In 1830, the Battle of Taumatawiwi was fought between Ngati Haua under Te Waharoa and Ngati Maru under Takaroku during the Musket Wars.
Why did it happen?
In 1821, Nga Puhi under Hongi Hika defeated Ngati Maru at Te Totara and forced them from their ancestral lands. Ngati Maru subsequently settled in the Waikato and, by 1827, had started campaigning in Taupo and the Bay of Plenty. A state of small-scale warfare existed between Ngati Maru and Ngati Haua. By January 1830, Ngati Maru had abandoned their pa in the Matamata District and concentrated on Haowhenua Pa near present-day Karapiro. During that year, Waikato iwi had gathered a force of 800 warriors to attack Haowhenua Pa. However, Te Waharoa of Ngati Haua desired victory over Ngati Maru before Waikato could take the credit. Subsequently, he allied himself with Nga Te Rangi, and in December 1830, their combined forces crossed the Waikato River near present-day Cambridge and met Ngati Maru in battle.
Who was involved?
The Ngati Haua army at Taumatawiwi numbered 1,300 warriors. Of this number, 300 were Ngati Haua, while the remaining 1,000 were Nga Te Rangi. The Ngati Haua army was arrayed in two lines to the west and south of the Hauoira Stream: 280 in the west and 1,020 in the south. The Ngati Haua plan was for 140 warriors to enter the Hauoira Chasm unobserved by the Ngati Maru army and attack their unprotected right flank while the Nga Te Rangi force attacked the Ngati Maru in the rear. The Ngati Maru army at Taumatawiwi numbered 3,000 warriors. The Ngati Maru army was arrayed along the Taumatawiwi terraces between the Waikato River and Hauoira Stream. They planned to use their superior muskets to devastate Ngati Haua from the high ground.
What happened?
After using flax ropes to move down and up the Hauoira Chasm, 140 Ngati Haua warriors charged across the open plain towards the rock formations east of the Ngati Maru positions. Forty Ngati Haua were killed by musket fire from Ngati Maru. After catching their breath, the remaining 100 Ngati Haua warriors charged up the slope to attack Ngati Maru's right flank with their muskets and tomahawks. The other 140 Ngati Haua warriors under Te Waharoa advanced to a position close to a waterfall. They opened fire on the massed Ngati Maru warriors who could not return fire at such a narrow point. Te Waharoa then joined his remaining 20 warriors and 1,000 Nga Te Rangi allies, ordering them to charge across the Hauoira Stream to attack Ngati Maru in the rear. Attacked from three sides and afraid of being cut off from Haowhenua Pa, the Ngati Maru army panicked and fled toward the pa with the Ngati Haua in hot pursuit. The Ngati Haua broke off the pursuit once they got within range of the Pa’s defences. Ngati Haua lost 80 killed and 115 wounded during the battle, while Ngati Maru's losses were 440 killed and 400 wounded.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Taumatawiwi was a Ngati Haua victory. In the aftermath of the battle, to prevent their bodies from being eaten by Ngati Maru, Te Waharoa spent the night gathering firewood and burning the bodies of his slain warriors. However, Ngati Maru was also in turmoil following the battle, mourning their losses and becoming dangerously low on gunpowder. The following day, Te Waharoa approached Haowhenua Pa to offer the Ngati Maru the option of vacating it peacefully. He said that if the opportunity were not taken up after five days, the attack would be renewed, and Haowhenua would be destroyed. Presuming that the Waikato army was still on its way to do battle, Ngati Maru accepted Te Waharoa’s terms and migrated back to their original homeland in the Hauraki area over the following several months. As recounted by Ron Crosby, “And so the great Tamaki and Hauraki migrations caused by Ngapuhi muskets from 1821 to 1825 had finally rebounded for the last time against the background of the ravages of muskets” (Crosby, 1999, p.223).
Bibliography
Adlington, Martin. “The Battle of Taumatawiwi - Lake Karapiro.” The Tomahawk. Last revised January 28, 2019. www.tomahawknz.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-battle-of-taumatawiwi-lake-karipiro.html
Crosby, R.D. The Musket Wars: A History of Inter-Iwi Conflict 1806-45. Auckland, Reed Books, 1999.
Philips, F.L. Landmarks of Tainui: A Geographical Record of Tainui Traditional History, Volume One. Otorohanga, Tohu Publishers, 1989.
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