Battle of Nuʻuanu

The Battle of Nuuanu (Hawaiian: Kalelekaanae; lit. the leaping mullet), fought in May 1795 on the southern part of the island of Oahu, 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. There are "varied and sometimes conflicting histories of the Battle of Nuuanu."

Oahu
Around the year 1792 (the exact date is unknown; the landing could have been as late as March 1793), Captain William Brown, an English merchant, landed in the harbor of Honolulu. As a Maritime Fur Trader and gun seller, he made several voyages before from the Pacific Northwest coast to the Hawaiian islands. Captain Brown landed several ships on the island; the ones noted are the Prince Lee Boo and the Jackall.

After landing, he made an agreement with Kahekili II (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 II died in mid-1794. At this point, Kahekili's son, Kalanikupule, had control of the island of Oahu and his half-brother, Kaeokulani, had control of the islands of Kauai (through his wife), 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 Oahu. Kalanikupule then set up trenches and earthworks on the windward side of Oahu, 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 a 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 Oahu. 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 Oahu, his army split off from the Hawaiian armada and landed on the north side of the island. There, they began cutting notches into the Nuuanu 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 II, died. The civil war was fought between his half-brother Kaeokulani 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 under direction of British Sailor John Young. In February 1795 he assembled the largest army the Hawaiian islands had ever seen, with about 12,000 men and 1,200 war canoes (at this time, the British estimated the entire population of the Hawaiian Islands at less than 300,000; modern anthropologists believe it was closer to one million). Kamehameha initially moved against the southern islands of Maui and Molokai, conquering them in the early spring. Then he invaded Oahu.

Battle
The Battle of Nuuanu began when Kamehameha's forces landed on the southeastern portion of Oahu near Waialae 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 Oahu forces retreated to Kalanikupule's next line of defense near Laimi. While Kamehameha pursued, he secretly detached a portion of his army to clear the surrounding heights of the Nuuanu Valley of Kalanikupule's cannons. Kamehameha also brought up his own cannons to shell Laimi. 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 Nuuanu Valley to the cliffs at Nuuanu 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. In 1898 construction workers working on the Pali road discovered 800 skulls which were believed to be the remains of the warriors that fell to their deaths from the cliff above.

Aftermath
Though he escaped the battle, Kalanikupule was later captured and sacrificed. This battle was the climax of Kamehameha's campaign, after this battle his kingdom was for the first time referred to as the Kingdom of Hawaii. The islands were still not united. He had to capture the remaining 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 king Kaumualii of Kauai submitted to Kamehameha, giving him effective control over the Hawaiian Islands.

As the Jackall sailed from the battle the British captain William Brown ordered a salute to be fired. The fourth cannon was loaded and hit the Lady Washington at close range, killing the American captain John Kendrick. Brown said it was an accident although later accounts suggest Kendrick's crew was deeply suspicious.