The Waikato War of 1863-64 was the most intensive of ‘Queen Victoria’s little wars’ in New Zealand. By now the government forces were better organised. Governor Grey’s Great South Road was snaking down from Auckland, river gunboats and transports were being built and they could call on 12,000 imperial soldiers and sailors well as colonial units and Māori allies. In contrast, the King Movement could field no more than 2000 of its 5000 part-time warriors at a time. Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron pushed south, making good use of steamers, taking Koheroa and then Meremere (evacuated at the last moment by the Kingites). The steamers, which now made the rivers more a liability than a resource for the pā-builders, gave Cameron momentum, whereas his foes needed time to regroup and resupply. Five hundred Kingites were still preparing a new defensive line at Rangiriri when Cameron attacked on 20 November 1863.
Rangiriri straddled an isthmus between the Waikato River and Lake Kopuera. A strong central redoubt was flanked by rifle pits and other defensive positions. The outnumbered Kingites repelled at least eight attacks and forced government troops to spend a wretched night bivouacked on the wet ground. Victory probably came by mistake; misinterpreting a white parley flag for surrender, the British got inside the pā before the defenders realised what was going on. The Kingites lost 47 men (more than the British) but their biggest loss was the 180 captured. Three weeks later Cameron occupied Ngāruawāhia, the King’s capital. He went on to occupy Rangiaowhia and win a decisive battle at Ōrākau early in 1864. When the fighting shifted to Tauranga, the British were heavily defeated at Gate Pā before gaining revenge at nearby Te Ranga on 21 June, effectively ending the Waikato War.