Battle of Puketutu

The Battle of Puketutu (Māori: Puketutu) was an engagement that took place on 8 May 1845 between British forces, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Hulme, and Māori warriors, led by Hōne Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti, during the Flagstaff War in the Bay of Islands region of New Zealand.

Battle of Puketutu
Part of the Flagstaff War
A print of the Battle of Puketutu; Heke's pā is at left centre, while the British assault parties are battling Kawiti's warriors in the distance to the right
Date 8 May 1845 Location Puketutu, Bay of Islands, New Zealand 35°20.3589′S 173°49.047′E / 35.3393150°S 173.817450°E / -35.3393150; 173.817450Coordinates: 35°20.3589′S 173°49.047′E / 35.3393150°S 173.817450°E / -35.3393150; 173.817450 Result Māori victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Colony of New Zealand	Māori
Commanders and leaders
William Hulme George Johnson Tāmati Wāka Nene	Hōne Heke Te Ruki Kawiti
Units involved
British Army 58th Regiment 96th Regiment Royal Navy HMS Hazard HMS North Star Royal Marines Allied Māori Nene's war party	Māori Heke's war party Kawiti's war party
Strength
British Army 320 soldiers 40 militia Royal Navy 87 sailors & marines Allied Māori 300 warriors (Nene's war party)	Māori 200 warriors (Heke's war party) 140 warriors (Kawiti's war party)
Casualties and losses
13 killed, 30–40 wounded	30 killed, 50 wounded
class=notpageimage| Site of the Battle of Puketutu

After Heke and Kawiti's sacking of the Bay of Islands town of Kororāreka in March 1845, the opening act of the Flagstaff War, the British retaliated with a punitive expedition to the area. After destroying the pā (hillfort) of a local chief at nearby Otuihu on 30 April, the British moved inland, led by a Māori ally, Tāmati Wāka Nene. They planned to attack Heke's pā at Puketutu, reaching the area on 7 May after a difficult march through dense bush. The battle commenced on the morning of 8 May, with three parties of British soldiers and sailors advancing to an area behind the pā whereupon they were ambushed by Kawiti's warriors. For the next few hours, there were repeated sallies back and forth until the British retreated, leaving Heke in command of the battlefield. He subsequently abandoned the pā. The Battle of Puketutu, the first attack mounted by the British on an inland pā, is regarded as a victory for Heke and Kawiti although at the time the British declared that the Māori had been defeated by virtue of exaggerated claims of the number of their warriors that had been killed in the engagement.

Background

The Treaty of Waitangi signed on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson, on behalf of the British Crown, and several Māori rangatira (chiefs) from the North Island of New Zealand, established British sovereignty over New Zealand. The Māori signatories understood that they would benefit from the protection provided by the British while still retaining authority over their affairs.^[1]

In the Bay of Islands, dissatisfaction and resentment at the Crown's interference in local matters soon arose, with many Māori believing that its actions, such as introducing custom fees and the relocation of the colony's capital from Okiato south to the new settlement of Auckland, were contrary to their understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi. Hōne Heke, a prominent rangatira of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) was angered at what he deemed to be the loss of his authority. As a protest, between July 1844 and January 1845, Heke chopped down the flagstaff, which was a symbol of British control, at the town of Kororāreka on three separate occasions.^[2][3][4]

Heke's actions were a major affront to the Crown, affecting its credibility and authority.^[5] Following the last felling of the flagstaff, Governor Robert FitzRoy significantly increased the military presence in Kororāreka, sending 140 men of the 96th Regiment as a garrison. A blockhouse was constructed on Maiki Hill, just north of the town, at the top of which a replacement flagstaff was erected. A Royal Navy vessel, the sloop HMS Hazard, was present in the bay as well.^[6]

Battle of Kororāreka

Main article: Battle of Kororāreka

 

