History
of Maori People
European
Arrival
Treaty of Waitangi
Traditions of the Maori
Maori Wars
The Maori Wars were a series of wars based on the subject of land. After the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, a few skirmishes had broken out because of the discrepancy between the two versions of the Treaty, but Maori had fought the British to a standstill and did not particularly wish to drive away the British. Neither side took radically action from 1848 to 1860 and there was relative peace between the native Maori and the English settlers (called Pakeha by the Maori). In this time of peace, British settlers were flocking to New Zealand so that in 1859 the number of Pakeha and the number of Maori were becoming equal, around 60,000 individuals each. In 1860, Pakeha tried to take over Maori land. After twelve months, the two sides settled for a draw since the Pakeha had found their British machinery match by the Maori.
New Zealand is split into two main Islands: North and South. After the 1860 skirmish, called the First Taranaki War, Pakeha were not content to let the Maori have control and rule over most of the territory of North Island. in 1863 war broke out again with the invasion of Waikato. This occurred because the Maori of Waikato had attempted to secede from New Zealand in order to prevent further alienation of their land. They were supported by other tribes on the North Island, and in order to cut off support from these tribes, the British set up a defensive position in the Bay of Plenty, about 100 km away from the conflict in Waikato. This establishment was meant originally to be a side-show to the Waitakto conflict, however it morphed into what became known as the Tauranga Campaign. The Tauranga Campaign was the biggest of all the Maori Wars (politically correctly: The New Zealand Land Wars).
The Tauranga Campaign took place from January 21st 1864 to June 21st 1864. When the British forces set up a defensive stance in the Bay of Plenty, the local Maori leader, Ngai Te Rangi, assumed that the British would not always be setting up a defensive face. The Maori of the area therefore responded to the British with threats, insults, abuse, (increasing in violence), and then began raiding the British camp. They finally built a strong Pa, only 5 km from the British camp.
A Maori Pa was the equivalent to a British fortress, but it took the British until after the first world war to understand the difference between a fortress and a Pa. A "Pa" meant a village, and therefore Pa's, though built for defensive strength, were primarily residential. They were usually built so they were almost impossible to surround completely, and usually exposed a face so as to invite an attack from that direction. They were built to engage muskets and cannon. They absorbed the attacks of the British, and after lengthy and costly campaigns against Pa's, the British would often find them abandoned, only to have another Pa be built up in another seemingly-inaccessible site. The Pa built 5km from the British camp during the Tauranga Campaign was known as 'Gate Pa' for the fact that its palisade looked like a picket fence while a higher part in the middle looked like a gate.
The British Commander, Colonel Greer, could not ignore the Pa. Not only did it restrict his freedom of movement, but it limited his control of Tauranga Harbor. He applied for reinforcements so that he could switch from a defensive stance and go on the offensive. As the original conflict in Waikato ended, deemed an overall failure since the greatest objective was to decisively beat the Maori in battle (which didn't happen) and not just to conquer and annex territory, General Duncan Cameron received the request from Colonel Greer from reinforcements. General Cameron saw Tauranga as a chance to achieve the decisive victory, and sailed immediately to the Bay of Plenty, bringing his entire reserve for a combined total of 1700 men.
While General Cameron was trying to think of how to deal with the Maori at Gate Pa, a group of 700 East Coast Maori were making their way through lands of Maori who were loyal to Pakeha in hopes of aiding their comrades a Waikato. The Maori loyal to the Pakeha, the Arawa tribe, quickly mobilized and drove the East Coast Maori back until even more reinforcements arrived and the East Coast Maori dispersed and returned home.
At daybreak of the 29th of April 1864, General Cameron began heavy bombardment on Gate Pa. The British had the advantage in numbers : 1700 trained military men to the 230 Maori warriors. After eight hours of bombardment, the Gate Pa seemed demolished, and at 4 pm 330 troops were sent up to capture and secure the position. Within ten minutes well over a hundred of the troops were dead or wounded. During the night the Maori troops gave assistance to the wounded and gathered their weapons and abandoned their post.
Gate Pa had been appeared to the British as a fairly large strong point which occupied the entire hilltop. Thus the British concentrated most of their firepower to the front of the Pa. While they seemingly demolished the Pa, the Maori were tucked into trenches forty meters long protected by strong palisades on all sides: effective bomb shelters. Through the eight hour bombardment, the Maori had been little more then deafened, and had laid a perfect trap for the British.
Gate Pa was a great defeat to the British. 1700 British troops had been beaten by 230 half dressed natives. It was a huge blow to British pride. General Cameron left the Bay of Plenty and Colonel Greer was placed in charge. The final battle of the Tauranga Campaign was fought when Colonel Greer was patrolling with many men on June 21st 1864 and stumbled upon a force of about 500 Maori building a new Pa at Te Ranga. He immediately called for reinforcements, and because the Maori hadn't built the Pa yet, they were overwhelmed by the British soldiers, and fled when their commander was killed. This victory was a great victory for the British and improved moral through the ranks of both soldiers and settlers.
After the battle at Te Ranga, the Pakeha finally began negotiating on equal terms with the Maori. There was no official peace treaty of truce, the two sides just stopped fighting each other. The battle at Te Ranga marked the end of the major conflict in the Tauranga area, and the end of the largest Maori War.