The regiment landed in Auckland in November 1863 for service in the New Zealand Wars. It joined a field force which marched into the interior of the country as part of Lieutenant General Duncan Cameron's West Coast campaign and while encamped at Nukumaru near Whanganui came under sustained attack from Māori in January 1865 during the Second Taranaki War: a total of 11 private soldiers from the regiment and 23 Māori died in the engagement. The regiment moved to Sydney in June 1867 and then left for England in March 1869.