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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

The East Coast Campaign

The East Coast Campaign.

Martial law was now proclaimed in the Opotiki district, on the East Coast on account of the murder of the Rev. K. S. Volkner, a Church of England missionary, by some Hau Hau fanatics. After the capture of Wereroa and Pipiriki, a colonial and native force of 580 men was despatched under Captain Brassey to Opotiki to quell the rebellion. They were joined by a force of about 500 friendly natives under a loyal chief named Mokena. The Hau Hau rebels assembled in great force to oppose them and erected and fortified numerous pas. Our force was attacked, but the rebels were driven back, and several of their pas were captured. During the following month there were successive skirmishes and engagements in which the rebels were invariably beaten with heavy loss. They then retreated inland, pursued by Lieutenant Biggs, with a small force of about 130, while Major Fraser, with a still smaller number, started also in pursuit in another direction. On overtaking the natives Lieutenant Biggs had a spirited skirmish with them, and compelled them to retreat further to another of their pas. Following up the rebels to this pa, which was strongly situated on the top of a hill, Lieut. Biggs advanced to within 150 yards of it, and opened fire, while ten of his volunteers, accompanied by some friendly natives, worked round the hill and scaled its precipitous sides. From this position they poured in an effective fire on the rear of the rebels. At noon Lieut. Biggs offered to spare all who would surrender, and acknowledge allegiance to the Queen. The Ngatiporou, East Coast Natives, then surrendered to the number of 200 men and about 300 women and children. The rebels lost twenty killed and several wounded, while the casualties of the attacking force were only two slightly wounded. Thus the prompt and decisive manner in which the rebels were followed through the bush, and from place to place, by a small body of determined men, did more to demoralise and disorganise them than the slow advance of a large army with all the pomp and circumstance of war.

While these events were happening at the south end of the Bay of Plenty, our allies, the Arawas, led by the Resident Magistrate, Mr W. Mair, defeated another party of Han Haus with heavy loss, and captured over eighty prisoners. The Colonial forces and friendly natives continued page 154 the campaign successfully in Poverty Bay, on the East Coast. After several days' fighting, a large body of Hau Haus, numbering 180 fighting men, besides women and children, surrendered. Other successes brought the campaign to a close and the troops returned to their homes. The London Times, in summing up the events recorded, said “The fact that a few hundred militia and natives readily do what General Cameron with his large force of men and appliances was so often urged in vain to do, requires to be stated, in its nakedness, if only as an act of justice to the gallant men of whom the colonial forces and the native contingent are alike composed.”