Commander Edward Hay led the naval brigade storming party at the Battle of Gate Pā | Pukehinahina on 29 April 1864. He was mortally wounded, but carried from the battlefield under fire by his coxswain Samuel Mitchell, despite telling Samuel to leave him where he fell. He was also treated, under fire, by surgeon William George Nicholas Manley, but would die of his injuries the following day. Both Samuel and William received the Victoria Cross for their efforts. Story researched, written and published by Debbie McCauley as part of the research paper Identity and the Battle of Gate Pā at Pukehinahina (29 April 1864).
Edward Hay was born at Dunbar in East Lothian, Scotland on 11 February 1835. He was the youngest son of rear-admiral James Hay, of Belton, East Lothian, and his wife Mary Hathorn Hay (née Stewart).
Edward had 10 siblings; Isabella (1825), James (1826), Robert (1828), Lauderdale (1829), Mary (1831), David (1833), Edward (1835), Agnes (1836), Susan (1840), Adelaide (1842) and Laura (1843).
1/4 plate tinted daguerrotype of Commander Edward Hay, cased, by Ross and Thomson of Edinburgh, 1847 – 1860. Image: National Museum of Scotland M.1961.141 via https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/daguerreotype/60778#
The Crown broke the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi with Tauranga Māori when it sent Imperial Forces to invade Tauranga Moana on 19 January 1864. They occupied the Church Missionary Society (CMS) run Te Papa Mission Station. Two days later, four warships entered Tauranga harbour and set up a blockade. The troops also set to work constructing the Monmouth (Taumata-Kahawai) and Durham redoubts.
In response to this invasion of their lands, and knowing an attack was inevitable, Tauranga Māori constructed a highly engineered fighting pā on the Pukehinahina Ridge along the southern boundary of leased CMS land. The site is flanked by Tauranga harbour’s tidal swamps, the Waikareao on its right (east) and Kopurererua on its left (west). Situated between the southern boundary of CMS land and Māori territory it became known by Pākehā as Gate Pā due to its position at the gate leading from CMS property. The old cattle ditch running across the ridge from swamp to swamp was enlarged, trenches dug and fortifications constructed.
At first light on 29 April 1864 Imperial Forces began an intense barrage of Gate Pā. At 4pm, after eight hours and with a breach in the pekerangi (outer fence) having been made, General Duncan Alexander Cameron gave the order to attack. The storming party would advance four abreast, a mix of sailors and soldiers. As Edward was captain of the HMS Harrier, he led the naval brigade storming party.
Many officers, including Edward, were quickly killed or wounded during the initial assault and General Cameron was forced to call off the attack. A disorderly retreat ensued leaving a hundred dead and wounded men behind.
Edward was carried out through the rear of the pā under fire by his coxswain Samuel Mitchell, despite telling Samuel to leave him where he fell. As Samuel was carrying Edward, he was met by surgeon William George Nicholas Manley who, despite the chaos around them, dressed Commander Hay’s wounds under fire and then went to attend to other wounded in the pā. Both Samuel and William would receive the Victoria Cross for their efforts.
At 5am on April 30th, a sailor from Harrier crept up to the pā and found it deserted. The dead and wounded were then carried from the battlefield. British casualties were high and included ten officers killed or dying from their wounds. 28 non-commissioned officers and privates were killed and 73 wounded. Māori lost only 25 men and there was a great outcry, both in New Zealand and England, that a force of 1,689 soldiers and sailors could have been defeated by 230 Māori.
Edward died from his wounds on 30 April 1864 at the age of 29. He was buried in Tauranga’s Mission Cemetery (Ōtamataha Pā) along with many others, both Māori and Pākehā, who were killed outright or later died of their wounds.
Edward was only believed wounded when the Daily Southern Cross reported on 3 May 1864:
Commander Edward Hay has only recently arrived from England to supply the place of Captain Sullivan, of the ‘Harrier,’ who, being promoted, returned home. He served as midshipman on board the ‘Havannah’ when that vessel was on this station in 1849, in command, of Captain Elphinston Erskine. In 1855 he served as mate of the ‘Agamemnon,’ was presented with a medal and foreign decoration, and received his commission in the ‘Harrier’, which vessel is under orders to proceed home, in November last year.
Daily Southern Cross (3 May 1864).
Sources
- Cave, Edward. (1864). Deaths. The Gentleman’s Magazine (Vol II).
- Daily Southern Cross. (1864, May 3). The Officer’s who fell at Te Papa (p. 3).
- Geni Profile: Edward Hay.
- McCauley, Debbie. (2011, August 5). Identity and the Battle of Gate Pā (Pukehinahina), 29 April 1864.
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