|
Major von Tempsky- Soldier of Fortune
Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky was a cracking good soldier in the Taranaki Wars. He charged into battle carrying his long curved sword and a sharp shooting revolver.
His favourite weapon was a big bowie knife which whistled through the air with deadly accuracy.
Von Tempsky led from the front and his men said he was fearless. This week's story tells his tale.
Rewind
Von Tempsky came to New Zealand in 1861. Did these events really happen around this time? You decide - answer true or false.
-
The Otago gold rush begins.
-
The first electric telegraph line opens.
-
New Zealand already has two universities. One is in Auckland and the other is in Wellington
-
War has already broken out in Waitara.
-
The seat of Government is Auckland.
Word Watch
All the words and phrases below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and then check your answers when you read the story.
-
flamboyance in speech (a) a flair for what is said or (b) quietly spoken but always listened to
-
worshipped by the troops (a) highly respected by the troops or (b) liked by the troops
-
gallant (a) flashy or (b) heroic
-
dashing air of defiance (a) a don't care attitude or (b) lively and rebel-like
-
cherish (a) treasure or (b) look after
-
secluded (a) secret or (b) isolated
-
his soldier/artist contemporaries (a) soldiers and artists from around the same time period or (b) soldiers and artists that are well known
-
vengeance (a) hostility (b) getting even
-
prestige (a) reputation or (b) power
-
vagabond (a) rogue or (b) wanderer
Real Wars!
Von Tempsky was a soldier in the New Zealand Wars. Historian James Belich, tells us they were serious wars.
"They were not, as sometimes as suggested, storms in a teacup or gentlemanly bouts of fisticuffs, but bitter and bloody struggles."
The New Zealand Wars
18,000 British troops served at some time or another so in proportion to New Zealand's population at the time these were large scale wars.
The wars were a whole series of conflicts involving the British, Imperial and colonial, and the Maori tribes of the North Island. Find out the difference between Imperial and colonial.
Why did the wars start?
Maori had lived in New Zealand for about a thousand years before the first Europeans arrived. All the new visitors or settlers were more or less traders.
Even the missionaries had to exchange goods for food, land and protection and for the most part the trade was peaceful. Maori wanted goods like muskets and European numbers were too small to be a threat. If they were killed the trade would stop.
Problems happened when immigrant numbers began to grow. About 300 Pakeha lived in New Zealand in 1830. By 1840 there were 2000 new settlers. By 1858 the settlers would outnumber Maori by 3000 - 59,000 Pakeha to 56,000 Maori.
By 1881 the Pakeha population of New Zealand had increased by 50,000 per cent. 400,000 people had arrived. 300,000 of these people had stayed and they produced 250,000 children.
Most of these people wanted a better life than they had left behind. They wanted land for towns, homes and farms. Some had been promised land by cunning businessmen that didn't even own land.
When Maori were unwilling to sell the new settlers looked to their leaders for help. Some leaders tried to be fair but others looked to the military to solve the problems…and that's more or less why the wars began.
Action Man
The first part of this week's story describes Von Tempsky -an adventurer, musician, artist and soldier. Read on, down to "Von Tempsky the man".
He sounds a bit like the swashbuckling character Johnny Depp played in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.
Check out these posters from that movie and use the cartoon or photo above in a mini poster of your own.
You will need:
-
a movie title;
-
the actor's name who plays the part of Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky;
-
a punchy sentence that sums up what the movie is all about and makes it seem exciting and worth seeing. (Add your sentence last when you have finished reading this week's story.)
Love letters from the battlefront
The next part of the story shows Von Tempsky was much more than a hard charging, straight shooting foot soldier. He had another side. Read Von Tempsky the man and take special note of what is said in those letters.
Now write a poem! Use some of the lines below but use the hints in italics to add lines of your own. Add your own title when it is finished.
Line 1 Look at Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky
Line 2 Add four adjectives for this line that describe Von well
Line 3 Writing a letter home and then dashing into battle
Line 4 Add four adverbs here that describe the action in the line above. (An adverb is a word like "quickly" that ends in ly)
Line 5 Now write a line to finish this poem off. Think about what was said in the letters you have just read. Your last line could reflect the thoughts of Von or Emelia.
Letter Clues
The letters give us some clues about the characters of Von Tempsky and Emelia. Pair up with a classmate and decide whether you agree or disagree with each of the statements below.
-
Von Tempsky thought he was bullet proof.
-
Von was pretty sure he would die in battle.
-
Von was worried about dying on the battlefield.
-
Emelia would have been happy to have Von home so they could both live a quiet life.
-
Emelia didn't really understand that her husband liked the danger of battle.
-
Emelia was sure her husband would die in battle.
An artist at work
Von was a painter too. Read "Von Tempsky the artist" and find out what he painted.
Rose Young, a New Zealand artist seems quite impressed with Von's work. Jot down the positive comments Rose makes. For example "A highly skilled water colourist".
Other art critics have different views about Von Tempsky the artist. Look here and here and look for the negative comments from these reviewers.
So where do you stand on the statement below? Do you totally agree, totally disagree or do you think the statement is more like likely to be right than wrong. Think, pair and share your ideas with a classmate.
