THE MAORI WAR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 184, 14 December 1868, Page 3

THE MAORI WAR.

« The following despatch from Colonel Whitmore, to the Defence Minister, is dated " Off Wanganui, p.s. Sturt," Dec. 2, Colonel Whitmore was just leaving the Wanganui district for the East Coast, under orders : — In compliance with my instructions to proceed to Poverty Bay with a portion of my force, and to make the best arrangements in my power for the maintenance of Patea, Wairoa, the Kai Iwi district, and the town of Wanganui, I decided to make the following arrangements, viz : — 1. To throw in enough supplies of meat to Wairoa. 2. To relieve a portion of Major Fraser's division, with the detatchment detained at Wanganui by stress of weather, which numbered 72 men. 3. To send a cavalry party to Patea to acquaint Major Fraser of the proposed arrangements, and to desire him to march at once towards me. With these main objects, on Sunday the 29th, directly I received my orders, £ sent instructions to Lieut-Colonel Gorton to order the Patea detachment, with the Wairoa drays, to proceed to the mouth of the Kai Iwi, and I directed Major Noake to call out the militia of the Ist and 2nd classes, to the number of 100, to proceed to the vicinity of Stewart's Redoubt, to cover the erection of No. 3 blockhouse on Mount Bryce. I also directed Major Noake to call out Captain Finnimore's troop of Wanganui Cavalry, and to direct it to proceed to the mouth of the Kai-Iwi before nightfall. During the course of the day the enemy threw up some rifle pits and some slight pallisading opposite my camp, and fired aud yelled a good deal, but beyond discharging the rifles which had been long loaded, and giving the artillery a few rounds of practice, I took no notice of this demonstration. I felt convinced that the enemy designed to cover some marauding movement ou my right flank, or to entrap me to send a cavalry party across by some ambuscaded track. In the former idea, and under the advice of Lieut. Bryce, a moat intelligent officer, who always seems to be right in his reading of Maori! designs, I despatched the Kai Iwi Cavalry to I a fortified house near Stewart's Redoubt, to j waylay the paths, and at daylight I learned from him that he had actually prevented the burning of Dr Mussen's house by sending a waylaying party to it at 1 p.m., just too late to catch a small marauding party which abstracted some articles between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. This reconciled me to relinquish the hope of the assistance of the Kai Iwi Cavalry, valuable to me because so many of its members, besides being reliable men, are so intimately acquainted with the country. Later in the day, the house of the late Mr Hewitt was burnt, probably in their retreat, by the marauders, j justifying the interference of Lieutenant: Bryce. I knew, however, that the true mode oi drawing in the enemy's foragers was to advance myself, and I therefore pushed on at 5 a.m., meeting at 7 a.m. the drays and their escort with Captain Finnimore's troop at the junction of the seaside and inland tracks. The enemy's camp was now in sight, and his mounted men hovered about in front of my advanced guard. I attempted to cut these off by a rapid movement of the Wanganui Cavalry and Mounted Constabulary to my right — to get between tbem and the bush at Pakaraka. Nothing could have been more spirited than the efforts of the "Wanganui! Cavalry, splendidly mounted, gaily dressed in | the Regulation uniform of the Colony. Their flank movement had all the appearance of a j charge of regular cavalry, to which title, indeed, the excellent drill and discipline of the j corps fully entitles it. My positive orderwere to run no risk of being entrapped into unsuitable ground for cavalry, and as the' enemy narrowly escaped them, and a hot fire was opened upon them, Captain Finnimore drew off hia troop which could not act any further. The enemy had evidently prepared a trap into which the cavalry were almost led, having taken up a position behind a bank, and rifle-pitted the edge of the bush. Four horses of the Cavalry and Armed Constabulary were wounded by their fire, though no casualty, happily, occurred among the men. I now pushed forward my infantry skirmishers, and having reached my old lines, halted the drays and column to cook breakfast, under the cover of au extended picket. I now also sent Captain Newland to Patea by the sand hills, a duty he carried out rapidly, though the tempest of sand blowing in his face, and the necessity of swimming the rivers made it a painful and perhaps dangerous one. In relieving my skirmishers when the old picket had almost reached the column, oue man of No. 7 was mortally (I fear) wounded by a shot at least at 1460 yards range. Thia was my only casualty throughout these operations. The enemy had meanwhile left Pakaraka, and assembled his force at Tauranga Iha, perhaps one mile in a direct line from Nukumaru lake, in a horse-shoe-shaped recess of

