STORIES OF FIFTY YEARS AGO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15234, 22 February 1913, Page 1 (Supplement)

STORIES OF FIFTY YEARS AGO.

No. IX. - RANGIAOWAHIA AND I • HAEBINL BY HB3TRY WILT. . After a heavy march on a very dark night the troops arrived at To Awaniutu at daybreak on the morning of Sunday, ! , February 21, 18G4. A halt was made here long enough for the men to. have breakfast, and they were then moved on to Rangiaowahia, where was a largo Maori ' village. The place was nearly empty, most of the inhabitants being with the Paterangi war-party, but there were about fifty men left, who, in spite of being completely surprised, refused to surrender. They made a gallant though futile defence. A confused fight took place among the whares between these men and the Mounted Artillery and Nixon's Horse, who were in front as an advance guard. Before very long the enemy were in full flight, leaving behind them a dozen of their dead and as many prisoners. Our loss was threes men killed and five wounded, among the former being the leader of the .Defence Force, Colonel Nixon. A bold rider, a keen fighter, and' the idol of his men, Nixon had practically lived in the saddle from the commencement, of hostilities, and his death at the head of the corps he had himself raised caused more universal regret than the loss of any man who fell in the Waikato. campaign. The. news of the occupation of Te Awamutu and the destruction of Rangiaowahia soon reached the ears of the erstwhile garrison of Paterangi, and. furious at the loss of their two pet villages they formed the desperate plan of meeting their opponents almost in the open- . On the morning of the 22nd they took up a position at Haerini, halfway . between Te Awamutu and Rangiaowahia, sheltered behind the low banks of an old pa. It was determined .'.to attack them at once. The small force of mounted men, consisting of 70 artillery and troopers was ordered to gallop past their front and take up a position on some rising ground on the right from which they could view the fight and be ready to ride down runaways in whichever direction they might flee. The movement was successfully • carried out in spite of a heavy fire from the embankment, close to the face of which the exigencies of the ground compelled the troopers to ride. Only on<» man was killed, the voluminous cloud of yellow dust which enveloped the galloping squadrons effectually ; screening them. : The mounted men being in position the troops prepared to charge, to the 50th and the Forest Rangers being given the place of honour, with the 65th in support. Ilia ■ only approach: was along a road through fern so high and thick that ; it was impossible for them to extend in skirmishing order or even to deploy into line. -They were .compelled to advance in column at ; the ! double exposed for a quarter /of a mile to a hot fire. As with the troopers, however, the dense / cloud v of dust; they raised 1 was their salvation, and the casual- ' ties on the way -were few. Cheering loudly, they raced up the .rise and over the low banks. ■ There were a few min- :'- utes of '; hot fighting, ; and then the Maoris bolted for the raupo swamp to the reap. . Had the soldiers been suffered to pursue at once without" being hatted '; to, reform their ranks comparatively few .would have escaped, but the ' temporary check gave time for dispersion. The ; troopers gave chase and accounted for 'a dozen or so, :• but the swamp was impassable for horses. Altogether the enemy lost between thirty and forty men. Our. own ; loss was three killed' and fifteen i wounded, nearly all' belonging to the 50th. A sufficient force < being posted to hold the pa the rest of the men returned tb'/Te Awanmtu- '''•■■■;■ ->".'-";:.•• * Now that General Cameron had worked well out towards the east he determined to send an, expedition up the other branch . of the river, now known as the Waikato, ' but then called by the natives Horatiu, ; ; the former title only being given to the stream after its junction with the Waipa. ( Commodore Sir William Wiseman was 1 I sent in charge, with the two steamers ! Pioneer and Koheroa, carrying a detachment of the 65bh. The navigation was found to be better than had been ex- ' pected. The current was strong but the water was deeper than on the ■ lower - reaches, and : good progress was made , until the neighbourhood of where the i town of Hamilton now stands was ' reached. Here the Pioneer remained, and i some of the party proceeded in the Kohe- ' roa. After a long struggle against the rapid stream Pukerimu was reached and > a landing effected, a survey oftho.sur- i rounding country being made from a hill- * top. General Cameron's position at Te i Awamutu was about a dozen miles away, i but not much could be made out, in. that ; direction. It could be seen, however, that < the neighbourhood was swarming with natives, and their new pa on Mangatau- .i tari. evidently held a large garrison. The i reconnaisance having been mads and the i fact of the navigability of the river hav- j ing been established a return to Ngarua- ] wahia was made. Shortly afterwards the £ steamers returned with *400 men of the 18th and 70th, who entrenched themselves j at Kirikiririroa and Pukerimu. j THE CAPTURE OF OBAKAU. ] END OF THE WAIKATO CAMPAIGN.. \ The Waikato plain was now pretty thoroughly invested, and the end of the < war was in sight. One stronghold ea?y r remained to bo taken, the pa at Orakau, !• three or four miles south-east of KiL.": j g kihi. Here was ensconced Rewi -vita a i * following of between three and four hun- j. oired of his own men. Confidwt in the e strength, of his position he de< . ni • id to L make a final stand here. j + Orakftu was a sad stumbling-Vvlock. to our men because it was so closely masked by a- snse grove of peach trees-" teli! ftax c and L \ fern, that a proper re.'; aisance a was impossible, and the poin .-■' attack J had tc be selected almost _ < . ardRewi's influencewhat - his coni[ riots c termed his mana—had by this time been s fully recognised, and it was determined to end it at once, if possible, by his death or a capture. For this reason great pains were *! taken to make a cordon round the place ** so secure that no fugitives, it was hoped, £ would elude it. . o The firsts move was to send three com- ipanics of -the 40th under Major Blythe to J make a circuit round by the west and n take up a position in the enemy's . rear. I C These men started shortly after midnight h on the 31st of March, and after a most I -a difficult march in the dark through rough j S unroaded country, in which they hari to i» cross and recross the Puniu river, reached d their post just before daylight. ' . On the left 160 men of the 65th under c Captain Blewitt started to take up a po«,». y tion on the east of the' pa. The 'rniCn, «< body, under Brigadier-vjeiwr,*! Carer, j, started about three a.m., and arrived in 0 , front of the pa j&ft as daylight was be- j. ( ginning to show. »Myth?ng was timed 8 - to a nicety, a \voc>„iiul feat coiiriderirg m the darkness and the "-'linknovn ; nature of the ground to &? traversed, 'he Balking parti*? heing' H position by: Mie time ? the. brigiit st r-i ".: ;X>. B.c immediately threw forw.'u". -.zk yreanlting -j)diiy of the ?. Royal Irish ■•>. :i4 -irest Rangers, who ad- }° vanced in skii v ."i-.jhing order.. TheyrusLed-v* 1 for the pa, but getting into a maze of " high fonces, deep trenches nad a tangled , " smother of fern v and galled by a '.hewvy']•« fire from the x:i.vi.-ible enemy "they *va\". ft! forced to retire, Reinforced by two com- | T panics of the 40th they once more threw f( themselves s,'j the place, losing Captain w Ring, of the 18th and five men killed, j li and Captain Fischer, of the 40th, and • '"i several men severely wounded. Seeing j tl /.■"■■ '.- ''...:'.' • . ■/■ '•' ,: ' ~: ' ■ ''<■'■ ■'•'.'..