Von Tempsky's paintings give an accurate view of both Maori and Pakeha in battle.
Leading the battle charge
Von Tempsky has been called a soldier of fortune. Today we call them mercenaries but was Von only there to collect his pay?
Read "Von Tempsky the soldier" down to when Von says " Where the deuce are the Maoris…"
List three pieces of evidence that prove that Von Tempsky was a valuable soldier.
Speedy Soldier
Von Tempsky joined the Forest Rangers, a small, well trained and very useful force. These days we might think of them as commandoes.
Von led his men on bush scouring expeditions. They would enter the bush and threaten targets that were highly valued by Maori: crops, villages and village people that had no interest in fighting.
The Maori would either not fight and suffer a heavy moral blow (as well as losing their crops), or they would fight from unsuitable positions with the few men they had.
Read on through to the picture of Von Tempsky's death and find out why Maori called him Manu-rau.
All fair in war?
Strange that it may seem we now have rules when it comes to fighting a war. For example as soon as a person is wounded and is unable to fight he can no longer be a target.
An armed force isn't allowed to attack civilians and they can't seize personal property unless it is being used against them.
What do you think? Was bush scouring a fair way to fight a war or is all fair in a war like this. Both sides "bush scoured" to some degree. Maori warriors attacked isolated farm houses belonging to settlers.
Talk it over with a classmate and come to a decision. Compare your choice with another pair.
An epitaph for Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky
Finish the story now and find out what happened to Von.
An epitaph is a short inscription on a gravestone that tells the reader a little about the character of the person that lies below. They often begin with the words, "Here lies the body of…"
Check once again what others have said about Von Temsky and then write three epitaphs of your own. One that his wife Emelia may have written, another that his soldiers might have written and a third that the Maori he fought might have written.
Want to read more?
Old man has Von's big Bowie knife look here
Von's sword is found…or is it? Look here
Eyewitness tells of Von Tempsky's last fight Look here
Fast forward
The Taranaki Daily News reports that a cannonball from the New Zealand Wars has just been found in a Mokau garden.
A Maori settlement once stood on the land where it was found and local historian Ian Whittaker says this cannonball was probably one of several that was fired from the troop steamer Sturt.
Ian Whittaker holds a cannonball found in a Mokau garden
These shots were the last ones fired in anger during the Taranaki Wars. They could have been fired in retaliation after Reverend Whitely and others were killed by a Ngati Maniapoto raiding party at Pukearuhe in 1869.
Pukearuhe was a British redoubt (fort) built on an abandoned pa. It perched on a cliff top south of Mokau.
Mr Whittaker said the cannonball was one of three fired but the others have been lost. A family used one for a doorstop for years but then chucked it down an old well. The latest find is now on display in the Tainui Historical Society Museum in Mokau.
So what happens if you find an artifact like this - an old treasure? Are you allowed to keep it? Well first of all, is it really an artifact?
What's that cannonball?
Read the definition below and decide if the cannonball is an artifact.
An artifact is a specific category of antiquity that forms part of the cultural tradition of Māori or any other pre-European people living in New Zealand . The Antiquities Act 1975 defines an artifact as:
"…any chattel, carving, object, or thing which relates to the history, art, culture, traditions or economy of the Maori or other pre-European inhabitants of New Zealand, and which was or appears to have been manufactured or modified in New Zealand by any such inhabitant, or brought to New Zealand by an ancestor of any such inhabitant, or used by any such inhabitant prior to 1902".
If you find an actual artifact then …
You can't keep it a secret. That's against the law.
The Antiquities Act requires that you notify the Ministry for Culture and Heritage or your nearest public museum within 28 days of finding. The easiest way is to contact your local museum. They will help you fill out the required notification form to be sent to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The artifact will need to be examined and recorded but depending on the circumstances of the find you may be granted "custody" of the artifact.
Who actually owns the artifact then?
All artifacts which have been found after 1 April 1976 are the property of the Crown. That means the finder or the owner of the land where it was found can't claim it.
The finder must tell the nearest public museum or contact the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. After consulting with tangata whenua of the area of the find and with the local museum, the Ministry decides who should be given custody of the artifact.
The actual or traditional owners of the artifact are, at any time, able to apply to the Maori Land Court for ownership. Such artifacts may not be sold and they are given special registration numbers just like a car.
What happens then to artifacts found before 1 April 1976?
It's finders keepers. The finder has become the owner and they can sell the artifact if they want to. By law though they have to sell it through an auctioneer or secondhand dealer licensed to trade in artifacts, a public museum or to a registered collector. And if you want to buy and sell artifacts, you must first become a licensed dealer in artifacts.
So next time you find an artifact, be sure to do the right thing.
Rewind answers
1. True
2. True. It went from Christchurch to Lyttleton.
3. False. Otago was New Zealand's first university and it opened in 1869.
4. True. This happened in 1860.
5. True. It didn't shift to Wellington until 1865.
Word watch answers
1a, 2a, 3b, 4b, 5a, 6b, 7a, 8a, 9b, 10b
|