The 'Battle of Nu'uanu' (
Hawaiian: ''Kalelekaanae''; lit. the leaping mullet), fought in May
1795 on the southern part of the island of
O'ahu, was a key battle in the final days of
King Kamehameha I's wars to unify the
Hawaiian Islands. It is known in the Hawaiian language as ''Kalelekaanae'', which means "the leaping mullet", and refers to a number of Oahu warriors driven off the cliff in the final phase of the battle.
[1] There are "varied and sometimes conflicting histories of the Battle of Nuuanu."
[2]
Prior to the battle
O'ahu
Around the year 1792 (the exact date is unknown; the landing could have been as late as March of 1793), Captain William Brown, an English merchant, landed in the harbor of Honolulu. As a fur trader and gun seller, he made several voyages before from the northwest coast of the
United States to the
Hawaiian islands. Captain Brown landed several ships on the Island; the ones noted are the ''Prince Lee Boo'' and the ''Jackall''.
[ Shoal of Time, , Gavin, Daws, The Macmillan Company, , ]
After landing, he made an agreement with Kahekili (the chief of the island at that time) that he would offer his military assistance against Kamehameha for use of the harbor. Likewise, Kamehameha requested military assistance and the use of artillery from
Captain George Vancouver and in exchange "ceded" the
island of Hawaii to
Great Britain in
February 1794.
The two rival chiefs never met again, as Kahekili died in mid-1794. At this point, Kahekili's son, Kalanikupule, had control of the island of O'ahu and his half-brother, Kaeokulani, had control of the islands of Kauai, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai.
After Kahekili's death, Kaeokulani decided to visit Kauai, his home island. In order to accomplish this, he had to travel through the way of O'ahu. Kalanikupule then set up trenches and earthworks on the windward side of O'ahu, where Kaeokulani's canoes would pass. Both sides fought, but the battle was stopped by Kalanikupule and the two chiefs met to mourn over the death of Kahekili.
Kaeokulani then discovered a plot to be thrown overboard by his chiefs on the way to Kauai. To resolve the issue, he proposed war against Kalanikupule. He ordered his men to make an land march to where Kalanikupule was stationed. In the early part of December 1794, Kaeokulani's army was confronted by Kalanikupule's, along with the artillery of Captain Brown's ships. With Kaeokulani being outnumbered and outmaneuvered, his forces fled and scattered to the mountains. Nevertheless, Kaeokulani's army was destroyed.
Kalanikupule had received prior warnings of the impending invasion from the chiefs of Maui and Molokai and had begun building several lines of fortifications on O'ahu. He had already begun buying muskets and cannons from European traders, but had far fewer than Kamehameha. He was also assisted by one of Kamehameha's chiefs, Kaiana, who defected before the battle began. Kaiana had fallen out of favor with Kamehameha's inner circle and feared that he was being plotted against. On the voyage to O'ahu, his army split off from the Hawaiian armada and landed on the north side of the island. There, they began cutting notches into the Nu'uanu mountain ridge, which would serve as gunports for Kalanikupule's cannons.
Kamehameha
Kamehameha I had begun his campaign to unify Hawaii in
1783, but prior to 1795 had only managed to unify the
Big Island. However, in
1794 a civil war broke out when the chief of Oahu,
Kahekili, died. The civil war was fought between his half-brother Ka'eokulani and his son Kalanikupule. Kalanikupule ultimately won, but emerged from the war greatly weakened.
During this time, Kamehameha had been equipping his army with modern
muskets and
cannon, as well as training his men in their use. In February 1795 he assembled the largest army the Hawaiian islands had ever seen, with over 10,000 men and 1,200
war canoes (at this time, the entire population of the Hawaiian Islands was less than 300,000). Kamehameha initially moved against the smaller islands of
Maui and
Molokai, conquering them in the early spring. Then he invaded Oahu.
Battle
The Battle of Nu'uanu began when Kamehameha's forces landed on the southeastern portion of O'ahu near
Wai'alae and
Waikiki. After spending several days gathering supplies and scouting Kalanikupule's positions, Kamehameha's army advanced westward, encountering Kalanikupule's first line of defense near the
Punchbowl Crater. Splitting his army into two, Kamehameha sent one half in a flanking maneuver around the crater and the other straight at Kalanikupule. Pressed from both sides, the O'ahu forces retreated to Kalanikupule's next line of defense near La'imi. While Kamehameha pursued, he secretly detached a portion of his army to clear the surrounding heights of the Nu'uanu Valley of Kalanikupule's cannons. Kamehameha also brought up his own cannons to shell La'imi. During this part of the battle, both Kalanikupule and Kaiana were wounded, Kaiana fatally. With its leadership in chaos, the Oahu army slowly fell back north through the Nu'uanu Valley to the cliffs at
Nu'uanu Pali. Caught between the Hawaiian Army and a 1000-foot drop, over 400 Oahu warriors either jumped or were pushed over the edge of the Pali.
Aftermath
Though he escaped the battle, Kalanikupule was later captured and killed. While this battle was the climax of Kamehameha's campaign, he still had to capture the neighboring islands of
Kauai and
Niihau. First he had to put down an uprising on the Big Island, and then he began his preparations for the conquest of Kauai. However, before this battle could be fought the chief of Kauai submitted to Kamehameha, giving him effective control over the Hawaiian Islands.
Notes
1.
2.
References
★
★
★
★
★ ''The Hawaiian Kingdom (1778-1854)'', by Ralph S. Kuykendall, c. 1938
★ ''The Warrior King'', by Richard Tregakis, c. 1973
★ ''Kamehameha and his Warrior Kekuhaupio'', by Stephen L. Desha, c. 2000
★ ''Hawaii's Royal History'', by Helen Wong, c. 1987
★ ''Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii'', by Samuel Kamakau, c. 1992
★ ''An account of the Polynesian Race...'', by Abraham Fornander, c. 1969
★ ''The Napoleon of the Pacific'', by Herbert Gowden, c. 1919
★ ''Kamehameha the Great'', by Paea Kamaka, c. 1966
External links
★
A Native Place: Battle of Nu'uanu
★
''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' feature on the battle
★
Battle of Nu`uanu
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