Ho was for some time on remount sorvico in Austria-Hungary ancl with tUo Turkish cavalry in the Crimea. At tho end of tho war he remained in the Crimea to help wind up the affairs of tho army, and gained a flattering testimonial for his businesslike conduct in this work. For his'services. Whitmoro received the brevet of major, tho Turkish modal, tho Medjidieh (4th Class), and three British' medals. ARRIVAL IN NEW ZEALAND. After commanding tho regimental depot in Ireland for a short time,'he went to Canada as nide-de-cainp to the cominander-in-ehief. Passing out of the Staff College in 1860 at tho head of his class, ho sailed for New Zealand in January, 1851, as military secretary to Sir Duncan Cameron. When Cameron offered his resignation' Whitmoro also proferred his, and it was accepted as a matter of course. He accordingly sold his commission and became a landowner in Hawke's Bay. In 1863 ho was appointed Civil Commissioner for the' Ahuriri district, and a few months later commander of the military district of Napier, .and then chief inspector of tho Colonial Defence Forco. Almost immediately fighting broke out again in Taranaki. Whitmore volunteered and served under Cameron until the action, at Katikara then through tho Waikato. campaign, includ-

COLONEL SIR G. S. FHITMORE. ing tho Battle of Orakau. He returned to Huwke's Bay, was appointed commandant of the Colonial Defence F,orce, and was called to tho Legislative Council. Owing to his absence in England in 1865 he missed the military operations of that year. ; Not long after his return to Hawko's Bay the province was threatened by a Hauhau invasion from the Taupo country. Whitmore, with 200 volunteers and a strong body of "friendlies," marched out of Napier on the night of October 11, 1866. Early next morning the Hauhau position at Omaranui was surrounded and attacked, and after a sharp, fight practically the whole of the enemy were killed or captured. Meanwhile Colonel Eraser had surprised the Hauhau mounted force, and thus the invasion, ended. - CONFLICTS WITH NATIVES. Whitmore now entered local polities as a member of tho Provincial Council. Late in 1867 ho was appointed commandant of tho now Armed Constabulary. In tho middlo of 1868, on tho escape of Te Kooti from tho Chatham Islands, Whitmoro raised in Napier a force of thirty paid volunteers, took ship to Poverty Bay, and suffered considerablehardship in a gallant pursuit of the enemy. As the local settlers refused to proceed ho was compelled to withdraw for reinforcements, and in this pauso To Kooti was ablo to inflict a reverse on tho Wairoa contingent and escape to the bush with several days' start. Whitmoro, with his weak force, followed with great intropidity and fought desperately with the enemy's rearguard in the bed of the ' Buakiture Bivcr. With only 118 men (of whom 76 were Europeans) ho maintained the action until dark, crossing the river eight times. Thon ho prudently broke off tho engagement and with great difficuUy brought off his wounded," withdrawing his exhausted column. He hastened to Poverty Bay and thence to Wellington. <V severe reverse had been .sustained by tho Colonial forcos at Te Ngutu o te Manu on the west-wast. Officers wore shot, and Whitmore offered to servo under McDonnell, but the Defence Mmistor found the force so disorganised by tho roverso that ho ordered its retirement to Patea and gave the command to Whitmore. Tho Wellington and Nelson men took their discharge, and yon Teinpsky's Forest Rangors, openly mutinous after the loss of their loader, wero disbanded. The only unit fit. for service, the Hasvke's Bay division of tho Armed Constabulary, Whitmore took with him and. set to work reorcanising and drilling while the Government with great energy recruited m distant provinces and in Australia lor regular enlistment in tho Constabulary. Whitmore's 'experience of guerrilla warfaro in South Africa enabled him' to croato a new 'force eminently suitablo for the work ahead of it. Titokowaru was actively harassing the countryside, and Whitmore, with the help of Native kupapas, obstructed his advance, towards Wanganui. He promptly, attacked Titokowaru's headquarters at "Moturoa on the morning of November 7, 18G8. As the fighting developed ho conceived that-the position was too strong and withdrew his forces. Though this was clone in good order, it was one of Whitmore's worst military blunders, and dealt another blow at the confidence of the Colonial forces. Whitmore fell back to the Waitotara River and then to Nukumavu, so that the only garrisons west of Wanganui wero thoso at Wairoa and Patca. In this critical position Whitmore offered to resign, but he still had the confidence of tho Defence Minister. Titokowui'iv now constructed elaborate works at Turanga-ikn, only eighteen miles from Wanganui. POVERTY BAY MASSACRE. At this critical juncture news was recived oi; tho massacre, .in, Poverty

