Battle of Kepaniwai

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ʻĪao Valley

Unification of Hawaiʻi

Mokuʻohai – Kepaniwai – Nuʻuanu

The Battle of Kepaniwai (also called the "Battle of the Dammed Waters of ʻĪao" or "Battle of the Clawed Cliffs") was fought in 1790 between Hawaiʻi and Maui. The forces of Hawaiʻi were led by Kamehameha I, while the forces of Maui were led by Kalanikūpule. It is known as one the most bitter battles fought in Hawaiian history.

While Maui's king Kahekili II was on Oʻahu, Kamehameha's war fleet landed in Kahului a few kilometers from the base of ʻĪao Valley. An army consisting of around twelve hundred skilled warriors led by Kamehameha and Kekuhaupiʻo, advanced on Kahekili's son Kalanikūpule and other Maui chiefs blocking the Iao valley. The two armies were evenly matched and neither side broke after two days of fighting. On the third day Kamehameha's army was helped by the use of two cannons (named "Lopaka" and "Kalola") operated by John Young and Isaac Davis, two of Kamehameha's royal advisors. Although none of Maui's major chiefs were killed, many people died resulting in the "damming of the waters" by the corpses floating in the river. Chiefess Kalola and her granddaughter Keopuolani were able to escape west through the valley to Olowalu and north to Lahaina.

After Kamehameha defeated Maui's army, Kalola offered her 11-year-old granddaughter to Kamehameha as a future wife. Meanwhile, Kahekili II still refused to give up his rule of Maui. Kamehameha returned to reconquer Maui in 1794.