More on Alexandra Redoubt
Following up on the query from Jonathan on my previous post, I revisited the area this afternoon and after walking the dog I spent 30 minutes scrambling through undergrowth on the far bank of the Waikato River to get a few images to show the relative height of the hill above the surrounding area. Of the old steps shown in the 19th century illustration, I could find no surviving evidence. Also looking for the depot at Campbelltown mentioned in the story of how the two VC's were won, I have surmised the location based on a local road called Campbell Town Road.
These images are taken from the bank adjacent to the road out to Port Waikato, which turns away from the river after a short distance. I suspect the drawing was done from further along the bank than I was able to get, without trespassing on farmland or using a boat!
The image below is taken from downriver of the hill, but on the same bank. The redoubt sits on top of the hill behind the fir trees
Below - where images were taken from. Also, I believe the areas marked in orange hatching have been reclaimed/filled in, and this explains why the position looks more formidable in the 19th century, as it would have been surrounded by water on three sides back then.
Below is the approximate location of Camerontown, relative to the redoubt.
Fascinating Keith. I must say, the Waikato is starting to look a bit cold as winter approaches.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence - there were still plenty people down there with boats and jet ski's though...
ReplyDeleteKeith, I really enjoy and appreciate your battlefield detective work. As Lawrence says, it is fascinating. From your photos, the contemporary illustration seems to exaggerate the actual lay of the land. I see this terrain exaggeration often in period illustrations on the NWF. Interesting that there is no evidence of steps seen in the illustration. Were they wooden?
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan
DeleteI did some more "research" read Google - here it is. No mention of what the steps were but I would think odds on they WERE wood and rotted away...
Alexandra Redoubt was built by the 65th Regiment in July 1863 on a site overlooking a sweeping bend in the Waikato River. Its construction coincided with the British invasion of Waikato, where Maori tribes co-ordinated by the Kingitanga (King Movement) were resisting pressure to sell land for Pakeha settlement. Troops based at the redoubt provided cover for military convoys on the river and restricted the movement of Kingitanga warriors towards Auckland.
The redoubt is in good condition, with ditches and banks clearly visible. There are several graves and a monument within its perimeter. Walking tracks lead through nearby bush and down to the river. In the 1860s troops reached the river down 365 steps. There was no fighting at the redoubt, but on 7 September 1863 eight men died during a Kingite raid on the Camerontown depot, on the banks of the river a few kilometres downstream. This raid temporarily severed the British supply lines. Colour Sergeant Edward McKenna was awarded a Victoria Cross and promoted after he managed to lead his cut-off party back to the redoubt without further loss.
This large redoubt, on the right bank of the Lower Waikato, was built in July, 1863, by a detachment of the 65th Regiment. The position, on a bold bluff about 300 feet above the river, was commanding and of great strategic importance. The redoubt is the best preserved of all the military posts built in 1863–64. The present entrance is from the roadway in the rear into the north-west flanking angle, where a monument erected by the Government bears the names of British soldiers who fell in the district. The redoubt covers an area of about three-quarters of an acre, and is a parallelogram, with the usual two flanking angles at diagonally opposite corners of the work. The surrounding trench is still in most places 4 feet or 5 feet in depth, and from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the fern-grown parapets the height varies from 10 feet to nearly 20 feet.
It took just a fortnight to clear the ground of scrub and fern and complete the main construction. Built to the plans of Lt Hurst of the 12th regiment and covering around one third of a hectare the rectangular fortification features flanking bastions on diagonally opposite corners all surrounded by a three to six metre high parapet and ditch. Stone cobbled paths were laid around the inside space and a well dug in the south eastern corner. A flight of 365 steps was built to bring supplies up from the river 300 feet below. At the base of the steps, the troops erected a cross made of three blocks of sandstone on which was carved the 65th’s regimental arms and the inscription ; India: Arabia.