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the ready and willing assistance they afforded throughout these short operations.
He also begs to offer his thanks to the following officers for their zealous conduct and
support:—Major Lambert, who took command of the main body of the militia;
Captain Kennedy, commanding No. 2
Company, who, though severely wounded,
continued on the field till ordered away by
the Lieutenant-Colonel; Captain Fitzgerald, Company No. 1, which advanced on
the Puketapu road and first came under fire;
Captain Buchanan, commanding the Napier Volunteers, by whose well aimed advance on the flank the enemy was compelled
to leave his last cover within the pah.;
Capt. Rhodes, Company No. 3, who, being unable through the distance to march
his whole company to the ground on foot,
mounted as many as he could and brought
up a valuable portion of the force on horseback; Captain Birch, commanding No. 4,
whose company was collected with
scarcely an absentee from a widely scattered district; Captain Gordon, who raised
the volunteer cavalry in a few hours,
and performed with it valuable service in
seizing the canoes by which the enemy
might have escaped, and in pursuing and
taking prisoner that detachment of the
enemy which endeavoured to escape to the
hills after the pah surrendered.

The Lieutenant-Colonel also desires to
thank the officers acting as his personal
staff—Captain Hamilton Russell and Mr.
Agnew Brown, whose zealous assistance was of so much importance
to him; Mr. F. E. Hamlin, his interpreter, who performed many very dangerous, almost desperate, services during
the day, and was himself wounded; and,
lastly, Capt. Withers, District Adjutant,
through whose indefatigable exertions it was
due that the force was enabled to take the
field complete in every respect in a few
hours, and who rendered very valuable assistance to the Lieut.-Colonel throughout
the day.

The Lieut.-Colonel would have felt great
pleasure in noticing many acts of great gallantry which fell under his personal observation. But he feels that in doing so he
would omit many which escaped his eye, as
all behaved so well, and he therefore thinks
it better and less invidious not to single out
any individuals except those holding the
more prominent positions in the force.

The Lieut.-Colonel desires to thank the
native contingent under the chiefs Tareha,
Hapuku, Ihaka Whanga, Renata, Kopu and
Karaitiana, for the co-operation they and

their followers lent the Europeans on this
occasion. The native force was assembled
after a few hours' notice, and took the posts
assigned to them with the greatest precision.
The conduct of the contingent, fighting
under the disadvantage of being obliged to
conform to European tactics, has been such
as to convince every settler in the province
of their fidelity to the Queen and Government, and goodwill to their European fellow-subjects, with whom they made common cause. The Lieut.-Colonel must also
specially thank the chiefs Ihaka and Kopu
for their prompt succour from so distant a
part of the province. Mr. Locke, attached
to the native contingent, distinguished himself by his gallant conduct in the action and
by his unwearied efforts to forward the combinations arranged by the Lieut.-Colonel.

While these operations were in progress,
another portion of the Force under the
Lieutenant-Colonel performed a valuable
service. Major Fraser, whose reputation
no praise from the Lieutenant-Colonel
can enhance, having been hastily summoned
from the Wairoa, marched with a detachment of his corps to Petane soon after
the militia left the town. He carried out a
tedious march and took post as directed on
the direct line of the enemy's operations,
thus to intercept fugitives from Omaranui
and reinforcements from Titiokura. Hap-
pily very few of the enemy did escape from
the pah, but an important reinforcement to
the enemy was intercepted by Major Fraser,
who after making very prompt and excellent arrangements, although just arrived
from a long and laborious march, succeeded
in killing twelve and taking three of their
number.

It affords the Lieut.-Colonel great pleasure to notice this new instance of Major
Fraser's zealous and soldierlike qualities,
and of the discipline and gallantry of his
whole force. Major Fraser mentions
particularly the assistance he received
from Captain Carr of the Royal Artillery,
who being settled in that locality has organised a force of volunteers, with which
he reinforced the detachment and followed
up the enemy. He also thanks Lieut.
George, late of the Colonial Defence Force,
who accompanied him as a volunteer and
lent him valuable assistance, and Ensign
Richardson, and the non-commissioned
Officers and men of the military settlers
engaged in these operations.

By Order,
E. WITHERS,
Captain & Adjutant.

Printed under the authority of the Government of the Province of Hawke's Bay, by JAMES
WOOD, Printer for the time being to such Government.