Wanganui Campaign

The Wanganui Campaign was centred on the settlement that eventually became the town of Wanganui[?] which was established in 1841. By 1846 it had some two hundred European settlers. Following the conflict in the north, known as the Flagstaff War and the recent and nearby Hutt Valley Campaign, they felt increasingly isolated and insecure. They were seriously outnumbered by the local Maori, some of whom were known to have participated in the Hutt Valley fighting, the most notable of these being Te Mamaku, their leader. The Maori had already been angered by the aftermath of the recent campaign as some of the tribe had been captured and put on trial for rebellion. One had been hanged and several sent to jail for long terms.

The Government knew that sending troops to the area was liable to make matters worse. The Maori were not particularly angry with the settlers so much as the government as represented by the military. On the other hand the settlers were demanding protection. In the end Captain Laye with some two hundred men were sent to establish a garrison, arriving in December 1846.

They immediately began to build a fort overlooking the town, The Rutland Stockade, which was completed and ocupied in April, 1847. During this period there was increasing tension between the two races.

Then on April 16th an English sailoraccidentally shot and wounded a friendly Maori in the cheek. The Maori made it clear that it had been an accident but the incident was taken by other, disaffected Maori as a cause for war. Two days later an outlying farm was attacked and a woman and three children killed. The perpetrators had tried to implicate the neutral or friendly Maori of the area in the attack but they were captured by these same Maori and handed over to the British who hanged four of them on April 26th.

By the following day the stockade had been surrounded by hostile Maori and was essentially under siege. One soldier, maintaining his right to go duck shooting despite the situation, was killed but otherwise there were few incidents. Merely a large hostile presence.

Reinforcements arrived for both sides, another company of soldiers for the British and large bodies of Maori from the Upper Wanganui River area. Many of the outlying farms were burnt and destroyed but not before the settlers had retreated to the town. On the morning of May 19th the Maori made a serious and concerted attack on the fort but were driven off by heavy gunfire, both from the fort and from a gunboat on the river. Although the Maori occupied part of the town, they did little damage beyond burning seven houses and withdrew when night fell.

Most of the Maori then withdrew from the immediate vicinity of the town although the siege was maintained in a desultory way. By June the British had 750 men under arms and they began to make reconnaisance raids in force hoping to bring the Maori to battle. There was plenty of sniping but the Maori were not to be drawn. Later they tried the same tactics, making shadowy attacks on the fort and trying to draw out the British.

Then on July 19th it was discovered that the Maori had begun building a defensive position about 2km from the British Stockade. The British immediately sallied forth to deal with it and discovered that most of the enemy Maori were waiting in ambush well in front of their barricades. Soon there was heavy fighting in the broken ground between the two positions. As was usually the case, the discipline of the British soldiers prevailed and the Maori gradually fell back onto their prepared position. The British then brought up a small cannon. The Maori charged out and captured this but were immediately driven away again by a counter charge by the British.

The British, no doubt remembering the Battle of Ohaeawai, see First Maori War, were not prepared to attack the barricades in front of them. Te Mamaku, remembering the discipline and the effectiveness of the British bayonets quite sensibly declined to leave the protection of the barricades.

The British returned to their stockade as night fell. The fighting was not resumed the next day or indeed at any time. A few days later Te Mamaku sent a meassage via the friendly Maori that since neither side appeared willing to attack the other he would retire. The campaign was over.

Governor Grey was quite prepared to continue fighting and demanded the surrender of the Maori ringleaders or chiefs. However the officer on the spot, Major Wyatt, believed that there was no point in seeking retribution. He spread the word that all the Maori involvced would be pardoned and if Te Mamaku and his fellow chiefs would undertake to keep the peace they too would be left alone.

In February, 1848, Te Mamaku met with Major Wyatt in Wanganui and and made a firm commitment to keeping the peace.

There followed twelve years of economic cooperation and development together with the gradual alienation of yet more Maori land which, inevitably, only lead to more conflict.