General Sir Duncan Alexander Cameron, (20 May 18088 June 1888) was a British Army officer who fought in the Crimean War and part of the New Zealand Wars. He was later a governor of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Born into a family with a military tradition, Cameron joined the British Army in 1825. Commissioned into the 42nd Regiment of Foot, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel by 1854 and was a battalion commander. He served in the Crimean War and fought in the Battle of Alma. Afterwards, he assumed command of the Highland Brigade and led it through the Battle of Balaclava and the Siege of Sevastopol. He finished the war as a temporary major-general and received several honours for his service. He then held a series of educational and advisory posts with the British Army before becoming Commander-in-Chief, Scotland in 1860.
The following year, Cameron was appointed commander of British forces in New Zealand, which was dealing with the ongoing New Zealand Wars. At the time, the Colonial Government was engaged in a conflict with the Māori in the Taranaki region. However, by the time Cameron arrived in the Taranaki, a truce had been arranged. Two years later, he suppressed a further outbreak of fighting in the area and then led the invasion of the Waikato to deal with the King Movement, a Māori resistance that threatened British sovereignty in the country. He commanded a series of mostly successful engagements with the Kingites, followers of the King Movement, but none were decisive. By March 1864, he had advanced in the Waikato heartland and had pushed the Kingites into the King Country. At Gate Pā in April 1864, his forces suffered a major defeat. By this stage, Cameron was becoming disillusioned with the conduct of the war. Against his wishes, in early 1865 he commanded a campaign against Māori in the southern Taranaki. Coming under political pressure to wage a war he felt was inappropriate, he tendered his resignation and left New Zealand in August 1865.
In 1868, Cameron was made a lieutenant-general and was appointed as governor of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He remained in this post until 1875, at which time he retired from military service with the rank of general and as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. He died in 1888 at the age of 80.
Early life Born on 20 May 1808, Duncan Cameron was a son of Sir John Cameron and Lady Cameron. His mother was from Guernsey and was the niece of Admiral James Saumarez. His father, who retired with the rank of lieutenant-general, was an officer in the British Army who was serving in the Peninsular War and was Scottish. A younger brother, John Cameron, went on to become a lieutenant-general in the British Army, serving in the Royal Engineers. Duncan Cameron most likely was educated at Eton College, as was his father before him.
Military career Cameron followed his father into the British Army, joining the 42nd Regiment of Foot in April 1825. He was promoted lieutenant the following year, to captain in 1833, to major in 1839, and lieutenant-colonel in 1843, at which time he was commanding a battalion of the regiment on Malta.
On the entry of the United Kingdom into the Crimean War in 1854, the 42nd Regiment was transferred to Turkey as part of the Highland Brigade, 1st Division, with Cameron still a battalion commander. He was soon promoted to colonel and commanded his battalion during the Battle of Alma in September 1854. Shortly afterwards he was appointed commander of the Highland Brigade, and led it through the subsequent Battle of Balaclava and the Siege of Sevastopol. Receiving a promotion to temporary major-general in November 1855, he was the recipient of several awards as a result of his service in the Crimea; appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath, he was also made an Officer of the Legion of Honour, and received the Order of the Medjidie, Third Class, in 1858.
After the war in Crimea, Cameron became involved in education of British Army personnel. He was appointed to the Council for Army Education in 1857 as its vice president and carried out reforms of both the Royal Military College and the Staff College at Sandhurst. In 1859, he served on the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, whose recommendations prompted a huge programme of fortification for British naval dockyards. The same year his rank of major-general was made substantive. In 1860, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Scotland, a position which saw him in command of all British forces in Scotland. By this stage of his career, Cameron was well regarded by his contemporaries.
New Zealand In January 1861, Cameron was appointed commander of British forces in New Zealand, which at the time was engaged in the First Taranaki War. The war had broken out the previous year over disputed land sales between local Māori and settlers in the Taranaki region. Cameron's appointment was at the behest of the War Office which was dissatisfied with the performance of the incumbent, Major-General Thomas Pratt, whose conduct of the fighting in the Taranaki had been the subject of much criticism. Receiving a temporary promotion to lieutenant-general, Cameron arrived in New Zealand in March 1861 and proceeded to the town of New Plymouth where he informed Pratt that he was being replaced. Although Cameron was keen to deal with the Māori threat in Taranaki, the Governor of New Zealand, Sir Thomas Gore Browne, had negotiated a truce to end the war.
