Ruapekapeka
| Battle of Ruapekapeka | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Flagstaff War | |||
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| Belligerents | |||
 United Kingdom
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Māori | ||
| Commanders and leaders | |||
| Lieutenant Colonel Henry Despard: 58th Regiment ~ 10 officers and 200 men; 99th Regiment ~ 7 officers and 150 men; Tāmati Wāka Nene ~ 450 warriors Royal Marines Sailors from HMS Castor, HMS Racehorse, HMS North Star, HMS Calliope and HEICS Elphinstone Auckland Volunteer Militia ~ 42 men |
Te Ruki Kawiti ~ 150 warriors Hōne Heke ~ 150 warriors |
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Ruapekapeka is a pā 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) southeast of Kawakawa in the Northland Region of New Zealand. It is one of the largest and most complex pā in New Zealand, that was designed specifically to counter the cannons of the British forces. The earthworks can still be seen.
Ruapekapeka was the site of the last battle in the Flagstaff War, between Colonial forces and the Ngāpuhi led by Hone Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti, which was the first major armed conflict between the Colonial government and the Māori.
This war pā was named ruapekapeka (bats' nests) because the pihareinga, or dugouts with narrow circular entrances at top, which gave access to shelters that protected the warriors from cannon fire. These ruas or caves looked like a calabash buried underground, the narrow end uppermost and could accommodate 15 to 20 warriors.
Te Ruki Kawiti and his allies, including Mataroria and Motiti, designed Ruapekapeka Pā as a further development of what is now called the "gunfighter pā" design that was used at the Battle of Ohaeawai. It was constructed during 1845, in a good defensive position, in an area of no strategic value, well away from non-combatants, as a challenge to British rule. Ruapekapeka Pā improved on the plan of the pā at Ohaeawai, the site of a battle in the Flagstaff War.
The outer walls of the pā had trenches (parepare) in front of and behind palisades that were 3 metres (9.8 ft) high, built using puriri logs. Since the introduction of muskets the Māori had learnt to cover the outside of the palisades with layers of flax (Phormium tenax) leaves, making them effectively bulletproof as the velocity of musket balls was dissipated by the flax leaves. On some of the sides of the pā there were three rows of palisades and on other side there were two rows of palisades. There were passages between the front and back trenches (parepare), so that warriors could move forward to fire and return to shelter to reload. On the high ground an observation tower was erected. At the rear of the pā a well, some 5 metres (16 ft) deep, was dug into a sandstone formation to provide a water-supply during the expected siege of the pā.
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Wikipedia