Print of Hone Heke, in the centre, and Te Ruki Kawiti, on the right

The opening act of the Flagstaff War^{[Note 1]} was on 11 March, when Heke and a taua (war party) of 150 warriors, along with another taua of 200 warriors, commanded by the Ngāpuhi rangatira and Heke ally, Te Ruki Kawiti, attacked Kororāreka. The latest flagstaff was successfully cut down and the British rousted from the newly built blockhouse. Heke, who had achieved his objective, called a truce at midday; it was never his intention to threaten the residents of Kororāreka but to force redress from the Crown colony government for his grievances. Regardless the British decided to evacuate the town's women and children. As people embarked for the vessels in the bay, the town's gunpowder stocks exploded, either deliberately or accidentally, which led to panic. All of the townspeople were taken to the vessels and Kororāreka was abandoned. Hazard bombarded the town before taking its passengers to Auckland. Kororāreka was subsequently looted, not only by Heke's and Kawiti's men but other local Māori as well. Even some settlers participated in the looting.^[7][8][9]

Government response

The loss of Kororāreka was a humiliating loss for the Crown colony government.^[10][11] On hearing the news of the fall of Kororāreka, and fearing a Ngāpuhi attack on their town, a number of settlers in Auckland sold their property and took passage on ships for Australia.^[12] Lacking resources for an immediate response to the Ngāpuhi threat, FitzRoy asked for reinforcements from Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales. He also set about raising a militia.^[10][11] FitzRoy found a Māori ally in the Bay of Islands in the form of Tāmati Wāka Nene, another rangatira of the Ngāpuhi iwi but one aligned with the Crown. Angered by Heke's actions, he undertook to support the government response.^[13] He initially did so by establishing a pā (hillfort) at Ōkaihau, intending to disrupt Heke's movements inland.^[14] There were repeated skirmishes between Nene's taua and that of Heke during April.^[15]

In the meantime, Fitzroy could do little with the forces he had at his disposal and waited until the requested reinforcements arrived from Sydney. When they did, he acted quickly and, on 26 April, dispatched HMS North Star, a post ship, north to the Bay of Islands with a contingent of troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Hulme.^[16][17]

The British secured Kororāreka on 28 April and then two days later mounted a punitive expedition on the coastal pā of Pōmare at Otuihu,^[17] on a headland around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the south of Kororāreka.^[18] It was believed that many of Pōmare's tribe had been involved in the looting of Kororāreka, with suspicions that some may also have been involved in the attack as well. The destruction of Pōmare's pā also removed a potential threat to the British flank as they moved inland in pursuit of Heke and Kawiti.^[17][19]

Plan of attack

Hulme proposed to retaliate against the Ngāpuhi duo of Kawiti and Heke by attacking the former's pā at Waiōmio,^[17] which was up a tributary of the Kawakawa River.^[20] Once it became apparent how difficult it would be travel there, this plan was abandoned. When Hulme consulted with a local missionary, Henry Williams, he discovered that what he had assumed were roads on a crude map were actually rivers and streams. This would complicate the movements of his troops as well as logistics and supply. It was also pointed out to Hulme that there were few Māori allied to the government along the route, leaving his lines of communications vulnerable. Urged by Nene, it was then decided to attack Heke's pā at Puketutu. Nene's pā at Ōkaihau was only 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Puketutu, and his taua would be able to support the British.^[17][21]

Nene recommended that Hulme's forces approach Puketutu via the Kerikeri River and then move overland. Heke was expecting the British to come up the Waitangi River and had posted pickets along the route. Nene's proposed route, to which Hulme agreed, was advantageous in that it offered a better opportunity to surprise Heke, required fewer river crossings, and would also mean any attacks on the British as they marched to Puketutu would occur over open ground.^[17][22]