North Island Māori were now becoming increasingly reluctant to sell land and the rise of the King Movement in the Waikato was considered to be a challenge to British sovereignty and the Colonial Government. Kingites, followers of the King Movement, had even supported the Taranaki Māori during the war. Browne, supported by Cameron, began preparing for an invasion of the Waikato. Cameron believed that 2,500 infantry would be sufficient, with a further 1,000 men to secure lines of communication. However, in May 1861, Browne's current term as governor ended and rather than extending it, the Colonial Office in London replaced him with Sir George Grey.
Grey put an immediate halt to the planned invasion, considering the existing resources inadequate. This was a major disappointment to Cameron who was eager to exercise his command and he soon submitted his resignation. It was declined and Grey encouraged Cameron to stay in his post with the prospect of leading an invasion at a later date. In the meantime, Cameron directed the main efforts of British forces in the continued construction of what is now known as the Great South Road from Drury, south of Auckland, to the Mangatāwhiri Stream, a tributary of the Waikato River that defined the northern Kingite border. This work had commenced during the early stages of preparing for the proposed invasion of Waikato.
War in Taranaki After the cessation of hostilities in Taranaki, there was an ongoing dispute over a block of land at Waitara but by April 1863, Grey was preparing to return it to Taranaki Māori. Not knowing of Grey's plans, the following month local Māori ambushed British troops at nearby Ōakura, killing nine soldiers. In retaliation, on 4 June 1863, Cameron led a force of 870 troops on a successful assault on a party of about 50 Māori still occupying the contested Tataraimaka block beside the Katikara River, killing 24.
This fresh outbreak of fighting in Taranaki, known as the Second Taranaki War, gave Grey leverage with the Colonial Office as he used it as justification for a request for an increase in the number of British soldiers in the country. In the meantime, he proceeded with the return of Waitara to the Māori, calming tensions in the Taranaki. Cameron and his forces quickly returned to Auckland where, despite his attack on the Tataraimaka block being a minor action, it was portrayed as a major success. Grey now decided to proceed with an invasion of the Waikato to eliminate the Kingite threat.
Invasion of the Waikato Cameron, as a result of his experience in the Crimea, was conscious of the importance of sound logistics to support a military campaign. His preparations for the invasion included the organisation of a transport corps and a telegraph line. Steamers were purchased to form a flotilla that would allow Cameron's forces to be supplied via the Waikato River. On 10 July 1863, he established his headquarters at Queen's Redoubt, near what is now Pōkeno. The invasion began on 12 July 1863 when the British forces, numbering 380 men, crossed the Mangatāwhiri Stream and established a redoubt on the opposite bank. Five days later, Cameron, leading a party of 550 men, attacked Māori warriors entrenching at Koheroa, further south of the Mangatāwhiri Stream. The advancing British soldiers faltered in the face of gunfire from the Māori and Cameron had to personally rally and urge his men forward. The Māori, which the British claimed numbered about 300 but in fact were around 150 men, retreated and escaped, leaving 15 dead. Hailed as a great victory, the British falsely claimed 150 Māori had been killed in the attack for the loss of 12 British soldiers killed or wounded. Cameron was recommended for the Victoria Cross for his role in the attack although it was declined.
However, on the same day as the assault carried out at Koheroa, a Māori party attacked a British convoy moving along the Great South Road, killing several men and capturing a number of carts carrying supplies. Further raids and ambushes were carried out by Kingites behind the British lines for the next several weeks and Cameron, concerned about the threat posed to his supply lines, decided it was not possible to continue his advance into the Waikato. Instead, he had to divert much of his forces into the establishment of a series of outposts along his lines of communication. He did attempt an attack on a camp used by the raiding parties but his approach was detected and he and his men had to withdraw. It was not until late October that Cameron could resume his advance. His initial invasion army of around 4,000 men, had more than doubled with reinforcements from overseas. Even though nearly 6,000 men were still occupied in defending his lines of communication, Cameron was able to mobilise an attack force of nearly 2,000 against his next objective, Meremere. He had also received barges, and the armoured gunboats HMS Avon and Pioneer, and this facilitated movement of his force along the Waikato River.
At Meremere, the Kingites occupied a pā (hillfort) surrounded on three sides by swamp, while the fourth side overlooked the Waikato River and thus it was a barricade to further advance south. Using his river flotilla, on 31 October 1863, Cameron landed 600 troops to the rear of Meremere, with orders to entrench themselves. The flotilla returned to Cameron's advanced base camp for a further 600 men to reinforce those already entrenching. He intended to land to the front of Meremere with the remainder of his force. However, the Kingites, numbering between 1,100 and 1,500 Māori, detected the arrival of the British and simply abandoned the pā at Meremere the next day and slipped away through the swamp. The British were able to simply walk in and seize the pā. Officially, the capture of Meremere was a success but in fact, Cameron saw it as a poor reward for the enforced delay it had caused his advance into the Waikato.