Tītokowaru’s campaign

Riwha Tītokowaru was born near Ōkaiawa, north-west of Hāwera, around 1823, into Ngāti Manuhiakai hapū (sub-tribe) of Ngā Ruahine, a section of Ngāti Ruanui. Baptised a Methodist as Hōhepa Ōtene (Joseph Orton), he worked as an assistant teacher for missionaries and came to know the Bible well. His first known experience as a war leader was in the Taranaki war of 1860–61, and on 30 April 1864 he lost the sight of his right eye in a Pai Mārire attack on Te Mōrere (Sentry Hill). After Te Ua Haumēne's death in 1866 he developed a religion of his own, combining Pai Mārire, Christianity and traditional Māori belief, and rebuilt the village of Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu (the beak of the bird), near Ōkaiawa, as a centre for peace. He proclaimed 1867 'the year of the lamb' and led 140 followers on a peace march from the military base at Waihī to Pipiriki, on the upper Whanganui River. His efforts were undermined by 'creeping confiscation', as settlers took fresh bites of land that had been confiscated, at least on paper, across South Taranaki.

A renewal of confiscation in March and April 1868 led Tītokowaru to authorise a muru (punitive plunder) that stopped short of bloodshed. The authorities raided Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu and took prisoners; when one escaped, Tītokowaru went to war rather than hand him back. On 9 June 1868 Ngā Ruahine men killed three settlers near the Waingongoro River; NZHistory and the DNZB say they acted on his orders, while Te Ara describes a dispute over timber-cutting rights. Until September he had as few as 80 fighters, against nearly 1000 men under Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas McDonnell, so he tried to provoke his enemies into rash attacks on prepared positions. On 12 July his men attacked the outpost of Turuturumōkai, killing 10 of its defenders. On 7 September an expedition of 360 men under McDonnell reached Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu and was caught by fighters hidden around a clearing. Major Gustavus von Tempsky was among the dead. NZHistory says some 20 soldiers were killed and more than 50 men killed or wounded in all; Te Ara says 24 died. Tītokowaru lost three men, according to NZHistory.

McDonnell was dismissed and replaced by Colonel George Whitmore. On 7 November 1868 Whitmore attacked Tītokowaru's position at Moturoa, near Wairoa (Waverley). The defenders, hidden in a two-level firing trench, held their fire until the last moment; NZHistory and Te Ara both record 19 attackers killed, against one of Tītokowaru's men. With Whitmore's main force then sent to Poverty Bay to face Te Kooti, the troops left on the west coast concentrated on defending Whanganui, leaving South Taranaki almost entirely to Tītokowaru. His following grew to around 1000 men, women and children, and the government considered making peace with Te Kooti so it could concentrate on him. Bishop William Williams wondered whether 'God's hand has been turned against us'. Tītokowaru built his strongest pā (fortified village) at Taurangaika, 25 km from Whanganui. Whitmore led 1000 men against it, but at sunrise on 3 February 1869 they found that the garrison had left during the night.

Why the pā was abandoned is uncertain. Whitmore put it down to fear, which NZHistory considers highly unlikely. NZHistory and the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB), whose entry is by the historian James Belich, both report that Tītokowaru was said to have had an affair with the wife of one of his chiefs, destroying his mana; Belich thinks this the most likely explanation but 'not entirely satisfactory'. NZHistory adds a suggestion that McDonnell had named Tītokowaru's atua (god), and Te Ara cites the deserter Kimble Bent's account of a major disagreement the evening before. Covering his people's retreat with as few as 40 fighters, Tītokowaru beat his pursuers at Ōtautu on 13 March and reached the upper Waitara valley. Absolved by a tohunga (priest) later in 1869, he became a leader of non-violent resistance alongside the Parihaka prophets. Belich has called his war a 'dark secret' of New Zealand history, and Tītokowaru 'arguably the best general New Zealand has ever produced'.