“Oh for Sniders!”

The soldier's cry is ever for the most modern weapons. In 1870 the best procurable rifle was the Snider which was superseding the long Enfield. Most of the white armed constabulary, who had no fighting after 1869, and who garrisoned the frontier posts, were supplied with Sniders, which had replaced the Terry carbines they had used in their '68-'69 expeditions. But the Maori contingents which carried out the actual campaigning of 1870–72 were still armed with the obsolete Terrys and some of them with the cumbrous long En-fields. Repeatedly Preece applied to the Government for Sniders, but it was not until after the last skirmish with Te Kooti that he got them. That skirmish ended in the Hauhaus getting away scathless, due to the fact that the Government men's Terry ammunition was nearly all spoiled by wet weather.

“Only a few of our guns would fire.” Preece wrote in his diary concerning this skirmish at Mangaone, to the south of Lake Waikaremoana (Feb. 14, 1872). It was the last chance the Government men had of firing at Te Kooti's warriors. “The ammunition was wet or bruised through being carried about so long. I got my cartridge jammed and had to take it out; I could hear curses on each side of me for the same reason. We had a running fight for about two miles across ridges, but with no result. If we had been armed with Sniders we should undoubtedly have had good results, as we had a fair chance at them when climbing up a cliff. Both Mair and I have been trying to impress on the authorities the absolute necessity for having our men armed with Snider rifles or carbines, but to no effect. We have pointed out that the A.C. force, who had done very little field work for nearly two years, are well armed with effective weapons, whereas we who are constantly in the field, marching through the roughest country, without roads of any kind, are armed with obsolete weapons.”

That soldierly malediction held good until the beginning of April of that year, 1872. Then the active little captain recorded with great satisfaction, that the wanted arms had come at last, per coaster to Matata and up the Rangitaiki to Te Teko. It was a glad day at the redoubt when the Sniders, also Armed Constabulary jumpers, were issued to the Maori soldiers.

Diary Entry, April 5th.—“Had firing drill to-day. Sergeant-Major Bluett is a good man; he is thoroughly up in his drill. I wish I knew half as much. I must try and go through a regular course when I get back from the expedition.”

So it was then, as in more recent wars; the soldier was often so busy doing the actual fighting that he had no time to learn the textbook drill.

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