Rewi's last stand?

The last battle of the Waikato War began when the spearhead of a 1200-strong British force charged an apparently weak Māori position at Ōrākau, south-east of Te Awamutu. The defenders held their fire until the attackers were within 50 m, then stopped them in their tracks. When a second frontal assault also failed, the British surrounded the pā and began shelling it and digging a sap (covered trench) towards it.

The battle that would be immortalised as ‘Rewi’s last stand’ by historian James Cowan and film-maker Rudall Hayward was not in fact of Rewi Maniapoto’s choosing. The Ngāti Maniapoto leader did not want to dig in at Ōrākau, in territory that was effectively already occupied by the British. Forced to do so by the eagerness of Tūhoe and Ngāti Raukawa to see action, he advocated fortifying a nearby position which had both a water supply and a line of retreat – and lost that argument too.

By 2 April, attackers outnumbered defenders six to one. There was no water left in the pā, and artillery brought up along the sap had breached its defences. The famous response to General Duncan Cameron’s invitation to surrender seemed mere bravado:

E hoa, ka whawhai tonu mātou, Āke! Āke! Āke!
Friend, we will fight on forever, forever and forever!

A few hours later, the Māori suddenly left the pā in a disciplined body and broke through the British cordon at its weakest point. As they headed for the safety of the Pūniu River, 3 km away, the fugitives split into small groups that were pursued by cavalry and Forest Rangers. Between 80 and 160 of them were killed. Women were bayoneted to death as they lay wounded. The total British casualties at Ōrākau were 17 dead and about 50 wounded.

The battle of Ōrākau ended in the defeat Rewi had foreseen. Another line of defence was abandoned and the Kīngitanga regrouped south of the Pūniu River. But thanks to the heroic rearguard action, many leaders and warriors with the capacity to fight on had survived.

Image: Rewi Maniapoto