IMPORTANT NEWS FROM TARANAKI.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 65, 19 June 1863, Page 2

IMPORTANT NEWS FROM TARANAKI.

FIVE \ DAYS' L;ITER FHOit THE SEAT > iOF WAR. . j \ ' j\ BAT>TLE WITH THE MAOBIES. \ ? F^XRTY NATIVES KILLED. ! : — THREE SOLDIERS EILLED AND EIGHT V WOUNDED. CRITIC^ STATE OP WANGANUI. f • * ARRI\f AL op H.M.S.S. HARRIER, AT WITH TROOPS. J Wroni the Wellington Advertiser, ' Uth June.) Th% Lady Bird arrived at New Ply. moutbj on t he morning of the 9th, and left the s^me day. / Harrier arrived at Taranaki on Jthe 9th, with troops from Sydney, and spied at noon the same day with de> ('patches for Manukau. The Mataitawa natives have declared themselves (he allies of the rebels, and an official notification has been issued warning the settlers of danger to be apprehended to the north of New Plymouth. The Taranaki Herald says that if among the Maories killed there are any Wanganui up-river Natives, that settlement will bo in a critical state. The letter of Mr Oomett to the Superintendent of Otairo on the subject of locating settlers on the land between Omata and Tataraimaka, was not intended for publication, but for the purpose of ascertaining the opinion of the Superintendent on the subject. The Colonial Secretary and the Native Minister left New Plymouth for Manukau on the 3rd, the day preceding the return of th« Governor to Auckland in the Eclipse. Tamati Teeto the Taranaki prophet, is re- 1 ported to have said to the Ngatiawas, " Kill 1 and spare not." 1 General Cameron returned public thanks I to the Malitia and Volunteers for the good I will and zeal with which they had shared the I arduous duty since the commencement of I hostilities. General Cameron thus telegraphed from Tataraimaka to Major Mould and theSuperintendent at New Plymouth, on the morning of the 4th : — " Enemy completely routed with heavy loss, and positions carried. " One man killed and four wounded (on our side). "We have destroyed rifle pits, and kilted no end of Maories." We have received a private letter from Taranaki containing information with reference to the conduct of the Governor, which has materially tended still further to lower him in the estimation of the Taranaki settlers. The general impression is that he is butlitds better intelleetually than an old woman. Our Taranaki correspondent writes b$ way of Wanganui under date Friday, Jung sth, 1 p.m. " The Hwald's prediction is fulfilled. The Matailawa natives have all gone over en masse to the enemy, and have signified their intention to murder the settler*. These are William Kingi's immediate followers. I hear a proclamation is coming out, warning the people against holding any communication with Wi Kingt's pnople, and to knep close to town. Events of great moment are at hand. Yesterday's victory over the enemy will bring matters to a crisis. Be on your guard. Trust no S native. " I believe there will be shortly another expedition against the enemy Suuili, I hope the same good success will follow t ha General. " Sir George has gone to -\u«kland, and bis Executive, and our hope is that he wont come back, but leave the matter entirely in the hands of our brave General, who has no flour and sugar in hij system. I '• The bush rangers do their work wel'.l Capiain Atkinson's party have been out! nearly every day all through ihe bush, but! have not come across any natives yetl They hope to intercept some of tb<| j northeners on their way to join thel southerners, and I expect one of these da yjl to hear of some smart work in the binh.j I Our fellows are all there, and, in the foretii I will be a match for any number of lhe| j enemy. They (our -volunteers) .are all] j armed with the breech-loadeL — a very! ' effective weapon in the bush. \ J "The attrick on the rebel positions on j the 4th was a gallant affair, aud it shows j | that rifle pits can be best taken by storm ] rather than by sapping. Gen. Cameron's 1 arrangements and plans v.'erei admirable, f and the niggers were completely surprised | I believe the fallen are your natives, for S the bodies could not be recognised by 1 1 Taranaki native, named Koimtne. 