The attack prompted the establishment of five new redoubts on the route, taking 510 of Cameron's men. [51], The war and confiscation of land caused heavy economic, social and cultural damage to Waikato-Tainui. The front line ran eastâwest, while another line of defences ran south from the main line, facing the river. The army entered the Waikato, taking up positions below the Koheroa ridge and scouring the area for hostile MÄori. Early on 31 March the first attack was made on ÅrÄkau, whose parapets and exterior fence was still incomplete. In May 1995 the Crown signed a deed of settlement with WaikatoâTainui that included cash and land valued at $170 million. The flotilla returned downstream, intending to bring up another 600 men the next day for the attack, but the plan was dropped when the MÄori force evacuated the Meremere fortifications the following day and escaped eastwards across flooded lagoons by canoe,[23][30] falling back to their next defensive system at Rangiriri. In late January Cameron moved his army headquarters to Te Rore, about 5 km from Paterangi, with an advance camp for 600 men positioned just 1.2 km from the pÄ, from where they judged the defences were "immensely strong". In the early 1990s Tainui opted to bypass the Waitangi Tribunal and concluded a treaty claims settlement with the Crown through direct negotiation. The pÄ formed part of a long line of pÄ the Kingites called aukati, or boundary. The Waikato Invasion was the largest campaign of the New Zealand Wars. Without waiting for Leslie's division, which was delayed by adverse conditions on the river, he began his frontal attack, storming the MÄori positions across a 600m gap under heavy fire and immediately suffering casualties. [9][44], The general site of the battle is today marked by a memorial on Arapuni Road, 4 km east of Kihikihi, with the road running through the middle of what were the defences. [13][19][20], Imperial troops were moved back to Taranaki as hostilities resumed and on 4 June the new British commander, Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron, led 870 troops to attack a party of about 50 MÄori on the Tataraimaka block, killing 24. Nancy Swarbrick, 'Waikato region - PÄkehÄ impact', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/interactive/27087/invasion-of-waikato (accessed 6 February 2021), Story by Nancy Swarbrick, updated 1 Jul 2015. The invasion of the Waikato took place over 10 months between July 1863 and April 1864. Measuring about 30 metres by 12 metres, the pÄ was enclosed within a rectangular redoubt and contained interior bunkers, trenches, firing apertures. The defence system, which included two cannons, was manned by a force of between 1200 and 2000 men from a dozen major Waikato iwi.[34][35]. [9], Early on 30 March two surveyors working at Kihikihi observed through a telescope construction of entrenchments at the ÅrÄkau pa and immediately passed the information to Brigadier General G. J. Carey, who had been left in charge of the British forces. In AD 43, under Emperor Claudius, the Romans invaded Britain once again. Because of their comparative lack of men and supplies, the KÄ«ngitanga strategy was to construct defensive lines to obstruct the British advance, an approach that had been effective in Taranaki in 1860â61. The First Taranaki War had ended in March 1861 as an uneasy truce between the government and MÄori forces, with both sides recognising they had reached a stalemate. The defences consisted solely of earthworks, with no palisading; a redoubt midway along the main line, had a low profile and was deceptively strong. British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War entailed a large-scale division of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion (Operation Sea Lion) by German armed forces in 1940 and 1941.The British Army needed to recover from the defeat of the British Expeditionary Force in France, and 1.5 million men were enrolled as part-time ⦠[2] Government troops crossed into Waikato territory three days later and launched their first attack on 17 July at Koheroa, but were unable to advance for another 14 weeks. [2][13][23], Cameron, a Crimean War veteran who had replaced Major-General Thomas Pratt as commander-in-chief of the British troops,[24] began the invasion with fewer than 4000 effective troops in Auckland at his disposal. (1990). [27] But MÄori defences had also grown: the so-called Meremere Lineâa 22 km-long line of fortifications that spread from Pukekawa to Meremere and Paparataâhad been built, commanding about 2000 square kilometres of bush and manned by a force of up to 1500. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. All non-text content is subject to specific conditions. As night fell, the British, dispirited by the scale of losses, slept on the wet ground, ready to renew the combat in the morning. Europeans claimed the right to The pÄ was defended by between 200 and 250 warriorsâmainly Tuhoe and Ngati Raukawaâdrawn from at least nine tribes, as well as about 50 women and children. [11][12] The land immediately to the south of the pa was a series of low undulating hillocks leading to swamp. at the close of the First Taranaki War in 1861 but the Colonial Office and New Zealand General Assembly opposed action, and the incoming Governor Sir George Grey (second term: 1861-1868) suspended execution in December of that year. Julius Ceasar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC in conquest attempts. But the continuous arrival of regiments from overseas rapidly swelled the force. According to Belich, the MÄori force numbered between 100 and 150 and about 15 were killed, some of them by bayonet. On 2 September