INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A JOURNALIST.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 167, 24 November 1883, Page 10

INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A JOURNALIST.

By Nemo.

No. XXVll.— Waitara Cainp-*" Taipd" Nelson — Commodore (Admiral Lord AlcesierJ Sey- ■ mour — The JPuTcetaJcaure Pa — A Disastrous >4 Assault — JECe toa — Sow a British Soldier J(Xetr\ — Maori Intrepidity — The Barbarity — Colonel" Gold's Pusillanimity — Garrisoning a Maori' Pa. • -.-.•.' Aiteb the return of the expedition to Kaihihi,the company of the 40th, to which I belonged, wasremoved from New Plymouth to the W ( aitara camp,- then under the command of Major Nelson, t whose military soubriquet was " Taipo" or " TheDevil," a name which had been conferred; upon him by the Maoris after the disastrous repulse of* the attack on the Fuketakaure pa. A baptism of fire accompanied the name; though the tfkEajor hadfrequently been under fife before, and could show a' very good record of services in India, where he' had served with great distinction* At ? the'battle of Marajapoor he led. a charge of infantry upon* the, enemy's battery, capturing -their gunsjjfrom) » the metal of whichVwas afterw,»sds made a bronze 1 f star with a silver centre, as. a, decoration for the' officers and" men who shared in the exploit. In that battle Major Nelson received a severe ,w ; ounct : ; in the leg, from which he continued to suffer during his lifetime. This, coupled with the factthat some junior officers, whom- he regarded as- „.>, feather-bed soldiers, had purchased promotion over his head, naturally soured his temper, though he was always brave and chivalrous to Ja degree,' ; and possessed that, iiice sense of honour which was one of the prominent characteristics of the- . military veterans of the earlier part of the pre- y. sent century. He hated a lie^ was singularly ■% devoted to the flag under whitjfi he served, .^asfull of esprit de corps, respected plain, ; blunt,! | soldierly straightforwardness, pluck, and courage, and regarded duty as far above all other things in j the world. He was a strict but just disciplina-^ ' rian, most skilful in handling troops, though peiSot • haps too much disposed to undervalue his enemy f and to expect too much from British soldiers^ ! He had seen them achieve such remarkable- | victories against overwhelming odds that he held' ■ the same opinion of them as a celebrated English. General, who said they were "fit to go anywhere,. I and do anything." The Major possessed a spare,, but well-knit frame, with a war-worn face, : in.v , which long suffering from a running wound tia4 ; left its mark iv the deep lines of care. He sat a horse like a centaur, and had a sharp, ringing, word of command that could be heard above thedin of battle. In spite of his strictness and occasional asperity, he was almost idolised by his men,." 1 who had the utmost confidence in him as a commander, and would have followed him to thecannon's mouth. Between Major Nelson: and. Commodore (now Admiral Lord Alcester) Beaua-' champ Seymour there existed that touching brotherly sympathy and friendship which one s»; often sees among comrades in arms, and this* friendship extended to the officers and crew of the Peleru3 and the officers and men of the 40th, who would have shared their last biscuit and pipe of tobacco with each other. Commodore Seymour was himself as brave as a lion, and a& chivalrous as a Knight of the Bound Table. I was not present at the assault on Puketakaure, and I must leave the task of describing: that engagement to some abler pen than mine.; Puketakaure was a formidable hill, situate about fourteen hundred yards inland of the Waitara camp, near the bank of the Waitara River. Th& approaches to the position were rendered difficult; by the swamps which guarded its flank, and it had been very strongly fortified with earthworksand massive palisading. The attack was made by 342 of all ranks of the 40th, Eoyal Engineers (or Sappers and Miners, as they were then called), and Blue Jackets of H.M.S. Pelorus. The attack* ing party was divided into three divisions, with a view to cutting off the enemy's retreat and intercepting reinforcements from the bush in rear in Huirangi Valley. A chief named Ihaia, of thetribe which had sold to the G-overntnent the land that formed the original casus belli, was selected as guide. It is said that he lose his way in the darkness, and led one of the divisions astray, and"; many went so far as to accuse him of deliberate treachery. Ido not think, however, that he was guilty of that. It is more likely that a misunderstanding arose through the difference of language and the absence of a competent interpreter. One; division got on the right flank of the position, a second in rear, while the main body, with two 24-pounder howitzers, under Major Nelson and f Commodore Seymour, made the attack from the-'' side towards 'Waitara. After a brisk fire from thefi? Artillery, a small breach was discerned in oneM corner of the works, and the grenadier and light companies of the 40th rushed forward to theassault. They were iflceived^witli a terrific fire*£ from a concealed line of rifle-pits in a hollow, v and from the network of rifle-pits and traverses^ outside the pa itself. These works had not been discernible below the ground-line and the high*: fern, and the fire was therefore quite unexpected,. But our gallant fellows carried the outworks with the bayonet, and made a desperate but futile' effort to carry the pa also. In less time than it takes to write it, these two splendid companieswere almost annihilated, only a poor, sad remnantSu. obeying the signal of recall, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. .Meantime an over.-; whelming reinforcement of natives had dash&i' ■■( out of the Huirangi bush and fallen on the rear^ . divisions, one of which was driven into the swamp C'% and butchered, only a few men escaping through i, the Waitara Biver, under' cover of the fire of areinforcement from the camp on the opposite- f bank. The other rear division, under Lieutenant Brooke, fought hand to hand with crushing odds, «i and died Bhpulder to shoulder, There was a- ± soldier named Markham, who had seen much * service in India and elsewhere, and wore, sey erali. ■ medals. Being wounded in the leg and disabledfj* iihe gathered up all' the rifles that lay witnin. reach, "loaded them^ and .placed them at his right; hand. Every 'Maori that approached him fcfe-J shot, and finally stood up on k one leg toftbayonetJtSed« i? « 6m > c ; of ' the' ibrayes,^ho :att;empAed<v to tomahawk him. " I offered I 'him the *butfc| of my guV^aid»!Haßaroua;tdi«nfp whettij jnefc him after the war. "He, was he toa (a brave),. ,^