11 I would have bean more pleasing if it had I been the Taranakis (the Putukia for in-i stance) or the Ngatiruanuis ; for I believe! they are the murderers of poor It ope arNllL Tr*gelt. I have been told tha.ka gnatf many more were killed than we tfave any! knowledge of. Indeed, it is certain many! more were killed of ihe troops after the re-i bels hor'oed. Our men have been aveugedl and I feel that no punishment can be tool great for those horrible murders on the! 4th May. I shall never forget the ighastlyg sight of the murlered bodies, co»ei;ed with! gore and black sand, and so frightfullw] hacked ! Poor, poor, Tragett, he was sa good fellow, and a great friend of mine—i indeed, of everybody's. I feel convinced! in my mind that a trying time for! U3 all" in the Northern Island is in the/futurpfl There is no telling what the natives will be up to, and I think that a general war h| inevitable. You must be tupato, Wnd M hope your settlement inay escape tlia holH rors it has been my lot to witness."* if

(From the Taranali Herald, s wn£\f>.)^k Thursday, JuiD~4?^ This day, exactly a month siirt Vthi Wairau Beach ma&6acre, and exact! |SwO since the occupation of Tataraimakfc,! till belong remembered by the Southern, na tives. An expedition for several dayi past has been preparing for a a att'ack uj)on the enemy's positions south of Tataraim«ka, on the Katikara Stream. Every--4 P

■s;

, K, s been very-properly kept secret. \<JLjn^ was Vt'own of anv intended , w^nt uritil a late hour last night. - jjfjp the -fine moonlight ■•night. :h numbering about 450 men,. silent!} % ->mj from town, leaving '* - ■'» the. c i> ■ '■civilian force under Major Mould, «\Vg believe that the carts, with ■tries, supplies, ammunition, &c, had ■previously sent to Oakura, so that jffoP s marched away noiselessly, and jjr Mj Jrnost impossible for any native Jf; ffi AiJp v e.y intelligence to the enemy '' mjoTcPwht from, the town. The conMjce is'that the enemy has been taken Cpiise. At 4 a.m. the Eclipse, with B 0 vrrnor on board, left for TataraiW and from an early hour the report Mphas been heard in (own. At 10 a m Jin was received from Tataraimaka M,,or Mould from the General, with Allowing brief but pleasing intelli- |—" Tataraimaka. 9 a.m. Enemy Jleiely routed, with heavy loss and lons carried ; we lost only one man ?. ■ «id four wounded." Great exciteand anxieiy to hear further I It is gratifying to all to know that ■of reckoning for the Southern murE ]ias arrived, and that the murders I 3 4th May have been avenged. 2 p.m. **. $ Eclipse has returned from Tataraiand has brought up the body of the ,' r killed and the wounded men. A jn of the troops engaged also came jn the Eclipse, and also the Governor General Cameron. The latter was jly cheered when he landed on the ) ji, and three cheers were also given to Excellency. The Eclipse, we are told, rood service by shelling the native Ion; and Captain Mercer's battery of I Armstrong guns was very effective, Vactice havinjf been excellent. The .■/•position, which was stormed by the Iffas an earthwork in course of cornInn, in which were the tisjal underml chambers and whares. The nai killed were difficult to recognise ; Komene, who saw them all, could recognise Tamati Hone. Tt is hed thai the bo'ies are all Wanganni Waitotara na-ives. The reports in ilation regarding the number of mv j i killed, and the details of the action, as usual, very conflicting, and we mus efore defer any further account of this itful day's proceedings till we can get lentic particulars, which, together i the n.unes of the officers and regi--13 engaged, and a list of the killed and Imiled, we will give to-morrow, when [expect to get them. The results foiling upon the defeat and loss of the U are difficult to imagine; but it may Considered thai one of two things will Utn«n — submission, or, a general ris lof the tribes ; the first, we are afraid, sot very likely. 