Today in History

1865 Imperial forces invade South Taranaki

General Cameron and 1200 Imperial troops marched out of Wanganui in what was to be the general’s final campaign in New Zealand.

Governor George Grey and the colonial government had been unable to persuade Cameron to mount a further campaign in Waikato. Keen to make use of imperial troops while they still had them, they turned their attention to south Taranaki, identified as a ‘secondary bastion’ of Maori independence.

Grey was unimpressed with what he saw as Cameron's slow and timid campaign. Maori had allegedly labelled Cameron 'The Lame Seagull', which seemed to confirm Grey’s criticisms of his military commander. But Cameron’s operations were largely efficient and effective. He won substantial victories at Nukumaru on 24-25 January and at Te Ngaio on 13 March. But it was his refusal to attack the modern pa of Weraroa that led to the utter collapse of his relationship with Grey. Cameron had learnt from his experiences in the earlier Waikato campaign; ‘experience has shown me that it is not generally desirable to attack such positions as the Weraroa Pa’.

Grey ‘took’ Weraroa himself in July, long after it had lost its strategic significance. Its capture was made easier by the fact that only a small number of Maori defenders remained. Grey was able to further his own reputation at the expense of Cameron. The latter had submitted his resignation early in the campaign and after Grey’s ‘capture’ of Weraroa it was accepted. The general left New Zealand on 1 August.

Image: scene from the Taranki wars by Major Von Tempsky (NZETC)