TARANAKI.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 200, 19 July 1860, Page 3

TARANAKI.

The Airedale, which arrived at Wellington on the 10th. July, brought intelligence up to the 7th. Nothing of. importance took'place up till Saturday the 23rd June, when a foraging party of about thirty from the camp at /Eaitara was fired upon by a large body of natives.. They returned to the camp followed by the natives, who were dispersed by a couple of shells, which are said to have done execution. On. Tuesday the 25th, on the requisition of Major Nelson, who proposed making an attack on the natives, the men of the 40th remaining in town, and 60 of the Naval Brigade under Captain Seymour, with two 24-lb. guns, went to Jfaitara by the road. The light.company of the 65th and the detachment of the 12th, under Colonel Gold and Lieut. Colonel M array, marched out to the Bell Block. On the morning of Wednesday, the 27th, 60 sailors, and in the afternoon, in consequence of a,telegram from Colonel Gold, other 50 men of the 65th, with two 24-lb. howitzers under the command of Captain Barker, went out to the Bell Block. These forces under Colonel Gold were taken to Mahoetahi, a pa at Waiongana, about If mile from the position that had been attacked in the morning by the troops from the camp. As there was no firing, Colonel Gold declared there had been nothing done that day, and marched his men back to town, to which accounts of the engagement at Waitara had preceded him; but a correct account was not obtained till the day after, when it was brought by Mr. Hulke, a volunteer, who had gone out to Waitara of his own accord to obtain accur ate information.

The following account of the engagement is from the Nelson Examiner ■

About daybreak of the 27th, a force of 200 men in all, from the 40th and iVaval brigade, set out from the camp with the big guns, and took up position on the side of the pa next the camp. These men had with them Major Nelson, Captain Richards of the 40th, Captain Seymour and First Lieutenant Baddiscombe of the Pelorus, and Lieutenant McNaugliten of Artillery. Another party of 150 men was sent round between the pa and the river, and, leaving a detachment in the flat, came up in the rear of the pa on the inland side. The pa was thus surrounded, so that none coming out could escape from one force or another. The main force in front opened fire with artillery at 7 a.m., and, after some firing, effected a small breach. But the ground was known to be furrowed with old in trench men ts, and a gully intervened between the artillery and left wing and the pa. The natives came boldly out on the opposite side of the gully, sometimes within one hundred yards, and a steady and busy firing went on. On the right wing, however, which consisted of the grenadier company of the '4oth and the Naval Brigade, and which overlapped the head of the gully, a distressing fire was maintained from a broad ditch, and the order was given to fix bayonets and charge. The natives, lying down with loaded guns, started up when the line was within a few yards; their number was great, their guns double barrels, and they fairly shook the advancing party. They closed, however, and a hand to hand fight followed, in which many fell; one big fellow of the 40th is said to have bayonetted six of the enemy, and was then shot down. Some white-skinned scoundrel was among the enemy directing them, and I fear escaped hanging by getting shot. The grenadier company lost thirty-three men, killed and wounded, chiefly in this'struggle. Whilst this was going on the Maories came pouring in from the back country, and outflanked our men; and, after holding out as long as he thought fair to the men, no reinforcement arriving, Major Nelson ordered a retreat. An attempt was made to follow by a perfect crowd of natives, when the artillery, which had been run off diagonally in order to cover the retreat, threw in a few rounds of grape, and one discharge made, it is said, “ a lane : through them,” and they gave up the attempt to pursue. The parties in the rear had meanwhile been engaged with natives on the ridge on which stands the pa, and had cut off some who were endeavouring to escape on that side; they were part of them stationed in high fern and tutu, and the crowd from inland had nearly surprised them. When the bugle sounded the retreat they were separated from the main body by swarms of natives, and were obliged to make the best of their way back by the low ground over which they had advanced. They had been taken to their position by the celebrated chief Ihaia ; he is still suffering from some scorbutic complaint contracted in the long siege of the Karaka pa ; and being half lame and knocked up, had to crawl back to the camp, where he arrived at 11 o’clock, covered with mud, thorns, and thistle seed. He did his duty; and it is fair to mention him here, as he might be forgotten, and bis whole fierce and energetic mind is bent on aiding our cause. His absence, however, left the rear party without a guide, and possibly was in part the reason of the loss by this rearward division. Lieutenant Brooke was