7 p.m. iVe have just heard that an ambuscade natives was laid this evening at Wairu ich, at the same spot where the masre took plac on the 4th ultimo, wh<> .1 at Messrs Paris, Carrington, Innes, i others, who were riding back from taramaika in advance of the troops, e native^ fired one volley and then (leaped, but did not succeed in hitting jbody This act on the part of ih< j •iiiy after the chastisement thrfv receives! !(ip morning proves that, they are no ■' ci^aquered. The Eclip e left at du.sk :.Manukau with the Governor and suite. is n.'t known when he will return, or I ether he will return at all. Friday, June 5. The following is a list of the casualties vesterdaj's attack on the native posin : — 57th Regiment. ' K.ued — Private J-'dward Martin. Wounr'ed. Private PL Shipmrin, mortal, wound in ail (since dead). I'.ivate J. Osborne, dangerously, wound [abdomen (since dead), private F. Fhtherly, severely, gunshot, ■Milder. Private J. Evans, severely, gunshot. Nt. Private M. Fox, slight)} 1 ", thumb lunded. Private J. Deagan, slightly, gunshot, e. ! Private D Hurley, slightly, tomahak. 'riv:itc Isaac Morton, severely, contul, both thighs, 'mate B. Stackpool, severely, tomavlc, fbin. 70tV: Regiment. Vounded — Private "William Wallace, ■vely, gunshot, eibow. Ve have gleaned the following facts ', h we believe are reliah'.e : — At about m. on Wednesdiv evenins, 81 of the ii Regiment, under Captain Gresson, Lieutenants Lewis and Chevalier, ; 90 lof the 40th Regiment, under Lieuuit Hobbs and Ensign Ductow; 228 i of the 70th Regiment, under Major lock, Captains Kuthertherd, Tovey, ston, and Cay, Lieutenants Hu-kissnn Grir-rson, Ensigns Clarke and Youna. Dr Mieklehap ; also, 119 of the Artilry Corps under Capta ; n Me'cer, R.A.. id Lieutenants Rait and Larcom ; tog;eier with Lietpnanf-Colonel Gamble, Q.G., Lieutenant Colonel Hutchins. ilitary Secretary, M jorPaul. Dr. Mouat, .8., Captain Travers, LTC, Major cNeil, A.D.C., Captain Gorton, A.D.C, r. Tomlinson, D.A.C G , Innes, and 3Vtr arris, Assistant Native Secretary — the hole under the command of Lieutenanteneral Cameron, CB — marched from wn by the Grert South Road. On reachg the Potoko Redoubt the force was ined l>y a party of the 57th Regiment Inder Colonel Warre, C.8., Captain Rus--11. Adjutant Clarke, Ensign Douglas, r. rJa'-kinnon and Quarter-master Marndale, the detachment of the 40ih being ft there in garrison under Lieutenant ol bs. At Oakum the force was joined f a detachment of the 70tb, under Capin Tovey, remaining to garrison that >'t. The troops, observing a dead silence, ith a party of skirmishers along the :i{.ths, proceeded to Tatarairmka, where sy were reinforced by Lieutenant-Co-hel Logan, Captain Short.- Ens'gu Dunn, and Lieutenant WarburJon, I? E., ith a deiachmrnt of the 57th from akura, together with Lieuten ml Pickard, '.A., and three Armstrong guu« and a deichment of the Mounted Aitillery, and lieutenant Ferguson, K.li., with a serand 6ix men of the Engiueers. 'ie whole force assembled at St. ! Jorge's Redoubt and waited impa:ntly there till daylight. The force 38 then formed in rear of the Re>bt as follows — The 57th, including the itaraimaka detachment, under Colonel arre, Lieut.-Colonel Logan, Captains oodall, Russell, and Shortt, Lieutenants utton, Waller, Cox, Thompson, Adjust Cl;<rke, an'! Ensigns Manners, Dunn, Douglas, and Broderip, as the adnee — the 65th nnd ?Oth to fol'ow as a pport. About fi.ls a.m. the force ad- , need to die attack, the course taken I l

