Battle of The Sticks
After the attack on Kororareka Heke and Kawiti and the warriors travelled inland to Okaihau north of Kaikohe some 30 kilometres, or two days travel, from the Bay of Islands. After the destruction of Pomare's Pā the Colonial forces moved to attack Okaihau, they chose to travel by walking track from the Bay of Islands rather than via a cart track that ran from Kerikeri and passed nearby Okaihau. This choice meant that cannon were not taken to Okaihau. The battle of Okaihau, in April 1845, was the first test of strength between Māori and pakeha. The formidable defences of a Māori war pā became apparent to the Colonial forces, as they suffered casualties of 39 wounded and 13 dead; warriors of Heke and Kawiti were also killed.
Read more about this topic: Flagstaff War
Famous quotes containing the words battle of, battle and/or sticks:
“Probably the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton, but the opening battles of all subsequent wars have been lost there.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“Up from the South at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,
The affrighted air with a shudder bore,
Like a herald in haste, to the chieftain’s door,
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,
Telling the battle was on once more,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.”
—Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–1872)
“One sticks to an opinion because he prides himself on having come to it on his own, and another because he has taken great pains to learn it and is proud to have grasped it: and so both do so out of vanity.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)