Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 1928 THE FIRST FIGHT AT TARANAKI

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 4 August 1928, Page 6

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 1928 THE FIRST FIGHT AT TARANAKI

WHEN, late' in February, 1860, the Taranaki settlers bogan to crowd inlo New .Plymouth for protection, their action had a double effect: the Maori thought the Pakeha was frightened, and that his abandoned lands might be soized with impunity, and, once seized, would remain Maori for ever. For according to the Maori's land tenure, if he could drive his enemy off his land, that land became the conqueror's, to remain his by occupation. This will explain the character of the fighting which followed, and why the Maoris during the wars of the 'sixties almost invariably fought on the defensive. The fighting began with a dispute over land—the Waikato block of 600 acres—and ended by dispossessing the Kingiti Maoris of hundreds of thousands of acres, lost to them by the very theory of tenure which they themselves ins'isted should be applied to Maori lands—the tenure based on conquest. On March Ist 1860, there arrived at New Plymouth by sea from Onehunga three companies of the 65th Regiment, under the command of Colonel Gold, and in the evening of that day H.M.S. "Niger" landed two 24-pr. howitzers and fifteen gunners under Lieutenant MacNaughton, R.A.; and on 9th March two Lieutenants and fifty marines and bluejackets (with a 12-pr. howitzer) who encamped on, and fortified, a small hill to the east of the town, and called to this day Fort Niger. Colonel Gold, whOj as senior officer, had taken command of the situation, had under him. five companies of the 65th Regiment, 600 Militia and Volunteers, Naval and R.A. detachments, 30 Mounted Rifles and other details, in all about 1200 men. Without delay he marched with 400 officers and men of the 65th from the town to the Waitara block, and encamped on high ground not far from the Waitara River, off whose mouth was anchored'H.M.S. "Niger", ready to land reinforcements if required. On the march out the column had passed Bell Block, where the settlers were completing the blockhouse which took its name from the land on which it was built. It is said that Colonel Gold "positively ordered that the structure should not be proceeded with, as there was no immediate danger," and yet, when he had encamped, at Waitara, he threw up a redoubt, and.be. gan to&construct a block-house, and then withdrew his 'prohibition regarding the completion of the block-house at Bell Block, which was quickly finished. These incidents are "mentioned in order !o reveaj the curious mentality of the officer who commanded operations at the beginning of the Taranaki war, and to throw light on events in the campaign which might otherwise be difficult to understand. \ * ' ,'" ;

On the evening of ,16th March the Mounted Rifles reported to Colonel Gold that a fortified pa had been built at no very great distance from the 'camp, that ir. had been built in the shape of the letter "L," and was held by a strong body of Maoris estimated to be about 250 to 300 strong. , Next morning Mr Parris, Civil Commissioner, ,who had bought tha Waitara block for the Government, was instructed to ascertain if the pa was upon the Crown's land. He reported that it was, and that it lay in such a position as to command the road to the camp. Wairemu Kingi had. entrenched himself on the disputed block, in token of his determination to fight for its possession. Colonel Gold decided to try conclusions forthwith, but as events proved, in a manner which was peculiar ■to himself. Marching from the >camp with three companies of the 65th Regiment, three pieces of artillery, and detachments of R.A. and R.E. and Mounted Rifles, he was soon within sight of. the 1 pa, where he could see the warriors perched on the woodwork, whence they gesticulated and shouted defiance. The troops were halted at a distance of some 750 yards, and the guns were placed in position on the summit of a small mound. By the hand of that brave man Mr Parris, Colonel Gold sent a written message to the rebels, which the Civil Commissioner Was to translate into Maori. This precious document ran, "Deluded creatures ! Your pa is invested. If I fire upon you, you will all be destroyed. Surrender, and you will be saved." With a flag of truce Mr Parris rode forward, and actually advanced to the walls of the pa, and read what he himself described as "this puerile missive." The Maoris in reply told him to "get out of that quick before they shot him." Parris.galloped back, and the guns opened firel- ' The range (750yds). was well within the capacity of the guns, which should have been able to do good practice at ranges from 1200 to 1500 yards, but for some reason, probably inferior powder, the shooting was bad—all the shells fell short. Mr Parris then suggested to Colonel Gold that the artillery should be advanced to a position where there was another pieice of rising ground, about 300 yards from the pa. "I know the, place, sir;" said Parris, "it is suitable for guns and there* is an excellent track to it, screened from fire by the fern for the greater part of the way." To which Colonel Gold replied, "But it would take us under fire!" Comment is needless. The guns continued to waste ammunition. At last Colonel Gold changed his mind, and ordered the guns forward, under the guidance of Mr Parris. Lieutenant MacNaughton R.A. harnessed his bullock-teams to the guns, and, escorted by two companies of the 65th, went forward. The rear was brought up by the rest of the force. But, when the guns and their escort came into view of the pa, the Maoris opened a well-direct-ed fire, men of the escort began to fall, the gun-bullocks began to be panicstricken, so MacNaughten took them out and,* manning the drag-ropes, speedily brought his guns into action in the new position. Now every shot went through the walls of the pa, and every shell from the howitzers burst inside of it. The enemy replied by keeping up a fairly heavy fire, and yelling horribly.

