Wanganui Campaign

The Wanganui Campaign was centered on the settlement that eventually became the city of Wanganui, New Zealand, 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 Māori, some of whom were known to have participated in the Hutt Valley fighting, the most notable of these being Te Mamaku, their leader. The Māori 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 Māori 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 occupied in April, 1847. During this period there was increasing tension between the two races.

Then on April 16 an English sailor accidentally shot and wounded a friendly Māori in the cheek. The Māori made it clear that it had been an accident but the incident was taken by other, disaffected Māori 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 Māori of the area in the attack but they were captured by these same Māori and handed over to the British who hanged four of them on April 26.

By the following day the stockade had been surrounded by hostile Māori 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 Māori 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 19 the Māori 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 Māori occupied part of the town, they did little damage beyond burning seven houses and withdrew when night fell.

Most of the Māori 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 reconnaissance raids in force hoping to bring the Māori to battle. There was plenty of sniping but the Māori 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 19 it was discovered that the Māori 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 Māori 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 Māori gradually fell back onto their prepared position. The British then brought up a small cannon. The Māori 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, 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 message via the friendly Māori that since neither side appeared willing to attack the other he would retire. The campaign was over.

Governor George Grey was quite prepared to continue fighting and demanded the surrender of the Māori 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 Māori involved 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 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 Māori land which, inevitably, only lead to more conflict.