The Wanganui Campaign begins after a shooting at Whanganui

Background. The Whanganui campaign was a brief round of hostilities in the North Island of New Zealand in 1847. It was among the earliest 19th-century New Zealand Wars fought over land and sovereignty. The settlement of Petre, known as Whanganui, was established by the New Zealand Company in 1840. By 1845, it had grown to about 200 people. Settlers requested military protection after hostilities broke out in the nearby Hutt Valley in 1846.

Trigger Incident. On 16 April 1847, a minor Māori chief named Nga Rangi suffered a severe gunshot wound to the head from the discharge of a pistol held by a junior British Army officer, Crozier. This accidental shooting occurred while Nga Rangi was collecting his wages. The incident sparked a bloody revenge attack on a settler family, leading to the capture and hanging of the perpetrators, which in turn provoked a major raid on the town.

Military Presence. A force including the 58th Regiment, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Commissariat, and Medical staff landed from HMS Calliope at Wanganui in December 1846 to construct a garrison stockade. Another 100 soldiers from the Grenadier Company of the 65th Regiment arrived in May 1847. The conflicts did not divide neatly along ethnic lines, as Māori fought on both sides and individuals of European origin also fought alongside Māori forces.