Prelude

Hulme disembarked his force at Onewhero Bay, near Kerikeri, on 3 May. It was composed of 320 soldiers of the 58th and 96th Regiments, 40 militia, plus 61 Royal Navy personnel from North Star and Hazard as well as 26 Royal Marines. The naval contingent, which included a battery of Congreve rockets with eight seamen commanded by Lieutenant Egerton, was led by Commander George Johnson, the acting captain of Hazard.^[22][23][24] The British were equipped with 1839 percussion smoothbore muskets, although some may have had older flintlock muskets. The muskets were able to have bayonets attached and each man carried around 120 rounds of ammunition. The sailors also had cutlasses.^[25][26]

Led by Nene's scouts, the British marched across the countryside. Despite being lightly loaded, moving through the terrain proved to be quite difficult for the soldiers. Historian Ron Crosby speculates it may have been that Nene, used to easily traversing the bush with his warriors, overestimated how readily the British could march. Nene, out of respect for the missionaries' desire to not have soldiers on their property, also bypassed the mission station at Waimate which lay on the route of the march. Dense bush hindered their movements and the first night saw the soldiers, lacking tents, rained upon which wet their gunpowder. The next day they diverted to the Church Mission Society (CMS) station at Kerikeri in order to dry out their equipment. The march resumed on 6 May and by the end of the day they had reached Ōkaihau.^[27][28]

The arrival of Hulme's force in the Bay of Islands had not gone unnoticed and Heke's scouts were tracking its progress from Onewhero Bay.^[27] Despite the events at Kororāreka, there was still a high regard for the fighting prowess of the British soldiers.^[23] Heke originally had around 700 warriors at his disposal but many, on hearing of the British presence, left, leaving around 200 men manning the pā. However, on 7 May, he was reinforced when Kawiti and 140 of his taua arrived at Puketutu. Kawiti opted to base his force outside the pā.^[16][27] Although Hulme and a number of his officers made a reconnaissance of Puketutu the same day, Kawiti's arrival at Puketutu went unnoticed.^[29] A local CMS missionary, Reverend Robert Burrows, met with Heke and implored him to surrender. Heke demurred, indicating that he would wait for the British to attack.^[30] Burrows did note the presence of Kawiti's forces but chose not to inform Hulme on the grounds of maintaining his neutrality.^[29]

Puketutu

Heke's pā, which he named Te Kahika, at Puketutu^{[Note 2]} was in the form of a square, each side around 90 metres (98 yd) in length, with the southern side facing Lake Ōmāpere. There was high ground to both the west and east sides, the latter backing onto dense bush, while to the northeast was more elevated ground in the form of an extinct volcano. The pā lacked a source of water so a breastwork was thrown up on the southern slope, leading towards the lake; this provided means for accessing water.^[29][32][33]

At each corner of the pā was a salient, which allowed gun fire to be directed along the length of its sides. A series of three palisades were in place, each 3 metres (9.8 ft) high and made up of tree trunks dug about 1 metre (3.3 ft) into the ground. The outermost palisade, forming the perimeter of the pā, was reinforced at its base with rocks and lined with a flax screen to limit or prevent bullet penetration, while the innermost palisade had a large breastwork behind it. Separating each palisade was a ditch nearly 2 metres (6.6 ft) deep. Huts and buildings within the position had green flax covering their roofs as a fire prevention measure. Heke also had a 6-pounder cannon in the pā.^[29]

The pā was still under construction although the northern, western and eastern sides were largely complete. Only the southern side was unfinished, consisting of little more than a fence.^[16][33] The departure of some of Heke's warriors as the British approached affected the progress of the work on the pā.^[34] According to historian James Belich, it is also likely that Nene's skirmishing efforts during April took manpower away from the building of the pā's defences and slowed its completion.^[15][16] In terms of weaponry, in the 1840s, Māori warriors had a variety of traditional close combat weapons available to them: taiaha (striking staffs) and mere or patu (war clubs). Some also had muskets or shotguns, either acquired from the battlefield or purchased from traders.^[35]

