The last battle of the Waikato War began when the spearhead of a strong British force charged an apparently weak Māori position at Ōrākau, south-east of Te Awamutu. After two frontal assaults failed, the British besieged the pā.
Waikato Wars
Events In History
3 November 1863
On 3 November, HMS Miranda attempted to land boats at Pūkorokoro, a kāinga on the south-western corner of the Firth of Thames.
Articles
Māori King movement - 1860-94
The reign of King Tāwhiao was dominated by the Waikato War and the fallout from it. Read the full article
Page 1 - Troubled times
The reign of King Tāwhiao was dominated by the Waikato War and the fallout from
The Treaty in practice
Amalgamating Māori into colonial settler society was a key part of British policy in New Zealand after 1840. Economic and social change, along with land-purchase programmes, were central to this process. Read the full article
Page 2 - Slide to war
War raged in the North Island in the mid-19th century. The period from 1860, when conflict broke out in Taranaki, through to about 1872, is commonly called the New Zealand Wars.
War in Waikato
After fighting broke out again in Taranaki in early 1863, Governor George Grey turned his attention to the region he saw as the root of his problems with Māori: Waikato, the heartland of the anti-landselling King Movement. Grey vowed to ‘dig around’ the Kīngitanga until it fell. Read the full article
Page 1 - War in Waikato
After fighting broke out again in Taranaki in early 1863, Governor George Grey turned his attention to the region he saw as the root of his problems with Māori: Waikato, the
Page 2 - Invasion plans
Governor Gore Browne demanded that the Kīngitanga submit ‘without reserve’ to the British Queen and began planning an invasion of Waikato shortly before his reassignment to
Page 3 - The opening phase
The British invasion of Waikato began on 12 July 1863. The first Māori line of defence was at Meremere. After this was bypassed, Rangiriri and Pāterangi provided a second and then
Page 4 - Rangiriri
The decisive battle for Waikato was fought at Rangiriri in November
Page 5 - The invasion continues
After the British victory at Rangiriri, Wiremu Tāmihana tried to negotiate peace. He sent his greenstone mere (club) to Cameron as a token of his good faith. But neither Grey nor
Page 6 - The Battle of Ōrākau
James Belich argues that the British victory at Ōrākau was also their ‘cruellest disappointment of the entire war’. Chris Pugsley, on the other hand, sees Ōrākau as the ‘decisive
Page 7 - Further information
Books and links relating to the Waikato
Biographies
John Gorst was a Waikato politician who sympathised to some extent with the Kīngitanga and its political aspirations.
The historian James Belich believed Cameron was not only the best European commander to serve in New Zealand but ‘among the best of Victorian generals’.
