Invasion plans - war in Waikato

George Grey

In late 1861 George Grey returned for a second term as governor. He replaced the unpopular and ultimately unsuccessful Thomas Gore Browne, who had been roundly condemned by settlers for his mismanagement of the Taranaki War. Gore Browne was keenly aware of the need to respond to the King Movement and its involvement in the fighting in Taranaki. He had demanded that the Kīngitanga submit ‘without reserve’ to the British Queen and began planning an invasion of Waikato shortly before his reassignment to Tasmania.

Grey came with a proven track record in the minds of his superiors at the Colonial Office. He had both ended the Northern War and tamed the Ngāti Toa leader Te Rauparaha during his first term (1845–53). While speaking openly about peace, Grey began preparing for war. Flattery and patronage were used in an attempt to buy Māori support. A rūnanga or council system offered as an alternative Māori administration to that of the Kīngitanga gained little support among Māori. In an attempt to undermine the authority of the Kīngitanga, John Gorst was appointed as resident magistrate and civil commissioner for Waikato.

The Devil’s Nest road

Central to any plans to invade Waikato was a reliable transport route for men and supplies. The Waikato River, the region’s ‘highway’, was dominated by Māori traffic. Overland access to it from Auckland was severely restricted by densely wooded hills. The outlying settlements at Papakura and Drury could be reached only by poorly maintained roads that were mostly no more than dry-weather dirt tracks. Building an all-weather military road between Auckland and the Waikato River was a key part of the preparations for war.

The Great South Road

Camp of the 40th Regiment

From January 1862 Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron, commander of the Imperial forces in New Zealand, deployed every available soldier to clear bush and fell trees for the construction of the Great South Road. Each regiment was responsible for a section of the road and bonuses were offered for every cubic yard of scoria moved. On average 1700 men worked on the road each day.

Redoubts were built at critical points along the road as it moved closer to its objective. Queen’s Redoubt, capable of housing 450 men, was established at Pōkeno. A stockade was also built above the Waikato River at nearby Havelock’s Bluff. The approaches to the Waikato River were mapped and surveyed and it was reconnoitred as far upstream as Tūākau. By July 1863 Auckland was connected with Queen’s Redoubt by electric telegraph. More troops arrived from England and a local militia was mobilised. The preparations for invasion were nearly complete.

An excuse to fight

Wiremu Tamihana

Speaking at Taupiri in Waikato in January 1863, George Grey announced his intention to ‘dig around’ the Kīngitanga until it fell. Leading chief Wiremu Tāmihana wrote to him, pointing out that Māori had the same right as the nations of Europe to choose a sovereign from among their own people. This was interpreted as a rejection of British sovereignty.

In the autumn of 1863 Grey provoked a resumption of hostilities in Taranaki by ordering the military reoccupation of the Tātaraimaka Block south-west of New Plymouth. On 4 May an ambush at nearby Ōakura resulted in the deaths of nine British soldiers.

Fort Britomart

Grey pointed the finger at the Kīngitanga, which he alleged was not only behind this ambush but was also planning a ‘bloodthirsty’ assault on Auckland. Claims that there was ‘little doubt [that the Waikatos] are at the bottom of most of the mischief’ were used to convince Grey’s superiors in London that an attack on Auckland was imminent. By the time it was clear that no such attack was going to occur, another 3000 troops had been sent to New Zealand.

By early June matters in Taranaki had been taken care of and the troops there were sent back to Auckland. On 9 July Grey upped the ante when he demanded that all Māori living between Auckland and the Waikato aukati give up their weapons and take an oath of allegiance to the British Crown. Those who refused to do so were evicted from their lands. Many young Māori men went bush while others fled south into Waikato.

An ultimatum

Pōkeno NZ Wars memorial

Cameron now moved his HQ south to Queen’s Redoubt. 1500 troops were positioned in Drury and Pōkeno and preparations were made to transport men across the Mangatāwhiri. With most of his plan in place, Grey issued what amounted to an ultimatum on 11 July 1863. Waikato Māori were accused of driving away ‘Europeans living quietly on their own lands’ and of plundering their property. Furthermore, they had instigated the murder of officers and soldiers during the recent fighting in Taranaki. Those responsible for ‘crimes committed in other parts of the Island’ had been actively ‘rescued or sheltered’. The final straw was ‘assembling in armed bands’ in order ‘to come down the river to ravage the Settlement of Auckland and to murder peaceable settlers’.

Grey made it clear that the time had come to show allegiance to the British Crown: ‘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’. In acting against the Crown they would forfeit the ‘right to the possession of their lands guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Waitangi’.

For the historian Chris Pugsley, Grey’s ultimatum was ‘as cynical and dishonest as everything else he had done leading up to this war.’ The following day – before Grey’s ultimatum had even reached its supposed audience – Cameron began his invasion.