OFFICIAL DESPATCHES.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 357, 26 March 1861, Page 3

OFFICIAL DESPATCHES.

The Governor to Major-General Pratt, C.B. | Government House, Auckland, 18th September, 1860. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letters dated Bth and 12th of September, detailing the operations of the troops under your command, and the destruction of various pahs belonging to the rebels. I join with you in lamenting that you have been unable to make any serious impression upon them, and anl aware that they and the tribes who sympathise with them will construe their escape and the retirement of the troops into a success on their own part. The season which is about to commence is, however, that in which the Maoris usually occupy themselves in planting, and is the time when they | may be most successfully harassed: I have no^ doubt therefore that a system of sudden, secret, and constant attack—when and where they least expect it—conducted by energetic officers, confident of support at appointed places—acting with enough of personal responsibility to excite ambition, —will so distress t&jjj-natives in your neighborhood that when fheirHHies return, both parties will be disheartened and glad to end their' trouble by submission.

I am sure that a force encumbered with baggage can never overtake men so active $nd so alert as the Maoris have proved themselves to be. The difficulty of carrying out such a system of guerilla warfare with regular troops is no doubt very great, but unless you can effect your object during the ensuing season, the war may be continned indefinitely. I venture to suggest the employment of officers and men who are willing to volunteer for this sort of service on being assured of support; and that no exertion should be spared to clear the land round and between the positions you intend to occupy;— for this last purpose natives or settlers might be employed and paid, in the manner you think right.

It would be of course absurd to urge you to undertake operations, and, at the same time, suggest the reduction of your force, 1 beg therefore to say that though I forward Commodore Loring's letter for your consideration, I shall'have no hesitation in requesting that the Naval Brigade may not be removed unless you are satisfied it can be done without interfering with the operations you will doubtless think it necessary to undertake without loss of time. .... •

I cordially agree in your opinion as to the nc r cessity of large reinforcements for the protection of the settlements generally, and to enable us to meet other combinations which- may arise after the planting season is over; but no reinforcements can place us in a-better position than we are in at the present time at Taranaki—where our numbers are considerably in excess of those which the Maoris can collect. In November this proportion may be reversed, even should we receive considerable reinforcements in the meantime.

1 beg agaiu to assure you of my earnest desire to co-operate most cordially with you, and to supply all that you may require so far as it is in my power to do so. ' I have, &c;, T. Gore Browne. Major-General Pratt, C.8., &c.

Major-General Pratt C.8., to Governor Gore

Browne, C.B. Head Quarters, New Plymouth, Taranaki, 29th Sept., 1860. Sir—l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's Despatch of the 18th instant, received on the 25th instant, and with reference to the first paragraph to state that whilst in my Despatches I regretted that the rebels did not remain to defend their pahs and positions, ttill.l consider that the'destruction of the pahs before their eyes, and their being obliged to retive to the bush cannot but be attended with good results, and in this opinion I am coincided in by those whose knowledge of the native character is unquestionable. Your Excellency expresses an opinion that the season which i 8 now about to commence, being that in which the Maoris usually occupy themselves in planting, is the time when they may be most'successfully harrassed, and that a, system of secret, sudden, and constant attack when and where they least expect it, ■will greatly distress and;dishearten them,'and further, that the troops so employed ought not to be encumbered with baggage.

Before entering upon this, I think it desirable to recapitulate as shortly as possible the state in which I found this province on my landing on the 3rd of last month, and the events which have occurred since that date.

