Gate Pā

Gate Pā was the name of a Māori Pā or fortress built in 1864 only 5 km (3.1 mi) from the main British base of Camp Te Papa at Tauranga, during the Tauranga Campaign of the New Zealand Land Wars. The name pā comes from its appearance; the palisade looked like a picket fence while a higher part in the middle resembled a gate.

The pā was built at the instigation of Chief Rawiri Puhirake of Ngai Te Rangi, on the edge of land owned by Māori, where missionaries had erected a gate between the Māori and colonial settlers. Puhirake believed British reprisal for his support of the King Movement during the Waikato War was inevitable, so he constructed Gate Pa for protection. This failed to rouse the British so he began sending taunts, declaring he had built a road from the British camp to the pā, "so that the British would not be too tired to fight".

General Duncan Cameron, whose Invasion of the Waikato had finished, determined to attack the pā with the majority of his forces to destroy the King Movement's allies. By the end of April, the British were ready to attack, with 1,700 men, opposed by 230 Māori.

A heavy bombardment was begun at daybreak on 29 April 1864 and continued for eight hours. The British had 15 artillery pieces including one of 110 pounds (50 kg). By mid afternoon the pā looked as if it had been demolished and there was a large breach in the center of the palisade. At 4 pm the barrage was lifted and 300 troops were sent up to capture and secure the position. The attacking troops forced the defenders back inside the pa and the Maori looked to flee only then discovering their path to the rear blocked - they reentered the pa and continued fighting.The soldiers in the pa mistook these for fresh reinforcements.

The British forces suffered considerable losses and withdrew 100 m to dig in new positions 100m from the pā to await daylight. During the night the Māori gave assistance to the wounded and collected their weapons, and by day break they had abandoned the position. Gate Pā was the single most devastating battle for the British military during the New Zealand land wars, with 111 casualties and deaths, however it achieved the main aim of clearing the enemy from the vicinity of Tauranga so can be seen as a victory. Maori losses are said to be 25 dead. Many of the British casualties are thought to have been blue on blue incidents as the long shots by artillery landed on British troops on the other side. This may have been due to the muddy conditions which effected the stability of the artillery guns.

Gate Pā was not quite what it appeared to be. From the British positions it looked like fairly large strongpoint occupying the entire hilltop. In fact, it was much smaller, being two low redoubts on either side of the ridge joined by a deep trench about 40 m long and the whole shielded by a strong wooden palisade. It seems likely that British concentrated their barrage towards the centre, where the palisade collapsed and where the assault was made. Meanwhile the two redoubts had been built very strongly with deep and effective bomb-proof shelters. The Māori may have been deafened by the bombardment, but as soon as it ended they were able to ambush the British troops. The factors recognised as contributing to the high cost of the victory were the poor visibility during the bombardment, the fact that the Pa was surrounded not allowing a path for the defenders to flee as they often did during the Waikato campaign, the death of numerous officers in the first wave, the mix up between the first and second wave sent as reinforcements, and the lack of day light.

After the battle, the British soldiers followed the survivors to Te Ranga, where their continuous fire prevented the rebels building a strong pā. When reinforcement arrived from Waikato, the Ngaiterangi were again attacked and easily defeated - the Maori defenders suffering 107 dead and two soldiers winning VCs. In the aftermath, Governor George Grey went to Tauranga and began peace negotiations. Cameron returned to Auckland, leaving Colonel Greer in command.

References

Further reading

• The New Zealand Wars: The Waikato war in the Tauranga area: The Battle of Gate Pa - 1864
• The Story Of Gate Pa, April 29th, 1864 by Gilbert Mair. (Full text at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre)

External links

• Battle of Gate Pa animated battle map by Jonathan Webb
• http://www.historyorb.com/nz/gate_pa.shtml
• http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/G/GatePapukehinahina/GatePapukehinahina/en