killed in a swamp, fighting several natives with his sword, till a cut on the wrist disabled him, and lie fell by the blows of their tomahawks. The rearward party left thirteen men on the ground ; only one wounded man escaped; the whole retreat having to be hardly fought against great odds. The whole loss on our side was, as far as I can learn, —-

40th regiment 46 Naval brigade 10, Artillery 5 61

Of these, twenty-nine were killed and thirtytwo, wounded ; one of the latter, has since died.

Among the killed.was Lieutenant Brooke, and among the wounded was Captain Seymour, of the Pelorus; but I am glad io say his wound is not likely to deprive-us long of his invaluable services. '

It is worth recording that the natives were observed to dispense with the ramrod in loading, their balls going easily down their gnns, the butts of which they struck two or three times on the ground. The practice has been common among French soldiers, and with double barrelled guns at close quarters, where precision is of little importance, it is very effective.

From'the spectators of this fight, and the few who joined it of their own choice, we hear but one tale. Every one fought with steady, active courage ; no one skulked; officers and men alike did their duty; under great odds, and a fire at, times that astonished veterans of the Indian service. The natives, it is said, are .warriors equal, to the Sikhs. I hear the names' Ferbzeshah, Sobraon, the Redan, used to describe the sort of conflict. It was no disgrace then to be repelled. We may he proud of the 27th June at Puketakawhere. One man there was who could have made this affair a decisive victory. It was an enlarged repetition of Waireka. Succour ivas needed, and it was at hand, but it was withheld. Not only are the rebels unconquered, but the bodies of our dead lie unburied, or are indebted to the enemy for burial. Here was no divided responsibility, no orders to hamfer. It lay in the power of the Commander of the forces to co-operate, to succour, or promptly to retrieve. One after another he neglected or declined these opportunities as they passed. He did not create a diversion ; he delayed when he should have hurried to relieve; and he marched his eager men back to quarters when he should have gone forward to renew the strife. It is. true, that all was quiet when he left Mahoetahi; but, for aught he knew, it might be the quiet of death. I know something will be said about the town. But the town was not unprotected; here is, roughly, the state of the force here on Wednesday, the 27th, —

At Waifara 500 With Colonel Gold 300 At Bell Block 50 At Oinata 70 At Tataraimaka 200 In town 800

Reducing the number here stated by 100 for invalids, we have a force surely able to maintain itself and protect the barracks, in which, on an emergency, we should secure the helpless. ——

There were supposed to he 900 to 1000 Maories. engaged. Native reports of their loss vary from 50 to 233, probably the number of their killed and wounded may be about 200. The action lasted about 4| hours; many of the troops fired 50 and 60 rounds each ; 192 case shot and shell were expended, an i the bayonet was certainly used in some instances. The natives had not buried all their dead on Sunday. Our wounded men, left on the field, were searched for on the 1 Thursday and following days and dispatched by the enemy. On the 29th June the detachment of soldiers .at Tataraimaka came into town. Seventy natives had made their appearance near the camp, whom the troops drove back with shell, and came into town without molestation. The houses at Tataraimaka were all burnt the same day, except the church, and all the stock in the neighbourhood driven off by the Maories. It was reported on the Ist July that 30 JFaikatos of the Ngathnaniapoto tribe had reached Pukekohe on their way to W. Afingi, and 300 were at the White Cliffs.

On the 7th July the Airedale arrived from Manakau with 104 men and 2 officers of the 65th regt. and Royal Engineers, and two 56-pounder breaching guns.

Mr. R. Brown is still alive. The head quarters of the 40th are ex pected from Melbourne.