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Line 81: Biggs scrambled to assemble a force with which to confront Te Kooti at Whareongaonga—his militia volunteers, the Mounted Rifles under Captain Charles Westrupp, and some ''kūpapa '', nearly 90 men in total. Two other parties were raised; about 25 militia and 100 ''kūpapa '' set out from [[Wairoa]] in [[Hawke's Bay Region\|Hawke's Bay]], while a few days later another 30 militia, accompanied by 40 ''kūpapa '' departed from [[Napier, New Zealand\|Napier]]. The latter party, led by Colonel [[George Stoddart Whitmore\|George Whitmore]], the commander of the Armed Constabulary and in overall charge of the pursuit of Te Kooti, would later be joined by 50 men of the Armed Constabulary.{{sfn\|Belich\|1998\|pp=221–223}} Meanwhile, the Ringatū departed Whareongaonga on 15 July and began making their way to Paparatu, a ''[[pā]]'' ([[hillfort]]) about {{convert\|40\|km\|mi}} ~~away, near [[Lake Waikaremoana]]~~inland. Te Kooti's fighting force amounted to around 150 to 160 warriors although only 40 to 50 of them had firearms. The Ringatū narrowly avoided being intercepted by Biggs and his men, who arrived at Whareongaonga too late to stop them. On discovering he had missed Te Kooti, Biggs marched his 70-strong force to Paparatu via a more direct route through open country, intending to cut off his quarry as they crossed the Arai Stream. He and his men reached Paparatu on 18 July where Biggs left Westrupp in command and returned to Tūranga to organise a resupply. On the morning of 20 July, the government forces sighted Te Kooti's followers and moved onto two hills overlooking their route forward. Te Kooti split his armed men into two parties, one of which mounted intermittent attacks to the front as a diversion while the other worked its way around to the rear. This took several hours but at 4:00pm, the rearwards party attacked Westrupp's force, killing two Europeans and forcing a retreat. Te Kooti seized food, arms and ammunition and 80 horses.{{sfn\|Cowan\|1956\|p=235}}{{sfn\|Belich\|1998\|pp=221–223}} Westrupp's men encountered Whitmore's advancing column the next day. Despite Whitmore's attempt to dissuade them, they refused to join his force and instead continued on back to Poverty Bay. The Wairoa force, commanded by Captain W. Richardson, was ordered to move against Te Kooti in order to delay their passage, while Whitmore took his men back to Napier to await his Armed Constabulary reinforcements. Richardson's party, depleted by at least 50 of the ''kūpapa '' who refused to fight, attacked Te Kooti at Te Koneke on 24 July. It was a halfhearted affair and after the Ringatū warriors began to flank Richardson's 75 or so men, the government forces withdrew and returned to Wairoa. Richardson claimed to have inflicted several casualties on Te Kooti's men but this was likely inflated while his own force had one man killed and another wounded, albeit in a friendly fire incident.{{sfn\|Belich\|1998\|pp=221–223}} Line 87: Whitmore's column, now reinforced with men of the Armed Constabulary and numbering around 200 men, followed Te Kooti's tracks, having set out from Tūranga on 31 July, from where they had been transported via ship from Napier. The weather was poor and swelled the local rivers which they had to traverse, making progress slow. On 5 August at Waihau, the Poverty Bay militia that were part of Whitmore's force refused to advance any further on the grounds they had reached the boundary of their district. However, Whitmore's harsh treatment of them may have also been a factor. With them went their allied ''kūpapa''. These departures reduced the column to around 120 men. The adverse weather also affected the progress of Te Kooti's followers, which included women and children, to Paparatu.{{sfn\|Belich\|1998\|pp=221–223}}{{sfn\|Crosby\|2015\|pp=330–331}} At ~~Ruakitori~~Ruakituri Gorge, downstream from Puketapu, on 8 August, Whitmore's column caught up with Te Kooti's force. The column was strung out along the gorge on account of the difficult terrain and exposed to fire from Te Kooti's men, some of whom had positioned themselves on an island mid-stream. Some militia and ''kūpapa '' of Ngāti Kahungunu managed to cross further downstream and fire on the reverse side of the island, which allowed the main body of Whitmore's force to withdraw. Five men were killed and six wounded, three of whom later died of their wounds. Their Ringatū opposition had two men killed and nine wounded, Te Kooti among them, but in his reports back to the government, Whitmore overstated these losses. The outcome of the pursuit of Te Kooti was an embarrassment for the government and the commitment of some of the ''kūpapa '' involved was questioned by some of the colonials. However Whitmore favourably noted the performance of the Ngāti Kahungunu ''kūpapa '' at ~~Ruakitori~~Ruakituri Gorge.{{sfn\|Belich\|1998\|pp=223–224}}{{sfn\|Crosby\|2015\|pp=330–331}} ==Buildup of the Ringatū==

Te Kooti's War: Difference between revisions