The 65th'S' skirmishers opened a •sharp fire. The guns -were repeatedly struck with bullets, but none of the artillerymen was hit. The Maori Hag, which was flying from a staff fixed to the palisades, was brought down. Gradually the firing from the pa slackened, died down, and finally ceased. Now was the time to advance'and storm tho pa, in whoso walls there was. a practicable breach. Yet the order was not given. Several men of th*> Mounted Rifles without orders galloped up to tho palisades, tore tho Hag down, and carried it off, two men being wejunded (one, named J. Sarten, mortally) in this gallant affair. The firing on both sides was renewed, the gifns continued to pound the pa, the 6£th fixed bayonets, preparatory to the charge, ,but still no order was given. Mr Parris, who by reason of his being a civilian, seems'to have had considerable liberty of actipn, went at Lieutenoft MacNanghten's, urgent wish to inform "Colonel Gold that the breach was quite practicable,, but that officer still refused to order the assault.,lt was only with difficulty that tho <6sth were prevented from advancing without orders. Some of the Mounted Rifles, out on the right flank, lexchanged shots with some Natives who were stealing up a gully towards the pa. Then the gun-ammuni-tion became expended, and, night coming on, the 65th were assembled in quarter-column; with the exception of the escort to the Artillery, pickets and sentries were posted, and the whole force lay down in the fern. During the early part of the. night the enemy kept up a dropping fire, and bullets struck the gun 3 and the ground where the men were lying, but nobody was wounded. First thing in the morning Colonel Gold ordered the Mounted . Rifles and % one company of the 65th to go .to Waitara for gun-ammunition, and when this arrived the guns opened fire, but there was no reply from the pa. The guns then advanced still closer, and reopened-with tremendous effect, blasting to pieces large portions of the stockade, which ih ; places was demolished. Still there was no,reply from the.pa. Then Lieutenant MacNaughten ceased fire, and rap towards the pa. He was followed by nearby sections of the 65th with fixed baypnets. With a cheer they rushed into the pa. It was empty. The Maoris had decamped during the night: Not long before dawn three musket-shots had rung out from the pa, and it is supposed that they \vere the signal for the evacuation. There is no doubt, that the garrison had had enough. Tactically speaking? they were beaten, because they had been driven off the land which they proposed to hold against all comers. But from the soldiers' point of view the gar-, rison should have been wiped out, and Colonel Gold came in for a great deal of criticism for not having stormed the pa, when Lieutenant MacNaughten'reported through Mr Parris that the breach was practicable. "He who fights and runs away, lives to .'fight another day." Wiremu' Kingi and his warriors, taking their dead and wounded with them, lived to cause quite a lot of trouble; but they had learned that the Pakeha /meant to fight for his rights, and that, so far as the Waitara block was concerned, there was' very little likelihood that Wiremu would ever be able to take it from the Pakeha; The white man had won the first round..'