The Crisis of The Sixties

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1930, Page 10 (Supplement)

The Crisis of The Sixties

Ebb and Flow of Maori Wars .in Taranaki (Neto Plymouth Boys’ High School Essay Competition;

'(First Prize Junior—J/ N. Menzies.)

The /history of Taranaki during the nineteen years between 1856 and 1675 isi essentially one of wars. In that period the province was for nine years in -a continual state of chaos and bloodshed, but in spite of the great setback it received as a. result of the war, it was, by dint of the perseverance and enterprise of its settlers, restored within a surprisingly short time to its original, high position, in relation to the other provinces. Taranaki had more than a fair share of trouble, for which it was not altogether responsible, as a great deal, of the warfare was the result of a misunderstanding. • over the land question, and later the introduction of Te Ua’£ (Pai Marireism.

The year 1856 found the province of .Taranaki the scene of a tremendous amount of trouble over the question of the sale of. land.' The feud bet ween the land-sellers, as represented by Rawiri ’Waiawa/ahd the anti-land -sellers, under the leadership of Waiters Katatore, was ■particularly, bitter, each party, maintaining its right to dispose of.the Waitara block, for, the purchase of which the Government was then negotiating. Active interference resulted in the' death of Rawiri, and the friends of the. latter, in, quest, bf revenge, waylaid Katatore and murdered him. . Thus in. 1858 commenced another tribal war, as the result of which Ihaia, supporting . the claim of Rawiri, was defeated by Katatore’s friends and forced to retreat' from. Karaka, to Papawera, bn the Mimi River, whence he finally escaped; to the Chatham Islands. The Waitara block was, however, purchased by. the Government, in : spite of /the emphatic protests of Wiremu Kingi. The .Government surveyors on' the’land were, then continually obstructed in their work, until events reached , such a stage that Avar was declared in Taranaki. ..

With the declaration of martiaT law on i February 22; 1860,, the Taranaki Rifle Volunteers were hastily called together, and a general influx of settlers .to the town began. Shortly after. the commencement of the war it became necessary to. entrench the town and. sentries were posted around the outskirts. Owing to the gradual, movement of the outlying settlers into New Plymouth it was soon crowded to excess, and on all sides were to be seen active preparations for war. Colonel Gold' was given command of the Taranaki regiment until .the arrival, of Major General Pratt, •and under his supervision a ’bot y of sailors and marines from H.M.S. ‘‘Niger” entrenched themselves with a gun from the ship, on a rise, to the east of the town, now; known as Fort Niger. The first shot was fired on-March 17, 1860, at Te Koh i a on the disputed block, when the pa, occupied, by one hundred of the Te Atiawa tribe, was attacked by.a small force of ..Europeans. After the first day, however, the Maoris evacuated the site, giving the settlers the first victory of .the campaign. Both at Bell Block -and at Omata the colonists were now constructing stockades, to which,- in the event of a main rising, they, could repair. Then on the 28th.,-at Waireka, about five miles south-east of New Plymouth, were proved the fighting capacities of the Taranaki' Volunteers and Militia. On the previous day, as the result of the murder of two farmers at Omata, a party immediately set out from the town to: rescue the Rev. H. H. Brown, who was stationed, there. 'The precaution proved unnecessary as, by virtue of his holy'office, he was '‘tapir” to the Maoris. However, the force, under the command.of Colonel Murray, encountered a strong party of Maoris at Waireka, and in the ensuing engagement the. l natives, greatly outnumbering the Europeans, gradually surrounded the small civilian party.. Then to the astonishment of all Colonel Murray, having ■ orders to be in town before nightfall, gave the Militia the order to retreat ar. abandoned the Volunteers to the mercy 'of the- natives. But for the timely Arrival of ’a body of sailors, under Captain 'Cracroft of H.M.S. “Niger,” the -Europeans would have undoubtedly been annihilated. As it was. the Maoris, uncertain of the strength' of the reinforcements, turned "and fled.

