50

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

being just visible from the near side of the valley, I left
the six-pounder guns there, and advanced under cover
of their fire, which was ably directed by Lieut. Carre,
R.A. In a few minutes we emerged from the scrub and
bush on the open, opposite the position, which
consisted of an entrenched work, strongly palisaded,
with a front of about one hundred yards. The
approach was over level ground, flanked on the right
by a tongue of bush at seventy yards: on the left
front there were fenced cultivations. It would have
been a work of great labour and loss of time to get
the guns to this point. I therefore took advantage
of an undulation in the ground, at the distance of
one hundred and fifty yards from the work, and
formed the force in the following order, viz.:—57th
Regiment on the left, in skirmishing order, with a
strong Company and the Forest Rangers in support;
the 2nd Battalion 14th Regiment extended on the
right, with one hundred men in support, the Native
Contingent in reserve. The signal for the assault
was then given, and the troops dashed at the work
with irresistible impetuosity, the rebels kept perfectly
quiet until they were within forty yards, and then
opened a most severe and unusually well directed fire
from the whole front of the entrenchment and the
bush on its right. Under this heavy cross fire, a
portion of the 57th Regiment, under Bt.-Lieut.-Colonel
Hassard, wheeled to the left, drove the rebels from
the bush, and advanced against the right angle of the
pa. At the same moment the 2nd Rattalion 14th
Regiment, under Lieut.-Colonel Trevor, and the
remainder of the 57th, under Bt. Lieut.-Colonel
Butler, both most gallantly led, reached the left
angle of the work through the cultivations. The
Maories fought desperately for a time, but in vain;
the pallisading was cut down, the troops entered the
work and carried all before them. The enemy broke
and fled down the precipitous densely wooded gully
immediately at the rear of the pa, where it was
impossible for the troops to pursue them; some of
them however there fell under the fire of a detach-
ment of the Native Contingent, whom I had sent
round into this gully. The whole of the defences,
the village, and cultivations, were destroyed.

The capture of Otapawa is, I believe, of the utmost
impartance. It was a position, I am informed, of
historical repute for its natural strength, and had the
name of having never fallen in any of the Native
wars. It was in fact inaccessible for any force except
by the way we advanced to it, and the character of
the approaches and the nature of the immediate
locality of the pa, as well as the strength of its
defences, certainly were such as in some measure to
justify the opinion of the Natives that they held an
impregnable position. In the capture of such a
position it is not to be expected that our loss could
be insignificant. In comparison, however, with the
nature of the service, the number of our casualties
is not great. Seven men were killed and fourteen
wounded. Two Officers—Lieut.-Colonel Hassard,
57th Regiment, and Lieut. Swanson, 2nd Battalion,
14th Regimont—were wounded; and it is with deep
regret I have to add that the former Officer died of
his wounds this morning. In Lieut.-Colonel Hassard,
the service has lost one of its bravest Officers; he
led his men with the greatest gallantry, and fell
inside the pa nobly performing his duty.

The loss of the enemy I estimate at fifty killed
and wounded; the body of Aperahama, the Chief of
the place, was found in the ditch.

It is my intention to bring under the special notice
of the Secretary of State for War, and of his Royal
Highness the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief,
the brilliant services of the whole of Her Majesty's
Troops engaged on this occasion; and I take this
opportunity of expressing my thanks to Major Von
Tempsky, commanding Forest Rangers, and to Capt.
Pilmer and the men of that corps, for their services
in co-operation. To Ensign McDonnell (commanding
the Contingent in the absence of Major McDonnell,
who is still suffering from his wound,) as well as to
the Native Contingent, I am much indebted for their
assistance. Ensign McDonnell has rendered most
valuable aid in reconnoitering and obtaining informa-
tion, and his intrepid conduct deserves the highest
commendation.

On the evening of the 14th I directed the
Native Contingent to ascertain the position of
Ketemarai, and instructed them to remain near it
during the night, and to send me information
which would enable me to move against it early on
the following morning; for which purpose the force
as below‡ marched at 4-15 a.m. this day, and pro-
ceeding over the plain for two miles in a northerly
direction came in front of a line of stockading and
earthwork, flanked on either side by bush, and ex-
tending across the main track, leading into the clear-
ing in which Ketemarai is situated. The position
was carried without opposition, though it had evi-
dently been the intention of the rebels to defend it,
for we found provisions, and fires still alight inside
the work. I can only account for their not availing
themselves of so formidable a position for opposing
our advance, by attributing it to the dispiriting effect
of their severe loss at Otapawa. The force then
advanced on Ketemarai itself, which is about a mile
within this intrenchment, and consisted of four pali-
saded pas in eschellon, enclosing a large number of
whares; these were all burnt, and as far as practica-
ble, the cultivations destroyed.

The Regular Troops then marched back to camp,
and the Forest Rangers and Native Contingent re-
mained to search the bush in the vicinity. This they
did for several hours, during which they came across
some small parties of the enemy (twenty-one of
whom are reported to have been killed), and destroyed
the following villages, viz., Te Whenuka, Te Moro,
Kanihi, Mawhitihito, Te Paki, Otukere, Aoteroa,
and another large pa, the name of which is not yet
certain, but supposed to be Ahipaipa.

The same afternoon I sent out 300 men of the
2nd Battalion 14th 50th and 57th Regiments, with the
three six-pounder Armstrong guns, the whole under
Lieutenant-Colonel Butler, 57th Regiment, to destroy
the rebel village of Ketemitea, which, as already
stated, he had previously visited. It was now com-
pletely destroyed by him as well as another strongly
fortified pa in the neighbourhood, Puketi, which
was found to be abandoned. All the principal villages
and positions of the enemy up to and within reach
of this camp having been destroyed, and the rebels
scattered with heavy loss, I propose, in pursuance
of your Excellency's instructions, to continue my
march immediately towards Mataitawa and New
Plymouth, by the bush track behind Mount Egmont.

I have, &c.,

T. CHUTE,
Major-General.

His Excellency Sir G. Grey, K.С.В.,
&c.,
&c.,
&c.

Nominal Return of Officers and Men killed and
wounded in an Engagement with the rebel Maoris,

‡Three 6-pounder guns, with proportion of non-commissioned
officers and gunners; under Lieut. Carre.
2nd Battalion 14th Regiment—200 rank and file, under Lieut.-
Colonel Trevor.
50th Regiment—110 rank and file, under Captain Doran.
57th Regiment—200 rank and file, under Brevet Lieut.-
Colonel Butler.
Forest Rangers—40 of all ranks, under Major Von Tempsky.
Native Contingent—150 men, under Ensign McDonnell.