E—No. Iα

THE NATIVE INSURRECTION.

I enclose Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie's very clear account of the affair, and I coincide with that officer most cordially in his opinion as to the gallantry of the Troops and their Officers, and I shall not fail to bring to the notice of His Royal Highness the General Commanding-in-Chief, his own services and that of those Officers he has named in his Despatch. I regret exceedingly the death of that gallant young Officer, Lieutenant Jackson of the 40th Regiment, who fell in the zealous performance of his duty, and am happy to find that the wound of Captain Miller, 12th Regiment, is not severe. I enclose a nominal return of our casualties, which are not many considering the desperate character of the attack. . I also enclose a roll of the Maories who, up to this hour, have been recognized, and with regard to them, I have pursued the same .course as at Mahoetahi, that is, have brought in the Chiefs, (Paora Te Uata, and Wiremu Hoeta Kumete), for interment in New Plymouth ; the _ inferior Chiefs and followers have been buried on the ground, and the wounded Natives brought into this camp for treatment in hospital. . . I trust that the severe losses this manly and high-spirited race are so continually receiving will teach them how unavailing are their efforts against Her Majesty's supremacy, and will lead soon to a termination of this unhappy internecine war. I have, &c, T. S. Pratt, Major-General Commanding. To His Excellency Colonel Gore Browne, C. 8., Governor and Commander-in-Chief, New Zealand.

Enclosure 1 in No. 3. LIEUT.-COL. LESLIE TO DEPUTY-ADJUTANT-GENERAL No. 3 Redoubt, in front of Huirangi, 23rd January, 1861. Sir,—l have the honor to report for the information of the Major-General Commanding that -that a most determined attack was made by the enemy on No. 3 Redoubt this morning, which, after about one and a half hour's hard fighting, was gallantly repulsed by the troops under my command (Detachment Royal Naval Brigade, ditto Royal Engineers, ditto Royal Artillery, ditto Head Quarters 40th Regt.) supported by a detachment sent to my assistance by Colonel Wyatt, 65th Regt. commanding No. 1 Redoubt. The attack commenced at half-past 3 o'clock a. m. A storming party of the enemy having crept up through the fern and effected a lodgement in the ditch of the left face of the redoubt, and having a strong support about 100 yards in their rear as well as a line of skirmishers on all flanks of the Redoubt. The plan of the enemy appeared to be to keep down the fire of our men on the parapets by their support, and by their line of skirmishers, while the storming party scaled the left face of the Redoubt. The force under my command was under arms previous to the attack, and quickly replied to the fire of the enemy, who in the most determined and desperate manner rushed up the sides of the parapet, and in some instances seized hold of the men's bayonets, while others crept round to the rear of the Redoubt and fired through the gabions which had been placed to fill up the entrances to the work, and one of the Royal Engineers was in this manner, killed while coming out of his tent. A perfect storm of bullets was poured upon us from all sides for a considerable time, and I deemed it advisable to call for assistance from Colonel Wyatt, 65th Regt., commanding No. 1 Redoubt, for the purpose of dislodging the enemy from our ditch, as I had no hand grenades, I accordingly directed the Regimental call of the 65th Regiment to be sounded, followed by the " advance," which signal was promptly responded to by Colonel Wyatt, who detached two companies of the 65th Regt. under Captain Macgregor and Lieutenant Urquhart, as well as one company of the 12th under Captain Miller. One company of the 65th crept round the front face of the Redoubt, and lined the sap at present being thrown out in advance of the Redoubt, the other crept up the rear face, at the same time I directed Captain Miller to charge the ditch where the enemy was lodged. Captain Miller was, I regret to say, wounded while carrying out my orders, but his •company was led on by Lieutenant Lowry, and it charged in a most gallant and effective manner, while the 65th under Lieutenant Urquhart on the front and Captain Macgregor on the rear face advanced and fired on the enemy who immediately retired on this combined attack—a heavy fire was then kept up on the retreating Maoris by the 40th from the parapets, by the 24-pounder howitzer under Lieutenant Macnaghten, Royal Artillery, and by the, 8-inch gun in charge of a detachment of the Royal Naval Brigade. The enemy completely routed retired in great confusion, leaving their dead and wounded, together with arms and accoutrements, in our hands; they were pursued for some distance by part of the 65th and 12th, until they were recalled by me to the Redoubt. I cannot speak too highly of the conduct of the 40th Regiment and of the troops of all arms mho showed the greatest steadiness throughout the engagement, and who, although the attack of

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