a British party of 62 men was fired on from the rear during a march on the village of Pokeno, but managed to pursue their attackers and inflict some casualties. But about 5am the Rangiriri garrisonâstill with arms and ammunition and with an escape route open to the eastâraised a white flag, expecting to talk terms with Cameron. Although there is no single answer to this question, the collapse of British imperial power can be traced âdirectly to the impact of World War Twoâ, the BBC says. [2] After attempting to achieve a peace settlement through "kingmaker" Wiremu Tamihana,[14][15] in mid-1861 he sent an ultimatum to the movement's leaders, demanding submission to Queen Victoria and the return of plunder taken from Taranaki; when it was rejected he began drawing up plans to invade the Waikato and depose the kingâa plan opposed by both the Colonial Office and the New Zealand General Assembly. Soviet and British troops met for the first time not at Wismar in May 1945, as most people believe. He had instead focused on the construction of a defensive line centred on PÄterangi in south Waikato, between Te Awamutu and the WaipÄ River. They were shooting across the front of the 40th Regiment who were situated 250 m south of the pÄ behind a small hill.[40]. With the capture of more than 180 warriors, the battle became the most costly MÄori defeat in the Waikato wars. [42] Rewi escaped through the swamp, unharmed, escorted by a 12-man bodyguard. Others of you have since expressed approval of these murders ... You are now assembling in armed bands; you are constantly threatening to come down the river to ravage the Settlement of Auckland and to murder peaceable settlers. British and French troops invaded Egypt on this day in 1956, as a result of the countryâs leader, Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalising ⦠Land behind the aukati remained native territory, with Europeans warned they crossed it under threat of death. Underlying Causes of the Invasion An underlying long-term cause of the Invasion was the emergence of Eurocentrism where Europeans felt they were a more superior race and believed they would eventually outcompete Maori to be the sole race populating the lands of New Zealand. Reinforcements continued to arrive and within days he had 500 troops. Each stockade needed its own garrisonâfrom 25 to 55 menâand supply line, eventually accounting for almost 6000 of his men, further draining him of frontline manpower. It formally and publicly apologised to WaikatoâTainui and the Kingitanga for unjustly invading WaikatoâTainui lands, for sending imperial forces across the Mangataawhiri, and for the loss of life and the devastation of property that ensued. On 25 August a party of MÄori snatched up the rifles and ammunition from a group of 25 soldiers who were timber-felling beside the Great South Roadâpart of an effort to destroy cover for MÄori raiders intent on mounting further ambushesâand killed two soldiers. [9][38], Another runanga was held before dawn on 2 April and again Tupotahi urged them to break out. The Maniapoto, by contrast, had been more zealous for war than the Waikato, yet suffered no loss of land because its territory was too remote to be of use to white settlers. Seven MÄori were killed. [16] Grey instead instituted a peace policy that included a system of MÄori local administration in which they could participate, hoping it would encourage MÄori to abandon the Kingite movement and "reduce the number of our enemies". The campaign lasted for nine months, from July 1863 to April 1864. 44Tukaroto Matutaera PotatauTe Wherowhero TawhiaoThe wars of the 1860s in Taranakiand Waikato and the governmentssubsequent confiscation of Maori landsaw Tawhiao and his people renderedvirtually landless and forced to retreatas wandering refugees into theheartland of Ngati Maniapoto, nowknown as the King Country.As a result of the invasion of Waikatoby British forces in 1863 on thepretext that the Waikato ⦠Governor Sir George Grey had decided that the Kingitanga Movement was too great a threat to British authority and that the most appropriate answer to that threat was shot, shell and steel â none of which were particularly diplomatic. Under the combination of shells, hand grenades and rifle fire, MÄori casualties began to climb rapidly. But MÄori were still opposed to the British demands of submitting to the Queen and surrendering all arms and lands and began building further defences south of NgÄruawÄhia. [35][37], Cameron, meanwhile, was attracting sharp criticism from both the colonist press and Grey himself[34][37] about the lack of progress in the eight weeks since NgÄruawÄhia's capture. He said they might have also been gaining time waiting for reinforcements who were almost on the scene. A top Australian university has sparked controversy by encouraging students to use the terms "invade" and "occupy" to refer to the arrival of British settlers. [7]), Cameron's initial invasion force set up camp on the site of an old pÄ on a hill above the stream. This was because, in 1939, both France and Britain were massive colonial powers and were seen as the two most powerful countries in the world. On 31 October a river flotilla including Avon, the gunboats Curacoa and Pioneer and armoured barges steamed past Meremereâdrawing fire from rifle pits and batteries of ships guns, some of them firing pieces of iron chain and pound weightsâand landed 600 men at Takapau, 15 km upriver, ready to attack the heart of the defensive line from the rear. Two interpreters were sent to the head of the sap with a white flag and Major William Mair called out the offer in MÄori, which was passed to Rewi, within the pÄ. Those