The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-24 00:00:00

his day, my escort, &c., as per margin,* were fired upon by
the natives at Stone Depot, nep.r Baird's Farm, The fire
was opened on my advance guard on both flanks; and my
right flank and rear were immediately fired upon. The
fire took effect upon the centre of the convoys, one driver
and two horses of his cart fell, which, dividing the convoy,
&c., was taken advantage of by the natives, who, rushing
in force across the road, opened fire in the left flank, thus
exposing my rear-guard, consisting of prisoner and escort,
to a severe fire from the bush on each flank and sight rear.
I immediately retired with as many men as I could con-
centrate, and, firing, kept the enemy from surrounding
my very small party, though in skirmishing order. During
the contest the fire of the enemy was well returned,
and I personally saw five or six natives fall. They came
out in the open, but a charge quickly drove them into the
bush. Finally, their attempting to surround my party ob-
liged me to retire to Mr. Martin's house, which I occupied
until reinforced. I beg to annex the following list of killed
mad wounded:—

"Killed—Privates A. Jamieson, F.M'Grath,and T.Scott.
" Wounded—Sergeant Lawson, Corporals Glinn and Kee,
Lance Corporal Kavanagh, Privates Keene, Gibbons, H.
Hurst, H. Ryan, A. M. Cague, T. Conners.
" Missing—F. Byrnes, supposed to have returned to
Queen's Redoubt. This man was a prisoner and unarmed
at the time.—l have, &c.,

JA3IES B,ING, Capt. 2d battalion 18th Regt.
cg p.S.—I beg to state that the conduct of my subaltern,
Ensign Bicknell, and the men was admirable, and particu-
larly that of Ensign

" J. RING, Captain, R. I."

" Head-quarters, Queen's Redoubt, July 31.
"My Lord,--I have the honour to forward copies of re-
ports (July 23d) from Capt. Ring, 2d battalion 18th, and
Col. Wyatt, 65th Regiment, of a skirmish which took place
between detachments under their command, and a body of
rebels in the bush near Drury.

" Both Col. Wyatt and Capt. Ring appear to have acted
with great judgment on this occasion, and the officers and
men under their command deserve great credit for their con-
duct; those under Capt. Ring for the firmness with which
they held their ground a long time against superior numbers,
and those of Col. Wyatt's detachment (including a small
detachment of volunteers, who were for the first time under
fire), for their prompt support of the former, and the gal.
lantry with which they attacked and beat off the enemy.—
I have, &c., " D. A. CAMERON, Lieut.-Gen.
" The Right Hon. the Secretary of State for War,
War-office, London."

" Camp, near Ken Keri, Wairoa-road, July 23.
" Sir,—l have the honour to state for your information
that at noon, the 22d inst., I received information that two
two settlers had been fired upon by a body of natives, and
that one of the settlers was killed, and, hearing firing in the
vicinity of Pukekewereke, about two miles from my camp,
I immediately proceeded with 100 men of the detachment
under my command, and close to the above named place I
fell in with natives, who were engaged with 16 Volunteers.
I opened fire and the natives retreated to my former en-
trenchment above the where, at Keri Keri ; the firing of
the skirmishers drove them down the side of the hill into
the brushwood ; the leading skirmishers on the right under
Lieutenant Wray, took possession of the hill and kept up
fire on them; I, with another body of skirmishers, pro-
ceeded to take that on the right flank, but found that the
natives, who mustered a strong force, nearly surround me.
Here I lost one man killed, whose rifle and bayonet were
taken possession of by
the natives, though not without
serious loss to them. I then concentrated my men on the
entrenchment, and having heard from an Artillery officer
who rode up to my position that the 65th Regiment was in
toy immediate vicinity, I requested that he would inform
the officer commanding the 65th Regiment that there was a
track in the enemy's rear, and if an attack were made in that
direction it would be of great service. As it was quite im-
possible for me to follow so strong a force of the enemy
into the bush with my so small a force, I remained in the
entrenched position, until close on sunset, keeping a steady
fire on the enemy,who were endeavouring to obtain the body
and ammunition of the private who was killed, and who I
would not leave. I repeatedly tried to obtain possession of
the body by sending out volunteers of the man's company,
but desisted, finding that it would entail greater loss. I was
about retiring, leaving a rear guard in the entrenchment,
when the Mounted Artillery arrived. Immediately after I
saw the 65th appear. The natives then drew off their right
flanking movement, and retreating into the bush enabled
me to obtain the body of the man of my detachment. This
accomplished, the whole force withdrew. I beg to annex
the following list of casualties :—No. 1 Company, No. 925,
Private John Ewins, killed ; No. 1 Company, No. 805,
Private John Hamilton, wounded severely; No. 7 Company,
No. 324, Private Thomas Dunbar, wounded slightly ; No,
7 Company, Conway, wounded slightly.
"The officers engaged on this occasion were Lieutenant
Wray, Ensign J. B. J ackson, and Ensign Butts, whose
assistance, coupled with the steadiness of my men, merits
unqualified approbation.—l have, &c.,

" JAMES RING, Captain Royal Irish,
Commanding Detachment.
" The officer commanding troops, Drury."

"SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT.