: ■' . : x '(''(' : ...'--" : . v - ] the ineffectual result of the eecbri d attack Captain Baker,-; of the 40th, galloped up, ana. calling for . volunteers, jumped from his horse and . led : a third assault, which also failed, (with further loss. Ihe brigadier, perceiving that further attempts to take by direct assault defences which presented no visible (objective would only result in very heavy loss, recalled the men and made up : his mind to try the slow, but certain method of sapping up to the works. The ' force was accordingly dispersed round the pa in such a manner as to leave no avenue of escape- Two six-pounders were moved into a position from which the walls could be seen and commenced to batter away in' the hopes of making a .breach; but it i was soon seen that guns of such (. light calibre wore helpless against earthworks so massive. .'>-. (""■, During the . rest of that day and. the ; next the sapping operations , progressed steadily. A desultory fire was kept up bv both ddes, with only slight losses, and once a party of the enemy sallied out to attack the sappers, but met so warm a reception that they ..hurriedlv retired in confusion. By the morning of the third day, Saturday, April" 2, the diagonal trenches had nearly reached the pa, arid a gun was (run up the sap and commenced firing shrapnel ' through the palisades, while hand grenades were thrown over the walls, and a heavy rifle-fire was maintained from all sides. About the middle of the day, General Cameron, who had by this time arrived, ordered ; the bugles to sound "cease firing," and directed Mr. (afterwards Major William) Mair, whose death was recorded only a shotr time ago, to advance as far as possible in the trenches and summon the garrison to •surrender. To Mair's challenge Rewi returned the celebrated answer: " These are the words of the Maoris—-they; will fight for ever and ever and ever." Upon this uncompromising defiance the attack was immediatedly resumed!. An excited private in the sap threw his cap over the parapet where the gun had made a breach in tho palisades, and then dashed after-it, followed by twenty of his comrades. This impromptu attack failed, though from its gallant audacity it deserved success. The party gained the interior of the pa only to receive a withering volley which stretched half their number on the ground, and there being no supports they had to retire. \- ■■ But the Maoris understood the game was up, and were quick to take what for the moment seemed :to offer them a chance of escape. On 'the south the greater part of the investing force had been withdrawn,., partly jto . cut tea-tree to manufacture gabion's, and partly to give a clear lino of fire to one of the field pieces. About four o'clock the halfdozen or so of the 40th who were in the vicinity heard the rush of men through' the scrub, and immediately a large body of natives burst out and raced for' the swamp. With more gallantry than, discretion they threw themselves in front of the mob to hold them, and all got killed or severely wounded. Almost simultaneously the men in the sap became aware of the enemy's evacuation and ' rushed the breach, firing a volley after the fugitives. In two minutes nearly the whole force was in pursuit ,of the runaways, regulars, militia and volunteers all mixed in one confused; racing and/ shouting mass. Through the swamp tiie natives pressed, only to bo driven back by. the sabres of the mounted artillery, 1 -who had galloped round its head. Finally the remnant , es- \ caped to the west., chained by the Rangers and some of the infantry, the pursuit only being checked by the T'uniu river. : M •: f. The fall of Orakau practically'ended the Waikato war, although the Bav of Plenty natives were still -giving trouble, and the hot fights at -Gate Pa arid l To Ranga were yet to ensued. Though Rewi had escaped more than (half (his men lay dead in the pa and y sWamp, and his prestige as a leader .was much' weakened among (the :Waik4t'os:; ; Tainehana;;.and a number of other 'chiefs made their the general in person, aridHlie cause of the Maori/ King was from that moment a hopeless one. . - - -