Flagstaff War - Progress of The War

Progress of The War

The British did not fight alone but had Māori allies, particularly Tāmati Wāka Nene and his men. He had given the government assurances of the good behaviour of the Ngāpuhi and he felt that Hone Heke had betrayed his trust.

The colonial government attempted to re-establish its authority in the Bay of Islands on 28 March 1845 with the arrival of troops from the 58th, 96th and 99th Regiments with marines and a Congreve rocket unit, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Hulme. The following day the Colonial forces attacked Pomare's Pā; as the pā was on the coast in the Bay of Islands, cannon fire from H M S North Star was directed at the pā.

A pā is a fortified village or community. Because of the almost constant inter-tribal warfare the art of defensive fortifications had reached a very high level among the Māori. A pā was usually situated on top of a hill, surrounded by palisades of timber that were backed up by trenches. Since the introduction of muskets the Māori had learnt to cover the outside of the palisades with layers of flax (Phormium tenax) leaves, making them effectively bulletproof as the velocity of musket balls was dissipated by the flax leaves. For example, the pā at Ohaeawai, the site of a battle in the Flagstaff War, was described as having an inner palisade that was 3 metres (9.8 ft) high, built using Puriri logs. In front of the inner palisade was a ditch in which the warriors could shelter and reload their muskets then fire through gaps in the two outer palisades. The British were to discover, to their considerable cost, that a defended pā was a difficult fortification to defeat.

The colonial forces were able to occupy Pomare's Pā without a fight. When they arrived at Pomare's Pā, the chief himself came down to see what all the fuss was about and was promptly made prisoner. He then ordered his men not to resist the British and they escaped into the surrounding bush. This left the British a free hand to loot and burn the pā. This action caused considerable puzzlement since up until that time Pomare had been considered neutral, by himself and almost every one else. When they burnt the pā the British also burnt two pubs or grog shops which Pomare had established within his pā to encourage the Pākehā settlers, sailors, whalers etc. to visit and trade with him.