The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-14 00:00:00

"7," I d

";.t. T"
5,

We have a file of (he N,to Zealand Spectator an'.d
°°hi
,4
Strata Geardian, published at Wellington, New2e3`%,
to fi! 23d May. These papers supply
tu with the o,'io
cial and other details of the affair of " The Hutt;
which, it will be seen, six men of the 58th Foot led
d, and four wounded, by the natives (11aories),
on by liangiahettta, who took so aztive a _part tot
ot
slaughter of our countrymen at the commencenilat
the d:sputes in the northern parts of the colony.

_ .
OFFICIAL. STATEMENT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND SPECTA'r
Wellington, May 21, 1846'41
Sir,—At the desire of his Honour Major Richtetl'
,
beg to hand you copies of the reports of Major LttsL'lnott
Lieut. Page, relative to the late attack by the nativ`.,
Jr.
the detachment of the 58th Regiment stationed °Lioi
Boulcott's farm on the Hutt, in order that thepu
be in possession of authentic information on the 5110-c
I am, Sir, yours obediently,
g. E. GRIMSTONE, Secrete
(Copy.)
Wellington, May 18, 18,46tiet
Sir,—l have the honour to enclose a copy of ffr..fo
from Lieut. Page, 58th Regiment, detailing an
made,upon him by the natives on the morning 0`1,,,e0
10th inst, in which I regret to state our loss hos, pi
severe, as will be seen by the annexed list of killed era
wounded out of the 50 men under his command th°t,,,vlje'
in the position he and his small party so bravev„eof
fended at Boulcott's Farm, about two miles in advilt„—eill
the stockade, containing 50 more of the same regt
under Captain Hardy.
„6,00
On hearing of the attack I instantly dispate"Si
order for Captain Hardy and his men to move for" of
to Lieut. Page's support, sending the same nutn",rebt
the 99th Regiment trom Wellington by a forced °lf 0
to replace them in the stockade, proceeding raYse„olv
quickly as possible to the scene of action, and 011 ',iv'
ing the position, about eleven A.M., just fore the r-d
forcemeat had arrived, I found the enemy werentl,
hovering in the vicinity of the position, and firing:l,o
at intervals from the thick scrub on the opposite Is°
the river. cl
„
At this time Captain Hardy and party came urwitt
several volunteers, when I immediately advanced
(yr,
my whole fotee (a 3 far as practicable) in extended or, 00
and directed a heavy fire of musketry, which dr°ic
enemy back and silenced them. le°
The thickness of the forest precluded our being fl!)
ascertain what casualties occurred, and there 's
doubt they must have been considerable. Dr. Galbraith, of the 99th Regiment, on his °rQtp,
paid every attention to the wounded, whose caseit
received over from Dr. Turnbull, who happened t°
poet
the neighbourhood at the time, to whom I am 1/061'
great obligations for his skill and care until Prtoo
braith came up, and I am happy to say the wounded
are doing well.

I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) EDWARD LAST, i• ng
Major, 99th Regiment, commallta
troops, Siuthern District.
His Honour the Superintendent, &c., Wellingte4",,y
Return of the killed and wounded of the Force 11Pe0
the command of Lieutenant Page, 58th Refii„ilia.gi!
while resisting an attack of the rebellious 11,4`.-16I'
the Valley of the Hutt on the morning of the
AO
May, 1846:
JP- • Killed.-58th Regiment—Lance Corporal /19
Dockrell; Privates William Allen, Robert Brett,
Bolt, J. 1N `Fadden, T. Sonbam. Total killed, 6. ev);
Wounded.—Lance Sergeant E. Ingram (sevlvtd
Privates Patrick Bevan, Thomas Ta 3 ler, John '
Total, 4.

(Copy.)
946;1
Camp River Hutt, May 16, - f
0
2% Sir ,--I 11
I have the honour to state that about lei
hour beforel daylight this morning the sentry in fril,
where the inlyieg picquet was posted observed se,tirl
Marries creeping towards him ; he fired, when irnor
ately a heavy rush was made from all parts of 111%
rounding wood. The picquet was overpowered ,10,190
instant. The Maories then surrounded the out°
occupied by part of the troops, at the same timeice,,,e'd
up a heavy fire. Sergeant Norton here succeed
checking them with a few men who got out o'oo
houses. I rushed from the back part of my hous°
two servants, but we were driven back directiPeA
sallied forth again, and with a few men who jci°llo",
made our way at last to the barn, round which /$3/
made a small stockade, occupied by half my force
,toii
On arriving there, I advanced in extended order'delf,
as many more of the men as I could in $llllBO,l
take Irons the stockade, and drove the `h"oilr;
across the river. They then plundered 0 a;".
belonging to a settler of the name of 3614`"0",.
From the darkness we were unable to judg° clo'
rately of their numbers; from those we saw, Owe
~I
war dance they had afterwards, I should supposei
were about 200. I feel convinced but that for the IS;
ness of all turning out, and the determination °l,`,
men, we should all have fallen. The enemy no"
completely superior in numbers, and having tsn?..:
tage of knowing the ground, and watching 0
time before the alarm was given. It was
remain in the outhouses, as none of them would roioot
bullet in the slightest degree. I am sorry to slgid,
loss has been severe for the number of men ehg „
several of the enemy were killed, but carried skoipt,
others directly they fell. I have the honour to be,
your obedient servant, inapossiu,.;ll
(Signed) G. HYDE PAGE, nt
Lieutenant 58th Reg'
ile"
Major Last, 99th Regiment.
POSTECRIPT.
Doctor Turnbull, of the Wellington militia, wu'„
ti
pened to be in the neighbourhood, arrived aboutder
hours after with some volunteers. He also red o 011
every assistance in his power to the wounded
he arrival of Dr. Galbraith from Wellington. OP
I beg to enclose a list of the killed and W°o
:The names are the same a.s mentioned above).
True evy,
M. Richmond, Superintendent.