I found the settlers driven in from their farms, their cattle seized, and other property destroyed, many of their homes burnt, the enemy in the immediate vicinity round the town, an attack on it avowedly threatened, theplacecrowded with women and children whose only safety was the presence of the troops, and the defences in a very imperfect state. . ■

The total armed force in the whole Province, Naval Brigade, Militia and Volunteers included amounted to 2292 rank and file, of which 955 were stationed at. various outposts, which being constantly threatened, by the enemy could,not be abandoned; of the remainder about 340, including the great majority of the Militia and Volunteers were non-effective either from sickness or from being engaged in civil employment. Thus the whole available force at my disposal in, and in block-houses about the town, amounted to 1000 or thereby. No certain information could be obtained with regard to the numbers of the enemy, which was estimated, by those best able to judge, at about 1700, who were divided into two bodies, one of which, consisting of W. Kingi's followers, assisted by some of the Waikatos, occupidd the strong pa Puketakauere, little more than a mile from the camp on the Waitara. This pa was connected with the bush by a chain of smaller pas, some of them of considerable strength, by which the enemy were enabled to bring reinforcements to'the front with great ease and rapidity. The other body comprised the Southern natives, Taranakis and Ngatiruauuis, who were busily engaged in the construction of considerable works within a few hundred yards of the Waireka camp. These two bodies were able tosommunicate freely with one another under cover of the forest, which, as your Excellency is aware, extends to within a a short distance of the town, and from which detached parties of the rebels were in the habit of creeping out, sometimes by day, but more frequently by night, for the purpose of murdering stragglers and burning the property of the settlers ; but although the enemy were usually distributed in the manner just described, there was nothing to prevent them from uniting their whole force at any time, either on the town itself or any other, part which they might consider aisailab}«,

Your Excellency will observe therefore thai before undertaking any active operations in the field with a sufficient force, it was indispensable that tne safety of the women and children should bo secured by the completion of the defences of the town and by the removal of as many of them as K. %* St ranee from the seatof war; for the !no ™a * r^- 1 took immed"te steps by intrenchoLiS "S a, limited ««**-with a view the tou n g tJ e f , numl? er roq«"d for the defence of the fieldMS T B 8-Vl^ g more disP°sable men for cli i Pl' aCtlSed the garrison at occupying : the lines they were to defend; for the latter I embarked the families to the extent in my power and proceeded to Auckland, with a Sv P of arl ranging tins and other matters with y^W hav^^f 6"^ and the General Government of thf *uth(msed ™ to send to Nelson as many shabl, ISm? 8- Ud Children "I might.ihlnkdJ J™-nL t i aYing made arrangements for their PlvnfZ'h 1 l0S;, n° time after »y retu™ 'o- New waffi for 0!?'u 28? h Au *ust' in causin *to be vessels nkP f^ft On as many of them as the 3 Pla°ed at>«*y disposal were able to accommodate I regret to say, however, that in my endeavors to carry out this very desirable measure, lv n°* e u et w'th that cordial co-operation oa me part oi the civil authorities ot the province, which, in the delicate positron I was placed in, I naa a right to' expect, and the people showed so much unwillingness to leave the place, and after only about 112 women and 282 children had been snipped, l tound that without resorting to actual iorce no more COuld bfi induced to Unde]f these circumstances, I found mytelf most reluc- £?? y ,c^ mPelled to abandon a measure which I' believed to be essential to the efficient pro-ecutioa of the war, and the sanitary state of the town, »ffoni ■ meantime! neglected.oo opportunity of oi^ g 9 i¥e^y^*wr^;Bhewed himself. JJn the 20th August, a number of rebels having bee n seen on the cleared ground near Elliott's li^l n deßP, at Il <l hed a party of 250 men under Lieu -Colonel Murray, 65th Regiment, who, after a skirmish, v which the enemy suffered some loss with no casualty on our side drove them back into the bush. The detachment at the Waireka, under Major Hutchins, 12th Regiment, succeeded on several occasions in iuflicting loss on the enemy without any casualty on our part. On my return from Auckland, I found that the enemy had abandoned their strong positions at Puketakauere and Waireka, which were immediately destroyed by the troops, and a large portion otthem left the neighborhood, the Waikatos going northward, and the Ngatiruanuis and a part of the Taranakis, south. I have not been able to learn the cause of this sudden and unexpected alteration in their plans, but it is certain that whatever may have been the motive it cannot have been long premeditated, as nearly up to the day of their departure, they continued to improve their defensive works, which, at Waireki especially, were of very considerable extent, and must have cost them a vast amount of labor. I looked upon this movement as a subject rather of regret than of congratulation, as it prevented me from carrying out my intention of attacking Puketakauere, the position cf which, owing to its distance from the bush, offered perhaps a more favorable opportunity than any which is likely to occur again of surrounding and cutting off the retreat of the enemy. 1 have, in previous Despatches informed Your Excellency of the successive attempts which I subsequently made to surround and surpiise the rebels, the result of which has been to convince me ot the utter hopelessness of all endeavors to prevent their escape from any place which they do not intend to defend. I cannot, however, agree wit h you that these operations can by any possibility be construed by them into a retirement on the part of the troops and a success on their own. The actual state of the case is as follows:— ; During the past few weeks the troops under my command have destroyed between 20 and 30 pahs, many of them very recently built, and provided with rifle pits, and other defences, constructed in. the most careful and elaborate manner. The rebels did not venture to defend any of these places, but deserted them all on the approach of the troops, in some cases in such haste that on our entry we found meat half cooked on the fires. We have also destroyed a great number of " whares " or native habitations, and a considerable quantity of provisions.

