Upon the outbreak of war in 1863 von Tempsky moved to Drury, just south of Auckland, where he was a correspondent for The Daily Southern Cross newspaper. Here he quickly struck up a friendship with Captain Jackson and the officers of the Forest Rangers and was soon invited to accompany them on their patrols. Soon afterwards, on 26 August 1863, Governor Grey responding to a suggestion by Captain Jackson naturalised von Tempsky as a British subject and made him an ensign in the Forest Rangers.