not understand the sign. He fired at me, and the bullet struck me in the fleshy part of the forearm. 1 Then I made my young men form a circle and fire a volley, and thus we killed that brave warrior. But we buried him apart, just as lie fell, for I would not allow his watch and chain and medals to be removed, and we placed aboard over Jiia head, and with a piece of red-hot iron buraed into it the words, ' He Toa.' If all your men had been like that one it would have cost us many more lives, but our pa was too strong for you to take." The main division suffered severely ako, the Maoris following up the retreat with a degree of daring that would have done credit to any .race in the world. Indeed, at one time they pressed our men so close that the guns were in danger of being;captured. The bullocks •were shot, and there was some confusion, but at this; critical juncture; the Navals made a determinedrushand.checked the enemy's advance, so that; their artillerymen were enabled to wheel the guns acoundand fire several charges of canister inta-fdenae masses of dusky warriors, making perfect lanes through them. When the forces returned to-camp^ sad, dispirited j and worn out with .fatigue, they had lost, about one-fourth of their number, almost all the dead and some, of wounded -having been left on the field. With theiaid of. the glass the Maoris (women as well as men) could be seen rushing about. in the fern, tomahawking- the wounded and mutilating the dead.- ! This is the Maori custom. They always knbck theiwounded on the head, only reserving a few men* and women as slaves or concubines. Commodore Seymour . was. wounded in this engagement, .and, actually declined a stretcher or to have: his' wound dressed until the other sufr ferershad received attention. One of the Naval Brigade^ who had been wounded and escaped the tomahawk,- crawled into camp in the night. Ibis temporary .triumph!. infused fresh- courage and hopes -into the naiftyes. -The victory was,' of course, (enormously exaggerated, and vast numbers -of restless turbulent spirits, from Waikato.. and the South flocked to Wiremu Kingi's standard. The blame of the defeat must be saddled on-- Colonel (3-old, -who was. to. have co-operated in the. attack with a body of the 65th fronv.New Plymouth. He went as far as the banks of a river, from which he could see the battle-field, and then retired on the pretence that Ms men could not ford- the stream. I have since met men who did actually ford the river, and- one of Ihem is now an insurance agent in Auckland, and a gentleman whose veracity cannot be ' impeached. The men of the 65th also clamoured to be led. on against the enemy, but Colonel G-old coolly and callously refused to give the necessary order, and issued the command to return to New Plymouth without firing a shot. Meantime the Maoris were driving Major Nelson's small force from the field, and massacreing any of the wounded that fell into their hands.. It had been arranged that the attack should be made simultaneously by the two diraßons, and Major Nelson waited beyond the appesnted time for Colonel G-old's appearance, bat seeing that the time was rapidly passing, and that tkere was no sign of his approach, reluctantly gave the signal for the assault. I make no insinuation against the officers and men of the 65th generally ; they were as fine a body of men as any in the British service, and from their long residence in New Zealand they possessed a superior knowledge o£ the Maori method of fighting. Between them and the 40th there always existed a soldierly sympathy, friendship, and mutual respect, which shewed themselves in a great; variety of ways whenever the two corps were ' serving together, and they certainly bore the. ;brunt of the Taranaki War. It would be unfair and ungenerous, not to say unsoldierly, to saddle the sins of a commanding officer upon bis: men. There was a funny incident at the Waitara about this time. The chief Ihaia had apa some distance nearer the sea than the Waitara redoubt. One night the friendly natives reported that the enemy had planned to surprise the pa, and a reinforcement of the 40th was sent to garrison it. -When we got into the pa, which was a stockade, we were ordered to line the ditches. There was an abominable smell all over the place. The Maoris were mysteriously dodging about all night, and every now and then their sc/outs would creep out of the pa to reconnoitre. Our men became suspicious, and some of them declared their intention of turning their arms against the friendly natives in the event of an attack. " How can we trust them ?" they asked. " And if any of the enemy once get in, how can ■we tell t'other from which ? The only safe plan will be to fire at every brown face one sees." ;|"|ffowever, the threatened danger passed away, a^rill we returned to the redoubt in the morning. In the next chapter I will endeavour to give a description of a fortified pa. fr-. (To oe continued.)