" I beg to enclose the enclosed list just received from
Captain Clear of the Auckland Militia, who at first was en-
gaged with the enemy, and these joined my force, and ren-
dered every possible assistance, and behaved in a most
creditable manner.--.I have, ix.,

" J. RING, Captain."

" Camp Drury, July 23, 1863.

"euSt r—n,anlt
.hGaevnee
rtah honour
ie
that
yes
tteo request
yues
forenoon,t you wil inform
hl
avin g the
been
informed by a mounted volunteer that a man had been shot
by the natives on Mr. Hayes's
grounds, and that his house
was threatened, I immediately got my available force under
arms (as per margiLt) and proceeded in that direction, di-
recting as I went along the detachment of Militia to crown
a small knoll, and thus protect the approaches to Drury,
and also ordering Lieutenant Raitt, R A., and his troopers,
to proceed in the direction of the Wairoa Valley, for the
.Mr, Hayes's, his son,
purpose of calling off any marauding parties. On arriving
at
Ensign James B. Hayes, of the
Militia, volunteered to act as guide to my party, and I
scoured all tho bush in that vicinity with 30 men, having
previously directed Lieutenant and Adjutant Lewis, with 40
men, to remain outside, and thus cut off any natives at-
tempting to escape. On reaching the native settlement of
Ken Keri, I heard some desultory firing on my left, and
was led to understand by some militiamen that they had
fired at some natives towards the 'Wairoa escaping into the
bush.
"Being satisfied with this explanation, I returned to-
wards Drury, having previously picked up the body of the
murdered man, and sent it there,
"When within 11 mile of that settlement, I was over-
taken by Veterinary Surgeon Anderson, R. A.., who informed
me that a detachment of the 2d battalion 18th Regiment
was in a very precarious position near Wairoa, and required
a reinforcement, as they could not do more than hold their
position.
" Oa this I retraced my steps towards Keri Keri, and just
before sunset entered the main bush under the guidance of
Ensign Hayes.
"As my party advanced firing and shouting were more
distinctly heard, and after proceeding about half a mile, a
turn of the road brought me suddenly upon the combatants,
the 2d battalion 18th Regiment, upon an entrenched knoll,
and the natives on the lower ground, but
pressing them
hard on three sides, when the detachment, 65th Regiment,
cut off in their turn the immediate rear of two of them.
Lieutenant Pennefather, who commanded the rear-guard,
finding himself exposed to a cross-fire from both the 2d bat-
talion 18th Regiment and natives, directed the bugler to
sound the regimental ' call' and the 'fire,' and with a loud
cheer, which was answered by the 2d battalion 18th Regi-
ment, a rapid and continuous fusillade was opened on the
natives erfeconced in the gullies, and sheltered by trees from
the fire of the 2d battalion 18th Regiment,
" Being completely taken by surprise, they, after a smart
action of about 10 minutes, fled towards the denser bush,
but the darkness which had now begun to set in rendered
all attempts at searching for their dead and wounded per-
fectly futile.
" The enemy's fire being now completely silenced, I di-
rected both parties to move off to their respective camps,
and while so doing a few desultory shots were fired high
over their heads.
"I must bring to the Lieut.-General's notice the cool and
intrepid gallantry evinced on this occasion by Lieut. Raitt,
Royal Artillery—Captain GreSSOll, Lieut. and Adjutant
Lewis (who commanded No. 1 company, the officers being
both sick), and Lieut. Pennefather, who commanded the
advanced guard—and I trust you will recommend Ensign
James B. Hayes, of the Militia, to the favourable considera-
tion of his Excellency the Governor, for his coolness and
cleverness in guiding the party under my command so
rapidly into the scene of this brief but smart action.
" With a proud heart I must bring to the Lieut.-General's
notice the cool and quiet order and gallantry displayed by
all ranks of the force under my command,and the unflinch-
ing patience with which the men bore the harassing and
toilsome march to and from the scene of action.
" I am happy to say that the casualties of my party were
limited to one private killed.

si I have, &c.,
"ALFRED F. W. WYATT,
Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding
65th Regiment and troops at Drury,
"The Military Secretary, Headquarters, Drury."

"NOMINAL RETURN OF Ii:LLED AND WOUNDED AT
KERI IiERI ON TILE 2D OF JULY, 1863.
"Privates J. Evans, shot through the chest; fatal.
Thomas Made, shot through the head : fatal. J. natan-
ton, severe gunshA wound through upper part of right
thigh. W. Conroy, slight graze of right temple. J. Fitz-
patrick, slight graze of left shoulder. T. Dunbar, slight
contusion.
"J. MouAT, Deputy Inspector-General, P.M.G.
"The Assistant Military Secretary, Headquarters,
Queen's Redoubt."

, 31drsubaltenummersi 72
, 1
* 1 subaltern,:2 sergeants, 47 rank and file.
t Royal Artillery--1 subaltern, 1. staff, 1 sergeant, 1
eirummer, 26 rank and file ; 65th Regiment-1 field officer,
rl
acnakp tai
andn ,
file,
es
;u 1); lotleurnn elr staff,mt
i6a
_s e gceaapnt
at si
n,
sergeant, 33 rank and file. Total, 1 field officer, 2 captains
5 subalterns, 2 staff, 8 sergeants, 4 drummers, 131 rank and
file.