Battle

The British assessed Heke's position as being "very strong".^[29] Despite this, Hulme was confident of success, as were his men, one going as far as to later claim to historian James Cowan that they "expected to make short work of Johnny Heke".^[23][36] Hulme initially envisaged making a frontal assault, physically pulling down the palisades to gain access but Nene talked him out of this, considering that there would be heavy losses. Hulme also came to believe that artillery fire would be required to breach the palisades. He instead planned for three separate parties to make their own attacks on the pā once the Congreve rockets had been fired off. Hulme organised a party of militia to be equipped with axes, so they could breach the palisades when required. Nene's taua had no planned role; they were placed on the high ground to the east of the pā.^[29][37][38]

 

An unknown artist's depiction of the fighting at Puketutu; the battery of Congreve rockets are in the right foreground while Heke's pā is shown in the distance at the centre

The battle commenced on 8 May, after the British advanced to the site from Ōkaihau, marching across soggy ground and positioning themselves on the high ground to the west of the pā. The first of the three attacking parties numbered about 50 sailors and was commanded by Johnson; the second was a company of soldiers from the 58th Regiment; and the third was made up of soldiers of the 96th Regiment plus the Royal Marines. The balance of Hulme's forces was kept in reserve.^[29]

At 10:00am, the British parties began to move, bayonets fixed, to their starting positions for the attack which involved traversing the ground between the south side of the pā and Lake Ōmāpere. At the same time, the Congreve rockets were fired off but most either overshot or passed through the pā without hitting anything. One did explode within the pā but caused little damage. This was due to faulting placement of the launcher for the Congreve rockets. Originally sited further away by Egerton, Hulme ordered it to be moved forward to within 150 yards (140 m) of the pā.^[24][29] According to Frederick Maning, a notable settler who was well connected to the Ngāpuhi, the failure of the rockets may have provided Heke's men with a morale boost, as they were convinced that this was as a result of protective rituals performed during the construction of the pā.^[23]

The advancing British were exposed to gun fire from the pā as they moved forward. Then, the naval party and the soldiers of the 58th Regiment encountered Kawiti and his men, sheltering behind the breastwork on the slope behind the pā. After firing a volley of shots, the British immediately charged and engaged the Māori in hand-to-hand combat, while still under fire from the pā. After 15 minutes of fighting, Kawiti and his men withdrew and the British took shelter in the now vacated high ground. At 11:00am, Hulme ordered the attacking parties to prepare to advance and they formed up close to the breastwork.^[29][39] Then, a Māori guide leading the British spotted Kawiti and around 200 warriors moving behind and to the right of the British. Now alerted, the British peremptorily attacked Kawiti's force, leaving around 70 soldiers of the 58th Regiment at the breastwork, directing fire at the pā.^[26]

Kawiti's men refrained from shooting their weapons until the British were in close proximity and then opened fire. This caused a number of casualties among the British. The fighting then reverted to combat at close quarters. Then, a number of warriors, led by Haratua, an ally of Heke, sallied out from the pā, making for the 70 soldiers that had been left at the breastwork. Just prior to this, a red flag had been raised and lowered within the pā; Cowan speculates that this was a signal to Kawiti's men. These soldiers were pushed back but by then, Kawiti's forces had been dispersed back to the bush so the remainder of the British regathered and advanced on Haratua's party. More hand-to-hand fighting ensued and the Māori withdrew to the pā.^[26][39]

In the meantime, Kawiti had regathered his forces and, as Haratua and his men withdrew into Heke's pā, mounted yet another attack on the British. The exhausted British sailors and soldiers had to switch fronts and meet Kawiti's attack in one final skirmish. The Māori were driven off, taking to the bush. A quarter of the British attackers had become casualties since the commencement of battle. Acknowledging the effect of the engagement on his men, Hulme ordered a retreat. The fighting had lasted for over four hours and sporadic gunfire from the pā continued until sunset.^[32][26][40]

