1827 - 1899 Origins & The New Zealand Wars

1827

5 January

The first British soldiers, the Māori called them the ‘red tribe’ because of their redcoat uniforms, set foot on New Zealand soil at Kororareka in the Bay of Islands.

1834

28 September

The red tribe returned once again; a company of the 50th Regiment from New South Wales under command of Captain Johnson. They rescued the wife and children of the master of the whaler Harriet from the local Taranaki Māori, after the ship had run aground. As a punitive measure they destroyed several Māori villages.

1840

16 April

The first British soldiers took up permanent station in New Zealand at Auckland. They comprised two companies, 150 men, of the 80th Regiment of Foot under command of Major Thomas Bunbury.

1843

17 June

The first major clash of the New Zealand War 1843-1847, at Wairau, between colonists and Māori of the Ngati Toa. In all, 22 Europeans and about six Māori were killed. More commonly, and incorrectly, called the Wairau Massacre.

1844

8 July

The Māori Chief, Hone Heke, had the flagstaff cut down at Kororareka in the Bay of Islands. He believed that the flying of the British flag deprived chiefs of their mana and Māori generally of their land.

1845

10 January

Hone Heke’s men cut down the flagstaff at Kororareka for the second time. Governor Fitzroy offered a reward for his capture and sent for Imperial troops, who had been previously summoned from New South Wales to deal with unrest in the Cook Strait area.

1845

19 January

The Kororareka flagstaff was cut down for the third time, despite its being protected by a blockhouse.

1845

10 March

Hone Heke and his fellow chief Te Ruki Kawiti attacked the settlement of Kororareka with 600 Māori warriors against 250 armed defenders. After a day’s fighting during which time the flagstaff was dropped for the fourth time, the attackers withdrew, leaving behind 13 dead settlers (the flagstaff stayed down until after Hone Heke’s death in 1850).

1845

25 March

The first Militia Ordinance was passed. This provided for all men between the ages of 18 and 60 to be liable for service within a 25-mile radius of their nearest Police Office.

1845

8 May

The first British engagement of the Northern War of 1845-1846 at Puketutu. About 400 Imperial troops assaulted Hone Heke’s pa unsuccessfully. Hone Heke and Kawiti built a second pa at Ohaeawai.

1845

23 June

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Despard led a force of 600 soldiers, sailors, and marines against Ohaeawai Pa. After a week of bombardment Despard ordered a futile and unsuccessful attack against the pa on 1 July. About 75 Auckland volunteers took part in this engagement – the first immigrant New Zealanders to see active service in the history of New Zealand.

1845

11 July

The Māori defenders abandoned Ohaeawai Pa undefeated. British casualties were over 100 dead with scarcely any on the Māori side. Kawiti built another stronghold at Ruapekapeka.

1846

10 January

Lieutenant Colonel Despard attacked Ruapekapeka Pa with 1100 troops and heavier artillery. The pa was breached the following day, a Sunday while the bulk of the Māori defenders were outside holding a church service.

1847

23 July

The last conflict of the 1843 -1847 New Zealand War was at St John’s Wood, Wanganui. Part of the battleground is now within the environs of Wanganui Collegiate School.

1858

28 May

The Militia Act 1858 repealed the 1845 Ordinance. It allowed for the formation of Militia Districts.

1860

25 January

Martial law was proclaimed in Taranaki Province and the militia was called out in New Plymouth. This was the start of the second phase of the New Zealand Wars that lasted until 1872.

1860

28 March

Battle of Waireka in Taranaki – one of the few engagements during the war when militia or volunteer troops took part in the fighting. The Taranaki Rifle Volunteers and the Taranaki Militia became the first colonial volunteer units ever to take the field against an enemy.

1863

Special volunteer units such as the Waikato Militia (1863-1865), the Forest Rangers (1863-1867) and the Taranaki Military Settlers were raised.

1863

5 May

The Colonial Defence Act 1862 was enacted. It allowed the Governor to “arm and array” a Colonial Defence Force of up to 500 mounted ‘natives’ or Europeans. This was the origin of today’s regular force element of the New Zealand Army.

1864

November

The Government adopted a self-reliant policy to fight the war by dispensing with Imperial troops and gradually taking over the conduct of the war with New Zealand troops. From 1865 Imperial troops were phased out, until the last British regiment, the 18th, left on 24 February 1870.

1869

4 October

Te Kooti was defeated at Te Porere by a force commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas McDowell.

1872

11 February

The final engagement of the New Zealand Wars took place at Mangaone, south of Waikaremoana on the east coast of the North Island.

1880

During 1880 the military (as opposed to the police) portion of the Armed Constabulary was divided into branches designated for Artillery, Engineers, Torpedoes, and Field Force (which comprised infantry).

1880

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Scratchley produced a report on the coastal defence of New Zealand. The report was undertaken due to a constant fear of Russian expansionism in the South Pacific region. (There were Russian Scares in 1855, 1877, and 1885.) He recommended that fortifications be built at Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin. A start on the building of these fortifications was made in 1884.

1881

October

The Parihaka Crisis saw the call-out of 950 volunteers to join an Armed Constabulary force of 630 men, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Roberts, to enforce heavy-handed European land confiscation from the Māori of South Taranaki. The Māori carried out a campaign of passive resistance and hundreds were arrested. No shots were fired.

1885

4 May

Cabinet agreed to “sanction the expense of 1000 well-trained men, one fourth to be Māori, for active service in Afghanistan ….”. The offer of New Zealand troops was never taken up by the Imperial Government in London.

1898

5 May

The last Māori ‘disturbance’ took place in which New Zealand’s permanent military forces took part. Lieutenant Colonel Newall led a 120 strong force into the Hokianga district, the affair was settled without physical conflict.

This page was last reviewed on 03 June 2008 and is current.