INCIDENTS PREVIOUS TO THE ATTACK ON PIPIRIKI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 541, 7 August 1865, Page 4

INCIDENTS PREVIOUS TO THE ATTACK ON PIPIRIKI.

(From the Wangviui Chronicle Extra, August 3.) Pipiriki, August Ist, 1865. The Military Settlors and Rangers at this p"st were att icked in the three redoubU eimaltaneously by th« enemy, who musfe-ed upwards of 400 strong, nt 8 o'clock a.m., on the 19th July, 1865. The arch rebel Pehi, liis son Topia. Saul, and other chiefs of distinction were recognised as leading the enemy ; eur camps were besieged for twelve days, and the enemy re* pulsed, defeated, and obliged to sue for peace. The P. M. S. and Rangers quartered hero consisted of 231, including all ranks, and are distributed as follows :—46 Rangers commanded by Lieut- Norland, in the abs°nce of Captain Hurst" on duty at Wani»anui. occupy a redoubt on the left of the main or principal one (taking the river a? a frontage) thirtyfwo of the Military commanded by Lieut. Gossling occupy the Gundagai or Ke mp's redoubt, recently evacuated by Captain M'Uonnell's Native Con ingent; and the remainder occupy the main redoubt under Major Brassey. On the 18th ult., a female named Rouka, whose husband is supposed to be serving in the Native Militia, reported that Pehi's daughter Bella, had been taken from out of her bed by two rebels supposed to bo her brother Topia, and husband, at two o'clock that morning, and carried away to the rebel's pah. This information together with Pehi's deserting his residence and proce ding up th* river on the 16th, as well as other information received by the commanding officer, caused every man to be on the alert. Meantime the greater part of the friendly natives residing at or about Pipiriki took to tlieir- canoes, taking with them large quantities of corn, pigs, an-* provisions of every kind, ussetting that they intended going to Wanganui to seek protection, having anticipated an attack being made. THK ATTACK. About 8 o'clock a m on the 19th instant, private Alexander Campbell, a servant in the employ of Lieut. Gossling, left the Gundagai redoubt aud proeeded into the Maori rilhge lor tie purpose of pro curing some dry fuel, and when within about twenty yards of the eastern end of the beach, and near th--spot where thr-e men and a corporal had been previously regularly p )sted. but very judiciously removed by the coiuniunding officer on the previ >us night, ha immediately obs Tft'd from forty to fifty ann'td rebels, who pursued him fir upwards of 300 yards and fired several vollies at him Mr. Chapman, together with privates K nz, Hobday, Weatprarth, and Ross, wero also taking their accustomed walk in the township, and hearing the vollies in their immediate vicinity (being unarmed) immediately too'-, to their heels, and fortunately succeeded in reaching their respective stations scatheless. Simultaneously with the firing at Campbell the Gundagai redoubt wis fired into from several positions -from Cemetery Hill in fr >nt which over ooks and is sitmte within fifty yards of it; from the height on its rear. a-> well :is from the sideland on its extr me right. Bra-sey's redoubt and Hurst's were alio fired into from the hill in rear of these ca-nps (taking the riv- r ns a fr-'iit) ; where the en my took up a formidable position a id marched into it in a regular and soldierlike manner ; and farming in front dived into their rifle-pits, from which they kept up 3 galling and terrific fire, riddling the whole of the t-'nts in the main or Brassy's redouot, an 1 rending the furniture in the officers' and oth«r tents into thousands of particles. Many were the hair-breadth escapes in the redoubts, but more particularly in the Gundagai, as the enemy had position and everything in his favour. The whares and tents were literacy rent to atoms. Bullets were whizzing and filing in a"' directions ; the rebels shouting, yelling, and doing everything in their power to induce their people to come on and rush th.i littl -Gundag>ii—whose people, I assurj you, were not idle, and dare rot be, if inclined, as the example set them by the officer com manding, Lieutenant Go-sling, wnsall that roul i be required of a British soldier Our men rrtu'ned the fire with precision and co ilnesi, and must-have been committing fearful havoc, as many of the euemy's wounded were dragged from out of the rifle-pits and graves, even in the midst of the firing. About il.4ia m., Ensign Clery, one 'ergeatit, and twent\ of the Taranaki military settlers, were detailed as n storming party, and proceeded from the main redoubt —and in a very heavy cross fire from the rebels on Cemetery Hill, and from those to the rear of the main reloubt-to dislodge the enemy from off Cemetery Hill; and, irrespective of shot, or the number of the enemy on the hili, which must have exceeded 150, and under the greatest disadvantag. s imaginable, having a high steep hill of 400 feet to ascend, succeeded in ascending and routing the enemy from this, their strongest position. It was hers Mr. Clery was wounded, the half of his ear being blown off by a bullet ; but the perpetrator of this act. who was almost buried to his shoulders in a rifle-pit, bit the dust in return, from a welldirected shot from Private Allen, of No. 8 Company. Private Dilly, of No. 10 Company, came in coutacl with another, but, fortunately, the rebel's pieoe missing, Dilly succeeded in running him through, aud disarming him. Gaynor, of No. 10 Company, whirled another into the deep gorge underneath, a lifeless corpse. The British pluck displayed by Mr Clery and the small band of heroes who sto-med the Cemetery, and eventually captured it, has never been exceeded bv any troops in the world, and in order that their trloriou-t feat may be recorded and handed down to po-terity, annexed I append their names fi.r insortion in your journal. The enemy continued their attacks till the 3°th, but wero worsted in every attempt. On that day they hoisted a flag of truce, and asked on what tera s they would be received, hut afterwards went off. Major Rooke's fore- arrived O" the Ist instant, and went up to Ohincmutu about two miles above Piperiki, but saw none of the enemy. The forco was to start yesterday f-r their principal stronghold abouo 20 miles above Piperiki. The enemy is supposed to have lost about 30 killed. In our next issue a full account of the Beige from our own correspendent will appear.