Nene's taua of 300 warriors was not actively involved in the attack on the pā but provided cover fire as the British forces withdrew from the field. Crosby notes that this was likely to have been important in deterring Heke's men from sallying from the pā and attacking the soldiers as they cleared the battlefield of the British wounded during their withdrawal.^[41][42]

The British casualties amounted to 13 killed and 30 to 40 wounded. Two of the wounded later died.^[41][43] Māori losses were higher; around 30 killed, the majority being from Kawiti's taua. Another 50 or so were wounded.^{[38][43][Note 3]} Kawiti himself was wounded and was fortunate to not have been killed; falling to the ground, he had been overrun by the British who had been ordered to kill any wounded warriors to prevent them reengaging in the battle.^[26] Burrows arranged for the burial of the British dead, which Hulme had left behind, on the battlefield after being requested to do so by Heke.^[44]

Aftermath

After spending the night at Ōkaihau with minimal food, Hulme withdrew his demoralised force to Kerikeri, abandoning the prospect of any further attacks at Puketutu. Nene provided some assistance in moving the wounded and on 13 May, Hulme and the wounded left on the North Star for Auckland. In the meantime, Kawiti and his taua withdrew from Puketutu, carrying their dead and wounded, moving to Pakaraka on the way to Waiōmio, their home region. Heke also withdrew his forces from Puketutu, abandoning the pā and moving to Maungakawakawa, south of Ōhaeawai.^{[23][45][Note 4]}

On receiving Hulme's report, which included inflated casualty numbers for Heke and Kawiti's warriors, on the engagement, FitzRoy declared that the Battle of Puketutu was a major victory for the British, announcing that at least 200 warriors had been killed and that Heke and Kawiti were "beaten and dispersed".^[38] However, this was treated with skepticism by some; for example, Maning believed that only about 28 had been killed. Until he abandoned it, Heke retained control of the battlefield following Hulme's withdrawal, and as such, Puketutu was a victory for the Māori.^[38][43][47]

The mutual cooperation between the respective forces of Kawiti and Heke was important to their success in the battle, an aspect not given much credit by contemporary reports at the time. Instead, Kawiti's actions, and then Haratua's, were seen as being fortuitous rather than premediated, notwithstanding the use during the battle of what are likely to have been signal flags.^[38] Furthermore, the Māori realised that fighting in the open with the British was to be avoided, as evidenced by Kawiti's losses. The engagement at Puketutu was to be the only time large bodies of British troops and Māori warriors clashed over open ground. Future battles would mainly be sieges or involve bush fighting.^[48] For the British, while their first attack on an inland pā was a failure, there was at least a better understanding of the environment in which their soldiers had to fight. There was also some confidence to be had in that in man-to-man fighting over open ground at least, they were at least a match for the Māori.^[31][43][47]

As of 2010, the site of the Battle of Puketutu^{[Note 5]} is privately owned farmland about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from present day Ōkaihau. Used for grazing livestock, State Highway 1 runs past the location.^[50][51]

Notes

Footnotes

1. Also known as the Northern War or Hōne Heke’s Rebellion.^[7]
2. Also known as Te Mawhe, although the feature to which this name is given is some way to the northeast.^[31]
3. Some of the dead included Kawiti's relatives, among them his son.^[41]
4. A mock up of Heke's pā was later built by the Royal Engineers at Chatham in England to assess methods for breaching the walls.^[46]
5. Early historians of the Flagstaff War incorrectly referred to the site as being Ōkaihau, which was actually Nene's pā a few kilometres to the west.^[49]