the bush where he had a large camp of tents and whares standing. The points of the horse-shoe he had joined by a fence or palisade. His front seemed largely rifle pitted, and he had evidently further defences within the bush. Such a position I did not choose to attack when pressed for time, and with many other objects of more importance to attend to. My object was to get my drays through the defile at Nukumaru, and safely past the sandhills on the way to Waitotara, a*.. l if incidentally I could draw the enemy in .1) an open on a field where he had once before met with a partial success against great odds, I thought the time would be well spent in manoeuvring with that object, and the hope that he would come out against an inferior force, not altogether groundless. I therefore sent on the Patea Force and Wairoa drays, moving up my infantry in two lines of skirmishers towards the enemy's camp. This movement prevented his interfering with my drays, and to give it more semblance of intention to assault, I moved the cavalr)' in extended order as if ready to make a dash at his skirmishers. These latter we pushed back, and the enemy showed a large force exclusive of his advanced party not less than 400 to 450 men. But he would not move out towards me. To conceal my real design I now took ground in single file to my left, and so slowly marched in fighting order across the front of his position. The drays having passed Mr Hnndley's I now filed past the lake, moving the cavalry by the sandhills and halting across the dray-road entrance to the plains from Waitotara. The enemy however, did not move. He put up signals of recall to all his outlying parties and showed his force, but stood obstinately on tbe defensive. The rain coming on now induced me to leave this position, and I marched without further incident to Waitotara. Here I passed the Patea party, some sheep, and the drays across and sent them) to Wairoa, receiving intelligence in the night that that post was in good heart, and that the drays had safely arrived. The enemy did not molest us during the night, and at 5 a.m. I sent on Nos 2, 6 and 7 to Okahu with instructions to halt thero for orders. No 3 A.C. I halted at Waitotara to support No 1, which reached me at 7 a.m. I now sent Captain Finnimore to manoeuvre towards Nukumaru, to endeavour to draw out the enemy under the impression, as he must have seen our movements from Weraroa, that the cavalry were unsupported . I should not fail to observe that Captain Finnimore's troop had most obligingly brought No 1 across the Waitotara, which was rather high for footmen. The divisions, Nos. 1 and 3, now moved off, and though delayed by the tide, accomplished the rest of their march to Westmere without seeing the enemy who could not be drawn out by Captain Finnimore's troop, though he held it out like a red rag to irritate a bull, and we well know they burn to avenge the surprise carried out by Captain Newland and Lieutenant Bryce. All the divisions encamped at "Westmere, No. 1 having marched in heavy marching order over sand hills and sand beach from Patea between 2 a.m. and 7. p.m., a movement not easily surpassed, and speaking volumes for the eagerness of this division to avenge the sufferers at Poverty Bay. I cannot close this despatch without observing that the armed Constabulary carried out this march in heavy marching order. That they were incessantly masceuvring in fern, and undergoing a deluge of dust which made them suffer cruelly. Nevertheless, their movements were regular, and their bearing cheerful. They wasted no fire, and learned more of their duties than by a great deal of drill. All hoped to have been able to fight in the open field, and were disappointed that the enemy would not come out. I think in future it will be possible to persuade the men not to carry such large loads on their backs, but they have not suffered more than some inconvenience frora persisting in this unsoldierlike practice. I have to thank all the officers for thsir efforts to carry out my orders, and especially to thank Captain Finnimore, an officer of great smartness and high promise, for hia zealous exertions, and to record my warm admiration of the gallantry, efficiency, and discipline inferior to that of no troops uuder my command which have distinguished his troop during these operations. I may here add that though it hus been ray painful duty to receive frequent reports of the unwillingness to serve of the militia of this district, yet none of them when they appeared in the field have failed to distinguish themselves against the enemy.