NZ History MapAotearoa 1800–2000
War & conflict

Tītokowaru’s campaign

When
1868–1869
Where
South Taranaki · Taranaki
Reach
Several regions

Riwha Tītokowaru won a run of victories with a tiny force and had the colonial government close to losing the southern North Island, then his support evaporated.

At Te Ngutu o te Manu and Moturoa he beat larger, better-armed colonial forces, and settlers fled as far as Whanganui. Then in February 1869 his people abandoned the fortified pā at Tauranga Ika without fighting, for reasons never satisfactorily explained. Tītokowaru withdrew inland and was never captured. His campaign was the closest the colony came to military defeat.

Regions affected

TaranakiManawatū-Whanganui

Sources

Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.

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