Hay. Reinforcements could not possibly bo .spared for tho west coast, so Whit - uioro destroyed his stores and withdrew to tho Kai-iwi River. This front was left to maintain itself with tho help of tho incomparable cavalry troops of Bvycc and Fiunimoro, while AVhitmore hastened with his most reliable troops to Poverty Bay. Ropata, retiring from tho first attack on Ngatapa, prudently declined Whitmoro's invitation to renew the attack at once, and the troops I'uuipcd at Makaraku to await reinforcements. On December 24 the advance .was renewed with 400 Armed Constabulary and 350 of the Ngatipovou under Ropata. By the 31st tho force was entrenched half a mile from Ilio enemy position, which was completely invested tho following day. With tho help of the Cochorn mortar tho outer and second linos of defence wore, carried and Iho main body of the enemy then made their cscapo by an unguarded' precipice' Many were captured in' the pursuit. Every male prisoner was shot, 120 being thus executed after capture. Tho Government losses wore' eleven killod and cloven wounded..

No sooner had To Kooti fled into tho Urowera Country than AVhitmqro returned to Wsuiganui with the Constabulary and a new division of Arawa Natives. Ho-advanced rapidly with his whole, force—Boo Armed Constabulary, the Wanganui and Kai-iwi Cavalry troops, and 200 Wanganuis under Major Keopa. On 'February 1 they wore at Nukuniaru, and noxt day they dug in at Turanga-ika without enveloping tho position. The men sang "in the trenches at night a>nd the defenders replied, but before morning they evacuated tho position, covering their retroat with a clover rearguard which inflicted heavy loss on Keopa at tho Waitotara, River. ■ After resting a day or two at Patea, Whitmore advanced up (lio river and 'surprised Titokowaru at Otautu. Unfortunately tho chief and many of his followers escaped into the forest. When Whitmore reached the open country at Taiporolicnui ho hoard that Titokowaru was hiding an the security of Te Ngnero swamp. Promptly preparing hurdles and fascines, lie crossed, the swamp at night, only to find that Wauganui • "friend-' lies" wero teuiporisng with tho defendors and that Titokowani; had escaped to ; the Upper Watyartu Thus ended the rising. !, . • , ■ QUALITIES AS A SOLDIER, Whitmore now took Ids force to. Bay of Plenty and organised three columns to penotrato the Urcwera country to destroy the food and strongholds of To Kooti. Crippled with rheumatism, he returned to tho coast, consulted tho Government, and was about to resume his command when a new Minister of Defenco ordered him to go on sick leave and practically suspended the operations. Te Kooti was not captured, and was finally pardoned. Whitmore's services, which were recognised by the C.M.G., had been of inimonse vdlue in demonstrating the fitness of Now Zealanders for. guerrilla warfare. Whitmore was bravo to the point of rashness and very tenacious. Ho took his full share of' the rigours of the campaign, and more than once pushed his, men. beyond their endurance. * ' ■ . In 1869 Whitmore withdrew from tho Provincial Council, ibut remained a member of the Legislative Council, generally supporting Stafford. In 1877-79 he was Colonial Secretary in the Grey Ministry. In 1882 ho was created a K.C.M.G., and two years later he was a member of the Executive in tho Stout-Vogel Government. He was appointed comniandant of tho Colonial Defence Force and Commissioner of the Armed Constabulary, and in 1886 was advanced to. tho rank of Major-General in tho New Zealand Militia. He had considerable literary attainments, and his book, "Tho Last Maori War Under the (Self-Reliant Policy," is refreshingly written. . ~" : Whitmoro at. different times owned property at- Eissington,. the Clivo Grange Estate, and a: run at Tokomaru. He married a daughter of William Smith, of Rugby, England, and.had no issue. Ho died on March 16, 1903. ,