The timeline below covers the New Zealand Wars period 1843 to 1872. If you are interested in more details about a specific campaign, click on the campaign heading below. To see a map of these fields of engagement, click here – # Map of Conflicts.
1 Wairau Confrontation
Looking south from Ruapekapeka Pā, site of the final battle of the Northern Wars 1845-1846.
17 June 1843 Wairau confrontation
2 The Northern War
11 March 1845 Hone Heke Pokai attacks Kororareka
8 May 1845 British Army attacks Puketutu
30 June – 1st July 1845 British Army repulsed at Ohaeawai
11 January 1846 Ruapekapeka Pa falls
3 Wellington – Whanganui
The site where the Rutland Stockade once stood, quartering British troops in 1847, Whanganui.
16 May 1846 Ngāti Toa attack Boulcott’s Farm
19 May 1847 Whanganui raided by up-river Māori
19 July 1847 Māori attack St John’s Wood
4 North Taranaki
17 March 1860 British fire on Te Kohia Pā
28 March 1860 Māori defend Waireka Pā
27 June 1860 British under fire at Puketekauere
6 November 1860 Māori shelled by British at Mahoetahi
23 January 1861 Te Ātiawa midnight attack on No 3 Redoubt
The Site of the Omata Stockade, which guarded the southern entrance to New Plymouth 1860-1861.
17 March 1861 Truce signed at Te Arei Pā
5 The Waikato Invasion
12 – 17 July 1863 British cross Managatawhiri Stream and skirmish at Koheroa
22 July – 14 September 1863 Skirmishes at Kirikiri, Pokeno, and Pukekohe East
30 October 1863 Meremere Pā is shelled
20 November 1863 The British Army attacks Rangiriri
8 December 1863 Troops enter Ngāruawāhia
21 February 1864 Surprise British attack on Rangiaowhia
31 March – 2 April 1864 Battle of Orakau
6 Tauranga War
The final resting place of Rewi Maniapoto, in Kihikihi.
29 April 1864 Battle of Gate Pā
21 June 1864 Battle of Te Ranga
7 Central and Southern Taranaki
6 April 1864 British attacked by Pai Marire / Hauhau Māori at Te Ahu Ahu
30 April 1864 Māori attack Sentry Hill
14 May 1864 Battle of Moutoa Island
24-25 January 1865 Māori attack Nukumaru
14 January – 2 October 1866 Skirmishing in central Taranaki
12 July 1868 Titokowaru attacks Turuturu Mokai Redoubt
7 September 1868 Armed Constabulary’s Ill-fated attack on Te Ngutu O Te Manu
7 November 1868 Armed Constabulary repulsed by Titokowaru at Moturoa
The site today of Sentry Hill, where Pai Mairire / Hau Hau Māori attacked a British Army Redoubt, at Lepperton, near Waitara.
2 February 1869 Māori slip away from Tauranga Ika
8 East Coast Wars
10 June 1865 Skirmish against Hau Hau at Mangaone
8 September – 4 October 1866 Hau Hau conflicts throughout Hawkes Bay
1 February – 1 September April 1867 Skirmishing in Waioeka Gorge, Tauranga and Opotiki
20 July – 8 August 1868 Surprise attack at Paparatu
9 November 1868 Te Kooti attacks Matawhero
I January – 5 January 1869 Siege of Ngatapa
I March – 12 April 1869 Fighting at Ohiwa, Te Poronu and Mohaka
6 May – 14 May 1869 Te Kooti pursued through Urewera’s
7 June 1869 Constabulary ambushed at Opepe
3 October 1869 Battle of Te Porere – ‘Te Kooti’s Last Stand’
4 February 1872 The final encounter fought at Mangaone