Citations

1. "The Treaty in Brief: Introduction". New Zealand History. Ministry for Culture & Heritage. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
2. O'Malley 2019, pp. 44–45.
3. Keenan 2021, pp. 131–132.
4. "Origins of the Northern War". New Zealand History. Ministry for Culture & Heritage. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
5. Belich 1998, p. 33.
6. Keenan 2021, p. 134.
7. "The Northern War: Introduction". New Zealand History. Ministry for Culture & Heritage. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
8. Belich 1998, pp. 36–39.
9. O'Malley 2019, pp. 45–46.
10. Belich 1998, pp. 36–37.
11. Crosby 2015, p. 45.
12. Dennerly 2018, p. 65.
13. Crosby 2015, pp. 38–39.
14. Crosby 2015, p. 40.
15. Crosby 2015, pp. 42–43.
16. Belich 1998, p. 41.
17. Crosby 2015, pp. 48–49.
18. Crosby 2015, p. 33.
19. Simons 2019, p. 119.
20. Crosby 2015, p. 50.
21. Simons 2019, p. 102.
22. Dennerly 2018, p. 66.
23. Simons 2019, p. 121.
24. Cowan 1955, p. 42.
25. Ryan & Parham 2002, pp. 29–31.
26. Dennerly 2018, p. 68.
27. Simons 2019, pp. 119–120.
28. Crosby 2015, pp. 50–51.
29. Dennerly 2018, pp. 66–67.
30. Moon 2001, pp. 107–108.
31. Cowan 1955, p. 41.
32. Keenan 2021, p. 138.
33. Cowan 1955, pp. 39–40.
34. Moon 2001, p. 106.
35. Ryan & Parham 2002, pp. 13–14.
36. Cowan 1955, p. 39.
37. Crosby 2015, p. 52.
38. Belich 1998, pp. 42–43.
39. Cowan 1955, pp. 44–45.
40. Cowan 1955, p. 46.
41. Crosby 2015, p. 54.
42. O'Malley 2019, p. 49.
43. Simons 2019, p. 122.
44. Cowan 1955, p. 47.
45. Crosby 2015, p. 55.
46. Simons 2019, p. 126.
47. Dennerly 2018, p. 69.
48. Belich 1998, p. 44–45.
49. Cowan 1955, p. 38.
50. Green 2010, p. 34.
51. Finlay 1998, pp. 16–17.

References

• Belich, James (1998) [1986]. The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict. Auckland: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-027504-9.
• Cowan, James (1955) [1922]. The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Māori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume I (1845–64). Wellington: R.E. Owen. OCLC 715908103.
• Crosby, Ron (2015). Kūpapa: The Bitter Legacy of Māori Alliances with the Crown. Auckland: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-357311-1.
• Dennerly, Peter (2018). "The Navy in the Northern War: New Zealand 1845–46". In Crawford, John; McGibbon, Ian (eds.). Tutu Te Puehu: New Perspectives on the New Zealand Wars. Wellington: Steele Roberts Aotearoa. pp. 57–84. ISBN 978-0-947493-72-1.
• Finlay, Neil (1998). Sacred Soil: Images and Stories of the New Zealand Wars. Auckland: Random House New Zealand. ISBN 978-1-86-941357-6.
• Green, David (2010). Battlefields of the New Zealand Wars: A Visitor's Guide. Auckland: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-320418-3.
• Keenan, Danny (2021) [2009]. Wars Without End: New Zealand's Land Wars – A Māori Perspective. Auckland: Penguin Random House New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-14-377493-8.
• Moon, Paul (2001). Hone Heke Nga Puhi Warrior. Auckland: David Ling Publishing. ISBN 978-0-90-899076-4.
• O'Malley, Vincent (2019). The New Zealand Wars: Nga Pakanga O Aotearoa. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books. ISBN 978-1-988545-99-8.
• Ryan, Tim; Parham, Bill (2002). The Colonial New Zealand Wars. Wellington: Grantham House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86934-082-7.
• Simons, Cliff (2019). Soldiers, Scouts & Spies: A Military History of the New Zealand Wars 1845–1864. Auckland, New Zealand: Massey University Press. ISBN 978-0-9951095-7-5.