Image: Robert Reid Parris – Civil commissioner in Taranaki 1865 to 1875. Early in the morning, Major McDonnell returned to Waingongoro with 12 troopers of the Wanganui Yeomanry Cavalry. He was warned by others that an ambuscade awaited him along this route, and he ordered 30 Colonial and 20 Maori infantry to join him, before setting…