Frederick Augustus Smith, VC

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel. Commands held: 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot (1975–78). Battles/wars: Crimean War & New Zealand Wars. Medals: Victoria Cross, Crimea War Medal 1854-1856, New Zealand Medal 1845-1866, Turkish Crimea Medal.

Captain Frederick Augustus Smith of the 43rd Regiment. Sergeant Murray received his ‘for his distinguished conduct when the enemy's rifle position was being stormed.’ He ran up to a rifle-pit containing eight or ten Maoris and without any assistance, killed or wounded every one of them, and afterwards ‘proceeded up the works, fighting desperately and still continuing to bayonet the enemy.’ “Captain Smith is stated to have led on his company in the most gallant manner. Although wounded before he had reached the rifle-pits, he jumped down into them where he began a hand-to-hand encounter with the enemy, thereby giving his men great encouragement and setting them a fine example. Source: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-MaiStor-t1-body-d10.html

The Battle of Te Ranga by Cliff Simons, Debbie McCauley and Buddy Mikaere:

On 21 June, the shortest day of 1864, the Battle of Te Ranga was fought nearly eight weeks after the Battle of Gate Pā (Pukehinahina). This time the outcome was very different: more than 100 Māori warriors were killed and 13 British soldiers died.

After their defeat at Gate Pā, the imperial troops moved onto the Gate Pā site the next day and built a redoubt and began planning a chain of forts that were intended to stretch out to the Wairoa River. There were talks between the Parties aimed at avoiding further fighting with neutral Māori acting as intermediaries, and it seemed that an accommodation might be possible. In mid-May Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron, was called away to deal with crises in Napier and Whanganui which was thought to be under imminent attack. He took a large portion of the force with him, leaving 900 men in Tauranga under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Greer. The government troops were later bolstered by the arrival of men from the Waikato Militia and the Defence Force Cavalry. As a result of their success at Gate Pa , As a result of their success at Gate Pā, Tauranga iwi were reinforced by parties Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Porou.

Before his departure, Cameron had ordered Greer to patrol the area in the hopes of catching a Māori force before it could develop another position as strong as Gate Pā. In late May reports started to reach the government that Māori intended to launch an attack on the troops somewhere in the area, but the location was not known. In response, Greer retained the men of the 43rd Regiment who had been scheduled to leave Tauranga. He patrolled widely and on the evening of 20 June it was reported that Māori were congregating at Te Ranga and beginning a new fortification.

A 600-strong expedition sent out on the morning of the 21st found hundreds of Māori digging trenches and throwing up earthworks on a narrow neck of land at Te Ranga, about 5 kilometres south of Gate Pā. They had time to abandon this incomplete redoubt before the attack was pressed home, and many did – but many also chose to stay and fight.

Two hours of skirmishing and shelling from a lone 6pdr Armstrong Gun followed. When the 220 reinforcements and another gun that Greer had sent for were in place, he ordered units of the 43rd and 68th regiments to advance. Their charge was met with a volley of fire from the trenches and some of the most violent hand-to-hand fighting of the New Zealand Wars ensued before Māori retreated towards nearby bush and gullies, pursued firstly on foot and then by the colonial cavalry. The warriors fought bravely but their unfinished trenches offered little protection from the fire from the British artillery and the bayonet charge of the troops. It was reported among Māori participants that having run out of ammunition many Māori stood stoically with bent heads to accept their fate.

109 Māori were reported to have been buried in the trenches the following day in a service conducted by Archdeacon Brown. Among them were Ngāi Te Rangi leaders Rāwiri Puhirake – the victor of Gate Pā – and Henare Taratoa, whose Christian code of conduct had guided the Māori fighters at Gate Pā and Te Ranga. Nine British soldiers were killed outright and four died later of their wounds, as did about 12 Māori captives who were treated in the Te Papa mission buildings.

Over the next two months, several hundred Tauranga iwi warriors came in to Te Papa and made peace. Governor Sir George Grey was quick to interpret this as ‘submission’. But most of these men did not surrender their guns – and most of the weapons that were handed over were old muskets. Raupatu saw 20,000 hectares of land around Tauranga confiscated.

See also: http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/en/battles_of_gate_pa_and_te_ranga_1864...