In 1863, after Maniapoto warriors ambushed and killed British soldiers escorting a British soldier along the beach to New Plymouth for trial, the Government attacked the Kingitanga in Waikato, to suppress the King movement and remove the threat of a supposed attack on Auckland. The conquered land was confiscated, altogether about a million acres (4,000 km2). Six months later, with a change of government, the king was offered large reserves which he initially refused but much later accepted.