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A comprehensive, fully illustrated encyclopedia of river gunboats from the early 19th century to the present day. The first recorded engagement by a steam-powered warship took place on a river, when in 1824 the Honorable East India Company’s gunboat Diana went into action on the Irrawaddy in Burma. In the 150 years that followed, river gunboats played a significant part in over forty campaigns and individual actions around the world. This comprehensive reference book covers the development of riverboat warfare from the early 19th century to current riverine combat vessels in service today. River gunboats proved to be the decisive factor in a wide range of conflicts across the world—from the New Zealand Wars to the American Civil War, and from both World Wars to the conflicts in Indochina and Vietnam. This lavishly illustrated encyclopedia describes the river gunboats that saw action, plus those converted river steamers which took part in combat. This volume also includes maps of the river systems where they operated, together with narratives of the principal actions involving river gunboats.
"On 12 July 1863, British and colonial troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Duncan Cameron crossed Mangatawhiri stream, Waikato Maori's northern border, instigating the Waikato War. In order to do so they had amassed a vast infrastructure that included building the Great South Road (the 'Road to War'), establishing a military supply train capable of providing for the needs of 6,000 soldiers, erecting a telegraph service between Auckland and Pokeno, forming a navy of armoured gunboats on the Waikato River, and constructing the second largest military fort built by the British Army in New Zealand: The Queen's Redoubt. At the height of the invasion, some 14,000 British and colonial troops contested the Waikato against Maori forces which never exceeded 3000. The Waikato was occupied from July 1863 to April 1864, followed by massive land confiscations. This book tells the story of the Redoubt, and the buildup of military power along the Waikato border, which led directly to the most significant campaign of the New Zealand Wars, the invasion of the Waikato"--Back cover.
Copy in Mahi Māreikura on loan from the whanau of Maharaia Winiata. Bookmark (postcard in envelope) in volume 1 at page 105.
Contains a detailed account of the operations of both Imperial and Colonial forces in the Waikato campaign of 1863-4, from Koheroa to the Gate Pa and Te Ranga.
A fascinating and detailed study of the major campaigns on the New Zealand Wars.As interest in the New Zealand Wars grows, Soldiers, Scouts andSpies offers a unique insight into the major campaigns fought between 1845 and 1864 by Britishtroops, their militia and Maori allies, and Maori iwi and coalitions.It was a time of rapid technological change. Maori were quick to adopt westernweaponry and evolve their tactics — and even political structures — as theylooked for ways to confront the might of the Imperial war machine. And Britain,despite being a military and economic super power, was challenged by a capableenemy in a difficult environment.This detailed examination of the Wars from a military perspective focuses onthe period of relatively conventional warfare before the increasingly &‘irregular'fighting of the late 1860s. It explains how and where the battles were fought, andtheir outcomes. Importantly, it also analyses the intelligence-gathering skills andprocesses of both British and Maori forces as each sought to understand andovercome their enemy.
Between 1845 and 1872, various groups of Maori were involved in a series of wars of resistance against British settlers. The Maori had a fierce and long-established warrior tradition and subduing them took a lengthy British Army commitment, only surpassed in the Victorian period by that on the North-West Frontier of India. Warfare had been endemic in pre-colonial New Zealand and Maori groups maintained fortified villages or pas. The small early British coastal settlements were tolerated, and in the 1820s a chief named Hongi Hika travelled to Britain with a missionary and returned laden with gifts. He promptly exchanged these for muskets, and began an aggressive 15-year expansion. By the 1860s many Maori had acquired firearms and had perfected their bush-warfare tactics. In the last phase of the wars a religious movement, Pai Maarire ('Hau Hau'), inspired remarkable guerrilla leaders such as Te Kooti Arikirangi to renewed resistance. This final phase saw a reduction in British Army forces. European victory was not total, but led to a negotiated peace that preserved some of the Maori people's territories and freedoms.