Great was the rejoicing when the Volunteers, escorted 'by the sailors, marched into town, for on . Murray’s return the news that the local force had been abandoned to a greatly superior body of. natives had caused much anxiety. Colonel M llrra y’ e action in thus deserting the . Volunteers has been the sub-, ject of. much criticism/and it was popularly held.at the time that he need not have been So exact in obeying such an order when the fate of the remainder was so uncertain. After this fight reinforcements of Imperial troops from the other colonies were sent to New 'Plymouth, while the Maoris also began to concentrate their forces and to build' fortified pas. The Bell Block and Omata stockades were strongly garrisoned and sentries "were once more placed about the town. As there was no sign of any immediate cessation of hostilities, many of the settlers sent their 'wives and children

down to Nelson, where they stayed in safety until peace was restored. Meanwhile the Maoris continued to plunder and 'burn throughout the district. At length a reconnoitring party was fired, on from an enemy, pa. at Paketakuere and Major Nelson, who'was in command, decided r to attack. As the expected reinforcements under Colonel Gold did not arrive,-he was, however, forced to retreat after a very hot engagement. During August the Taranaki natives and their southern allies became particularly, daring, and quite a number of skirmishes occurred close' to the town. Eventually on November 5 the news was received that the Waikato Maoris had crossed the Waitara River, and, fearing an advance on the town, Major General Pratt sent' the. ■British columns out to meet them. On arriving at Mahoetahi, they found the natives entrenched on a hill. This position' they assaulted and captured, the Maoris being utterly defeated, and several of the Waikato chiefs killed in the battle. The natives then re-occupied Waireka and the surrounding hills, forming a series of fortifications and thereby commanding the roads. Major General Pratt again took the field and much skirmishing took place without any definite result. 'So the year wore on. The settlers’ houses were burned to the ground, their cultivations destroyed, and many families forced to flee from the province. They were, indeed in a sorry plight. Yet a lack of unanimity among ,those in command hindered any decisive action in dealing with the rebels; Then

when Governor Browne was replaced by,'Captain' George, Grey,. the•/ “vigorous policy,”' to use" his own expression, was abandoned,. and the (‘blanket and sugar’’ policy adopted. A truce was finally declared, and.it was agreed" that the Waikato, tribes should return home, and that the claims' to the Waitsra block were' to be investigated. The net result of all this trouble was. an enormous destruction of- the settlers’ property at a comparatively small cost to the Taranaki Maoris Thus the Government’s blunder over the 'Waitara purchase set the province back well nigh twenty years. As there seemed to be nd signs of further strife, there was no further- use for the troops, arid 'by pie winter of 1861 most of the militia had been withdrawn. At this time Major General Pratt, retired- and his , place was taken by General Cameron. ' 'Soon- after the arrival of Captain George Grey and the promulgation of- the new. native policy, a proclamation was issued announcing ■the abandonment, of Te Teira’s block. Then when' all seemed to 'be settled down another affair arose which set the whole province in a turmoil once more. Through ■. a misunderstanding,' General Cameron’s action in occupying - the Tataraimaka block was taken as an act-of war, and several weeks elapsed ■’before , the matter /was set right. In the meantime- hostilities had .recommenced. ' The first blood-in this, the second Taranaki

campaign, was ehed on May 4, 1803, when a small military party was ambushed, only one escaping. As war was now inevitable the troops were again moved into Taranaki, -and the town .was once more guarded by sentries. This time, however, more effective methods of frontier warfare were'introduced, and realising the necessity for fighting the Maori after his own fashion Captain Harry Atkinson formed a band of forest rangers, which afterwards received the name of the Taranaki Bush Rangers. The first active engagement was the attack on Katikara pa, where the Maoris were defeated' and the pa captured. At this time, the Tataramaika block was again evacuated. In the early part of 1864 skirmishing about Sentry Hill resulted in the deaths of several rebels, but no important engagements took place until the storming of Kaitake pa, which was captured with