being to the lefr, of the Redoubt over Bayly's farm. After marchins about 400 yards the Armstrong battery halted, and was posted on Ihw edare of the rid&e over- ' hanging the Katikara river. Here the ! guns immediately wheeled up and fired into the native redoubt about 800 yards distant, directly inland — the 57th at the same time doubling down the valley in single file to attack the rifle pits to the right of the enemy's position. After dashing across the stream and ascending the opposite height, the advance under Lieut. Waller and Lieut. Brutton, with their Colonel in command, immediately rushed the rifle pits to the right, and drove the en' my from their position above the mouth of the river, thereby opening up th« road to the reserves, which came rapidly up while the supporting party i under Lieut. Colonel Logan, Captain, Short and Russell, and Ensigns Manners, Duncan, and Douglass, having been fired upon from the redoubt, turned to their left, and running over an open space of 300 yards, with fixed bayonets, stormed the place, killing every native found in it. Captuin Shortt with his party, and Capt. ! Russell with his, rushed the redoubt almost simultaneously, while Ensign Duncan was corning over at another part. Captain I Shortt claims to be first in, and Colonel Logan, who dismounted his horse just outside, went in immediately after. The men behaved well, and nothing could restrain the impetuosity of the charge. The natives were at once driven into their holes, where the bayonet did its work. On the right Colonei Warre's party cleaied the rifle pits, and pursued the flyinjj enemy southwards and inland. Colonel Warre leading his men through the hijjh fern with conspicuous galantry — the 65th and 70th coming up in time, by the right of St. George's redoubt, and Tip to the Kntikara valley, to be of essential service. The brunt of the action was borne by the 57th, as will be seen by the list of casualties The General was highly pleased with the gallant manner in which the enemy's positions were carried, and we are told complimented Col. Wane and his men on the spot, telling the colonel " he ought to be proud to command so fine I a regiment, — well done 57th." When the j Armstrong gun ceased firing (the practice of which was excellent) Lieut. Rait and a party of the Artillery, with their swords and revolvers, crossed the guNy and river to the left to try and intercept the retreat of the tnenayfromtlieirredoubt. The Maori position taken by Lieut. -Colonel Logan's party, in which were several whares, was fired, and the enemy pursued in all directions. The bodies of the natives killed, twenty-four in number, were brought t-> the Tataraimaka camp in transport caris. and several persons asked if they could identify any of them. Only one was supposed by Komene to be. Tamati Hone Oraukawa, chief of the Ngaruahine division of Ngatiiuunui tribe, but ii was almost impossible to tell, from the fact of onehalfof the head having been blown away by a shell. Taranaki and Ngatiruanui natives would h-ive been recognised ; we therefore supposo that, the native* killed were mos ly from Wanganui. Several ;;uns have been taken, ami ;i fine " taiaha " (a chief's spear) and several tomahawks are trophies in tho hands of ihu men. The spear was sold to an officer for A'lO. The Eclipse was anchored off the Kaitara Valley, ami threw tome shells while the trooi s were advancing to the attack. A shell from htr Armstrong gun was thrown with admirable precision, and the distance judged exactly. The ship lay within a mile of the native redoubt, and one shell fell into the centre of it, and it killed at least one native, for a piece of the fuse was found in one of the bodies, uhi<;h Com- j mander Mayne has preserved. The loss of the naiiviS may ba safe!}" estimated at about forty killed, and a number wounded. The bodies brought in were only those killed in the ivdoubt, and it i-i known that several natives were shot while retreating. Where everyone did his duty in this decisive affair, we. need not particularise and will only mention th it the General, who directed and planned the attack, and who occupied a foremost place, and the oliicers and men who stormed the Maori positions, deserve the thanks of the colony. The natives were taken by surprise, and our casualties weit? mosllj caused by the first volleys fired when the 57th rushed up.