During the whole of this period the enemy have been suffering very severely from sickness caused by privation and exposure, and I have certain information that they have lost a good many men, including several of their most influential chiefs, who have been killed in action or have died of their wounds. The whole of our casualties, on the other hand, throughout all these operations, amount to only one man killed and four wounded. I cannot conceive that such a result can be looked upon as a success on the part of the enemy. The plan which your Excellency proposes, of harassing them by secret, sudden, and constant attacks by bodies of troops without baggage, is in my opinion impracticable. It is impossible to surprise them, as the scouts who are constantly on the watch about their pahs will always give them sufficient notice to enable them to effect their escape should they be desirous of doing so, or to prepare for defence if they mean to remain.' Experience has proved that to send troops unprovided with artillery to attack a pah entails certain failure1, accompanied with a useless loss both of men and prestige. I consider it of the highest importance, not only to the successful termination of the present war, but for the future peace of the colony, that the Maoris should become convinced of the superiority of the troops in warfare, and of the hopelessness of their endeavoring to gain any material advantage over us; and I cannot think that it would be wise or justifiable knowingly to place the troops in a position in which that superiority would disappear or perhaps be converted into inferiority. , I arrive at a different conclusion from the opinion expressed by your Excellency, that the present excess of our numbers over those of the enemy in this province places us in a more favorable position for the prosecution of the war than we shall probably be in two or three months hence, when the proportion may be reversed ; on the cont ary, the principal difficulties with which I have now to contend arise from this very cause . and I am satisfied that any increase in their numbers which might give them sufficient confidence, either to defend a pa in an accessible position, or to accept battle in the open country, would lead to a much more satisfactory result than a lengthsned continuance of the present state of affairs. In conclusion, I beg to assure you* Excellency that no exertion that I can make, or no opportunity shall be lost of harassing the enemy in any way in my power, and thus endeavouring to terminate this unhappy war. I have, &c, T. S. Pratt, Major-General Commanding. To his Excellency, &c. -

The Governor to Major-General Pratt, C.B. Government House, Auckland, 2nd October, 1860.

Sir—-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your lettelPo. 297, of September 29th, in which you state that the plan of harassing the insurgents by secret, sudden, and constant attack by bodies of troops without baggage is, in your opinion, impracticable I agree with you entirely in thinking that it is of ' the highest importance, not only to the successful termination of the present war, but to the future peace of the colony, that the Maoris should become convinced of the superiority of the troops in warfare, and of the hopelessness of their endeavoring to gain any material advantage over us.' For this reason I suggested a measure which has not yet been tried; but I beg you not to suppose that I desire to interfere in any way in the conduct of military operations, or do more than offer for your own consideration a suggestion which had occurred to others as well as myself. .' . I have, &C, T. Gore Brow.vs. Major-General Pratt, G, B. f &c.