little difficulty. Shortly afterwards the native villages of Ahuahu and Te. Tutu were captured without much loss. Then a new impetus was given to the ■struggle by the introduction among the natives of the Pai Marire religion. This doctrine, originated by Te Ua, was a strange mixture of the Old Testament and their ancient pagan customs, embodying “ a little mesmerism, ' a little spiritualism, a little cannibalism, and a little of the Jewish and Christian religions.” At first it peaceful movement, :. it. spread rapidly, and soon the whole of Taranaki was Jn a frenzy. The. entrance of Pai Marireism into active hos; tilities imparted' a ferocity to the see- , ond war that was entirely lacking in the first. ■ ■ .• ./ ' ;. ■ •"' ■ . The first engagement with the'“Hau-. Jiaus,” as they became known, resulted ■in a disastrous failure for the Taranaki 1 forces. Chiefly owing to Captain Lloyd’s carelessness, a small Maori party was. able to surprise and defeat a 'British force occupying Ahuahu, and the easy victory of the'natives over a European force of greater : number gave an .immense impetus to the new-born, religion. On April 30 occurred the most desperate encounter of the first Hauhau campaign in Taranaki', when a large number of rebels attacking the Sentry Hill redoubt were utterly defeated. 'The . Maoris had become more daring as a result of the# first success ,and charged the stockade fearlessly, shouting, “Hau! Hau!” at the . top of their voices, and relying on the magic words to ward off ■ the ' shot. Unfortunately, the charm

failed to work," and /they were-repulsed with tremendous loss of life. ■ Some months afterwards the Hauhau. pas of Manutahi and Mataitawa were captured, although at this latter pa no resistance whatsoever was attempted, the Maoris simply evacuating the site. - Te.-Arei was again attacked, and after a 'brief ■ encounter the natives abandoned the pa, although it was found later to be .Very well l 'fortified. Fighting was still. being carried- on between Warea and. Batea along the- coast,' although no action of any.great importance took place. Finally, a, general pardon was proclaimed to* all persons implicated in the rebellion. General Sir Dunean Cameron resigned . and was succeeded by ■Major GeneraF Chute, an efficient, and capable 'leader! ' In January, 1866, Chute marched a large force up from, the south; through the dense bush .then existingto the cast of the mountain to New Plymouth; thence round the . epast to patea and Wanganui, destroying en route all, the natives’ plantation's, and pas in his path. As the natives were considered to be subdued,. the settlers returned to their farms and continued their normal occupations. Gradually the troops too, were, removed until there .was practicajly .no militia-in the province, - When the' last-soldier had departed, . the Maoris again rose in a vain attempt to drive the Europeans from their lands.The year 186'7 had been one of compara-'

five quiet in Taranaki, but this lamblike peace was. only a prelude to the most ferocious fighting in. the Taranaki campaigns. Trouble first arose at Waihi, where on June Ifi, 1868, several settlers at work were murdered by the natives. Cannibalism was revived, and the bodies of the unfortunate men were cooked and eaten by a large number of the leading Maoris. A large colonial force was at once dispatched from Auckland to quell the rising rebellion, and it proceeded south to garrison the Turuturu Mokai redoubt, about two miles north of Hawera. This site is sacred to the memory of the most desperate encounter in the whole of the Taranaki wars. It is the “Rorke’s Drift” of Taranaki. In the forest stronghold of Te Ngutu-o-te-manu the Hauhau chief Titokowaru made his plans for an attack on the redoubt; it was delivered, under cover of the dark, with the utmost ferocity. Af-

