165

Head Quarters, Napier,
October 26, 1866.

MILITIA DISTRICT ORDER,
A No. 3.

1. The Lieut.-Colonel commanding publishes for general information the report of a Board of Officers, convened by his order to enquire into a representation that had been made to him by Captain Birch, commanding No. 4 Company Napier Militia, to the effect that paragraph 4 of the Militia District Order A. 2, in which it was stated that "the Lieut.-Colonel thanked Captain Fitzgerald, commanding No. 1 Company, which advanced by the Puketapu road, and was the first to come under fire," was incorrect, inasmuch as it was No. 4 Company or the Detachment of that Company under Captain Birch himself, from Meanee, which actually first came under fire.

The Board was composed of the following officers:—
Major FRASER, President.
Members:
Captain RHODES
Captain BUCHANAN.

After a, patient examination of all the evidence which was offered by Captain Birch, and all that was brought by Captain Fitzgerald, the Board came to the conclusion—

"That the paragraph referred to in the Lieut.-Colonel's order assigning to No. 1 Company the credit of having been first under fire is substantially correct, and not open to contradiction; but that the evidence adduced warrants the conclusion that a portion of No. 4 Company, if not all, who were under Captain Birch's command, were exposed to and received the same fire, a fact which, from the shelter they had secured around the whares and from the nature of the ground, could not come under the personal observation of the Lieut.-Colonel."

After perusal of the proceedings of the Board, the Lieut.-Colonel has approved and confirmed the finding and opinion of the Board, and has to thank the Officers who served upon it for the careful and impartial manner in which they have performed a delicate and laborious duty.

The Lieut.-Colonel has therefore to amend his order of the day after the engagement at Omaranui in the spirit of the recommendation of the Board, and it will now read thus—

"Paragraph 4.—The Lieut.-Colonel desires to thank the whole of the officers and men for the ready and willing assistance they afforded him 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 Lieut.-Colonel; Captain Fitzgerald, Company No. 1, which advanced on the Puketapu road and first came under fire; Captain Buchanan, commanding the Native Volunteers, by whose well aimed advance on the flank the enemy was compelled to leave his last cover within the pah; Captain 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, and with the Meanee detachment, was exposed to and received, equally with No. 1, the first fire of the enemy; 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 Lieut.-Colonel takes this opportunity of thanking Captain Birch for having brought this subject to his notice. He feels that so long as an honorable emulation for distinction exists among the Militia and Volunteers, the Province has but little to fear when she places her safety in their hands. There can be no doubt that in operations against an uncivilised enemy the less delay in coming to close quarters the better, and this will always be found to be the course adopted by the Government Officer. But the particular portion of the Force first engaged may really be less exposed to an enemy's fire and suffer less under it than another which comes later into action; and he therefore announces that the course adopted on this occasion will not form a precedent, and that should he ever again be called upon to lead the Colonial Forces the portion first engaged will not be specially mentioned for having received the first fire. He trusts that each company or detachment will strictly keep that position which it is ordered to occupy, remembering that there can be nothing more honorable than to discharge a duty perfectly, and that to endeavour to obtain a post assigned by the Commanding Officer to another part of the Force might cause disaster to both. This caution he addresses to the Force without any reference to the late engagement, but because, through the stress evidently laid on what is really only an accidental arrangement, the Colonial Forces might otherwise erroneously conclude that to draw the enemy's fire is to hold the post of honour, and hurry too eagerly to win that distinction.

By Order,
E. WITHERS,
Captain and District 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.