who wage war against Her Majesty, or remain in arms, threatening the lives of Her peaceable subjects, must take the consequences of their acts, and they must understand that they will forfeit the right to the possession of their lands guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Waitangi. Placing women and children in the middle of the group and their best warriors in front, the MÄori broke through the earthworks at the south-east corner of the pÄ and ran downhill without opposition 200 metres towards a ridge to the south, behind which the some men of the 40th were sheltering. Construction of a military road into Waikato had begun in January 1862. [39] For two days the villagers, as well as Rewi's forces and the new reinforcements, labored in shifts to strengthen the defences of the pÄ, located on a slight rise of land in the midst of peach groves. A series of fortifications at Te Rore, Pikopiko and ÅhaupÅ protected MÄori fro⦠The Crown expressed profound regret and apologised unreservedly for the invasion and the crippling effects it had on the welfare of the Waikato-Tainui people. 21 February 1864 Surprise attack by British Army on the âfoodbasket of the Waikatoâ, the village of Rangiaowhia, destroying village and surrounding cultivations. [33], Construction of a new and even more formidable defence line began 25 km south of NgÄruawÄhia, soon after the fall of Rangiriri. Probably an equal number of injured were evacuated by canoe across Lake Waikare. WAIKATO LAND WARS IN NZ HISTORYwhat happened?British forces invaded Waikato:The Europeans fought in the Waikato wars with colonials who were all professional British soldiers.Governor George grey had ordered General Cameron to invade the Waikato. [18] The raiders, led by Rewi Maniapoto and Wiremu KÄ«ngi, sent a message to Gorstâwho was absent at the timeâto quit the property or risk death; Grey recalled Gorst to Auckland soon after. On 22 July a group of about 40 MÄori fatally shot a settler cutting timber at Pukekiwiriki near Papakura and were pursued into the forest by the Auckland militia. [25], In mid-August the British established an alternative supply line to the Great South Road, using a combination of steamers from Onehunga to the Waikato Heads and canoes paddled up the Waikato by friendly MÄori to Queen's Redoubt at Pokeno. British casualties totalled one dead and 12 wounded. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation of MÄori tribes known as the Kingitanga Movement. [25] Cameron wrote: "The bush is now so infested with these natives that I have been obliged to establish strong posts along our line of communication, which absorbs so large a portion of the force that until I receive reinforcements it is impossible for me to advance further up the Waikato. About 35 of the MÄori force were killed, along with six women and children. The government saw its refusal to sell land as an impediment to European settlement. [31], About 3pm Cameron launched a two-hour bombardment from artillery and gunboats. It was brought to an end when the British government issued the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence on 28 February 1922. The settlement included an admission by the Crown that it had "unjustly confiscated" the land. 'Bloody Rangiriri' was the key battle in the Waikato invasion. Three weeks later, on 20 November, Cameron, commanding a battle force of more than 1400 men, launched an attack on Rangiriri, further up the Waikato River. A third of the British force were cut downâfive soldiers killed and 11 woundedâwhile MÄori losses were limited to two. 'Bloody Rangiriri' was the key battle in the Waikato invasion. Sporadic shooting continued through the night, with the besieged occupants of ÅrÄkau chanting and singing.[38]. He then ordered a start on a shallow sap that zig-zagged towards its western face from a distance of about 120 metres. The British suffered more casualties than in any other conflict in the New Zealand Wars. (Total troop numbers reached 10,000 in January 1864 before peaking at about 14,000 in March 1864â9000 imperial troops, more than 4000 colonial and a few hundred kÅ«papa, or pro-British MÄori. He said the Commissariat Transport Corpsâestablished in mid-1861, almost two years before the invasion beganâwas the "vital kernel" because of its efforts in building the southern road and providing a separate military supply train. The area subsequently came to be known as the King Country.[44][49]. He gained the help of two MÄori guides, Himi Manuao (James Edwards) and John Gage, who had previously lived in the area, who revealed a route that bypassed it to the west and south to reach Te Awamutu. Hazard Press. The Waikato invasion, Grey's attempt to force submission of the Kingitanga and its allies to the sovereignty of Queen Victoria, followed several years of ⦠One Kingite told Cowan: "We were in better spirits after our fight in the open; nevertheless we realized that our position was hopeless, short of food and water, short of lead, and surrounded by soldiers many times outnumbering our garrison, and with big guns throwing shells into our defences." At noon Cameron arrived with more men, bringing the besieging imperial and colonial force to 1800. In mid-1863 the New Zealand government began planning legislation designed to punish armed MÄori resistance and aggression by widespread confiscation of their land, which would be given to colonial settlers. With the Armstrong guns firing over their heads, the infantry, cavalry and Forest Rangers moved towards the defensive line before finally charging with bayonets, revolvers and sabres, driving out the MÄori. 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