ter a most arduous defence,- in the course of which Captain Roes, the leader, was killed, the besieged were finally saved by a relief force from Waihi. The sight presented by the redoubt in the light of the morning, was a terrible one, as there had been a scene of slaughter. On August 21; however,. Lieutenant Colonel. McDonnell, in avengement of Turutupu Mokai, made a successful at-, tack on . Te Ngutu-o-te-manii, after which he retired, to Waihi.. On September 7 he again took the field, in an advance on Riiaruru pa, but the attack, in the •course of which Voh - -; Tempsky, the' famous frontiersman/ was killed, proved a disastrous defeat for the Government troops. The Maori victory at Ruaruru had very far-reaching consequences; it resulted primarily in a large’ increase in the numbers of Titokowaru’s ’ band and, secondly, so weakened the, numbers and morale of McDonnell’s force that shortly afterwards, all the country north, of Fatea was abandoned to the Hauhaus. ■Soon after his defeat, Colonel McDonnell gave up his command, and was succeeded by Colonel Whitmore. At this time. the disgust in the ranks. at the mismanagement of the expedition had reduced the force to a' state of disorganisation closely 'bordering on open mutiny. On'November £0 '.Cotonel Whitmore made an attack on Okutuku pa, but after a very hard fight :he was repulsed, having lost a ■ large number of meh. Titokowaru, with, a large force of rebels, was now approaching Wanganui, ■burning houses and generally destroying everything in his path, and caused much

alarm among the settlers of that district. Activities soon lapsed, however, and for several weeks all was comparatively quiet, so that by February,-1869, all troops were again withdrawn. Then, on February 13, a Maori war party, excited by the success'attending the rebels under' Te Kooti and Titokqwaru, and encouraged by the absence of the. militia, .approached Pukearuhe, the British redoubt at White Cliffs. There they ambushed and murdered the Gascoigne family and when the Rev. Whiteley arrived on horseback, he too, was immediately attacked and murdered. ■After this shameful act, they burned the blockhouse; and then fled. They were never punished. With. the death : of Rev. Whiteley ended the . wars in -Taranaki., Thus, after'nine years of turmoil and- bloodshed, peace was finally restored to the province. But the restoration came about in such a dubiou.fi way that the 'joy that usually attends ■the cessation’ of hostilities was with-, held from the lofig-suffering, people of the district. Many regarded the. Whit» Cliffs 'massacre as presaging another war, and fled from their tarms into this town, while several families departed for Nelson. . „ i'. , . I . Owing to the. drain made on the colony by. such a long and arduous war, peace was attended by great commercial and financial depression,', which-re-mained for some time afterwards. New . Plymouth, also suffered severely through the entire withdrawal of. the Imperial troops arid, all the military establishments connected with the war, for the trade carried on with the soldiers was considerable! . Almost isolated from the rest of the colony, the settlers of Taranaki had borne up against the many difficulties which beset them with praiseworthy fortitude. - Peace was suppled to have ■ been established’ with the natives, but many years passed before confidence was restored between ’ the . two races, and for *a long'time each viewed the other with distrust. An attempt was made to populate the province by the establishment of military settlers, but the venture was a complete failure, for as soon as their terms had expired and their pay stopped' the new colonists sold up their lands ' and departed.. ' ■ ’ , While Provincial Government had been growing in power in the larger provinces, in Taranaki its development had been dwarfed owing to the war and the sinallness of the population. Being.one of the original Provinces under the Constitution Act, the district had all. the powers-of the larger provinces such as Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury. The people elected a' Superintendent and the meinbers of the Provincial Council; there was a town 'Board; and several. Road Boards had been formed. Under Sir Julius Vogels projected scheme for promoting immigration and public works, as expressed ! in the, “Immigration- and public 'Works Act 1870,” large, sums .-.were . borrowed from the‘London markets and applied to the bringing of settlers to the province and : to ,th§ 'construction, of railroads. In this' latter connection the 'Waitara line was opened for traffic on October 14,. 187.5. ; In 1875, : too, the Provincial Council passed the “New Plymouth Harbour Board Ordinance,” constituting a-Harbour Board, consisting of nine members, of which six were to be elected by the Provincial-' Council, to control the development of the port, the need for which was then'being realised. Thus fresh victories of peace were' gained year by year, as fresh fields were won from the bush-covered lands, and roads, railways, and telegraphs extend-' ed throughout the district. The people were industrious, the land fertile, and the whole province- prosperous and contented.