FURTHER DETAILS.
(From the New Zealand Spectator, May 23.)e ell
We have put together in a connected narrativrjoi,'
particulars of the attack on the troops last Saitti, 030,)
anti an account of the events of the past week. ,Pder'
be necessary, however, for the information of our ree
at a distance, to state that during the preceding °rite°
very general opinion was entertained that some stlj
tbt
movement was in contemplation by Rangihaeata ac,
natives acting under him. Their firing on the PIDO
-mitring party from the camp at Porirua, on the ye,
indt., was a declaration of open hostilities on their Pee
and as no measures were taken to punish this out',
it was confidently expected that Rangihaeats, ,re
boldened by impunity, would proceed to further estr
mities. As we mentioned last week, the trooP6
tioned at Porirua were warned that a sudden attackol
intended, and an order was in consequence issued
~,ttt
they should be under arms every morning at daybrbee
E. Puni'a warnings and offers of assistance, as vveoo3
previously stated, were treated by Major Rielne
with ineifference and neglect. On Friday, the daYfBof
fore the attack, Muturoa, one of the principal chi.e., of
Pipitea Pa, called on Major Richmond to warn Inse;
his danger, and to oiler the assistance of his tr de'
but his assistance was declined and his warninge,4
spised. Accerdingly, at daybreak on Saturday mer' tp
a considerable body of natives, amounting the
about 200 in number, had arrived in the valley oiffitlel
Hutt, with the intention of surprising and cutting 001'
detachment of the 58th Regiment, stationeel at Mr.' the
cotes section, about two miles above the stockade
,a,; ,f 1
Hutt bridge. The party of soldiers amounted l„,'"
men, 14 of whom were quartered in Mr. Boulcotes v"lio
the others were dispersed in tents and the huildingso
the immediate neighbinirhood. Lieutenant Page' ol'
officer in command, and his servant, occupied Mr. P'ere
cotes house, and Mr. Boulcott and his two servants o'oe
in a small house adjoining. The rebels were undccrei
command of Raparetehau. Some of the rebels enter
the house of a settler named M`Hardie, and eiejoili
him and his wife to silence, directed them immedi4t eese
to leave the spot. Mrs. MtHardie, on leaving her 11°'
of
took shelter behind a fallen tree, and from her place
refuge witnessed the whole of the engagement.
The first alarm was given by the sentinel, wl3°,; to
hearing the noise, fired his piece and endeavoured .e
route the piequet. Immediately tdiree heavy veP
were poured into the tents in quick successioepie
the natives, and they rushed on with loud ),,to
to the work of destruction. Four of the soldiers s',lo,
tomahawked on the spot in one tent. One of Wee
who acted as bugler to the company, behaved
nobly. On the first alarm he seized his bugle, and abbe
the act of sounding the instrument, a blow from a ton3tile
hawk nearly severed his arm, and struck him to.ed
ground. But while lying in this mutilated state he se'l,o
the bugle with his other hand and attempted to warn the
comrades of their danger, when a second stroke doe
tomahawk nearly severed his head from his body. or
rebels evidently calculated on taking the party by 801
prise, and hoped that in the confusion of an unexpeee
attack they would fall an easy prey. But though 6r es
prised and surrounded by superior numbers, the fro Pd
fought with the most devoted courage and gallantry so.
fully sustained the reputation of British soldiers. fe`,
tenant Page had some difficulty in cutting his way fr
ote
0
his house, which was surrounded by the rebels.
at length he effected, and putting himself at the hea"ie
his men, animated them be his presence and exam') I,
The party stationed in the barn behaved with the u,
most coolness. They divided themselves into two P 9
61
ties of seven ((Leh, firing by turn, and then retreat's
under cover of the barn to load again. In 'of
height of the engagement a party of seven e•
the Hutt militia, who had been disbanded on the Pre`
vious Monday, attracted by the sound of firing. n3o,
bravely repaired to the spot, and by their presence in
le
spirt d the troops with renewid courage, and mat erie
e;
contribute ,
d to the success of the day, for the rebels,
lievieg that further retntorcements were close at "r fie
h,gan %4z.t., and were finally driven across t,be
river tele., eith them their dead and wounded. '
firing last, d ateeut at, hour and a half. The loss on tre
pert of the tro ps is six killed (four of whom
tiimatiewked at the commencement of the attack) an
five wounded. We re:er to the official dispatches for the
twee of the ki ;It dan Nei ureieee

..••• .: • '1,..r.••
he loss on ill,•-•
van • of. the r• bell has not been c°'..,
..,,e,tiv ascertained, a. they caceittily carried ofreve%
alt.., who telt in the e,.g,ig„etnetit. Two were known I
have been killed, wait several were wounch,d very hadj'ci.
It is believ,d that the t,td amount or their killed on
wounded i. thin, en. There is no question that al
weie cornplt-tely reptils d, arid were forced to recsos IP
riv,r by this heroic Ittile hand. The tents were el;
b
pletely riddled with bullets, the Nlaories firing low in the
that the soLiers were in bed. A party of li3O
":
Miori,s fired several volleys into Mr. Boulcott's 1100'
under the impression that it MO occupied by soldier*