The military expeditions of January-February 1867 were described by Cowan (1923, Vol.2, pp. 148-154) as the Tauranga Bush Campaign.

The opening action of the campaign occurred, on the 18th January, 1867, at the village of Te Irihanga. On the previous day a force of the 1st Waikato Militia was moved out to the Omanawa Redoubt for the purpose of covering the arrest of Pene Taka and others of Ngai-te-Rangi, and Te Kewene and others of Ngati-Porou, on charges of interference with the surveyors by taking their instruments and threatening them with death. On the morning of the 18th the officer in charge of the force at Omanawa crossed over towards Te Irihanga with forty men. This movement, which was premature, quickly brought on a fight. A volley from the Hauhaus, as the small force began its ascent of Te Irihanga Hill, mortally wounded Sergeant-Major Emus of the Militia; he died four days later. On receiving this surprise volley the Militia quickly extended in skirmishing order, and hot firing lasted for about three-quarters of an hour. After an indecisive encounter the Militia force drew off and returned to the Omanawa post.

The next expedition (21st-22nd January) consisted of detachments of the 1st Waikato Regiment of Militia, under Colonel Harrington, and the 12th Regiment, commanded by Colonel Hamilton. The force crossed the Wairoa River at Poteriwhi in canoes and boats (just above the present bridge), and ascended the long fern-clad slopes of Minden Peak, where the 12th Regiment bivouacked for the night. Mr Gilbert Mair, who was soon afterwards given a commission as ensign and received promotion to lieutenant, was attached to the Imperials as interpreter, but obtained Colonel Hamilton ’ s permission to act in that capacity for Colonel Harrington ’ s force which was in the advance, and which did all the fighting.

Passing through Te Irihanga the Militia skirmished through the belt of bush which separated it from the next settlement, Whakamarama. On entering the large fields of maize and potatoes at Whakamarama the Militia came under a heavy fire from the edge of the forest all round. The tall maize afforded good cover, and no casualties occurred just then. Gilbert Mair was one of the few who were on horseback and led the attack on the village. Seeing a party of seven Hauhaus making for a slab hut, he galloped up, trying to turn them to the right, where they would have run against Captain A.C. Turner ’ s company of the Militia. The enemy reached the shelter first, and fired a volley at short range through the doorway and two open windows. Mair ’ s horse, a heavy one, fell dead, its spine smashed by a bullet, and other shots through its head and heart. In its fall it pinned Mair ’ s left leg and spurred boot so that he could not move. In the meantime the natives rushed out, reloading as they ran toward him, while he kept snapping his revolver, which had been wet through when he swam the Judea estuary at high water that morning. Fortunately one cartridge exploded, wounding the foremost man, which checked the rush, and Captain Turner, hurrying up, extracted Mair from his perilous position. A bullet had cut the peak of his cap, another grazed his sleeve, and another cut the pommel of his saddle. Several 1st Waikato men now ran up, and the party gave chase to the natives. The Hauhaus retired into the bush, and the pursuers got in among some fallen timber. Here Private Henry Jeffs was mortally wounded at close range, and was