Battle of Mokuohai
{{Short description|1782 battle during the unification of Hawaiʻi}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Battle of Mokuʻōhai
|partof=Unification of Hawaii
|image=Kamehameha I head to waist 5111.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=King Kamehameha I, statue standing in front of Ali'iolani Hale in Honolulu
|date=July 1782
|place=Kona, Hawaiʻi Island
|result=Kamehameha I victory
|combatant1=Kamehameha I's army
|combatant2=Kiwalaʻo
|commander1=Kamehameha I
Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiaheahe
Kameʻeiamoku
Kamanawa
|commander2=Kiwalaʻo{{KIA}}
Keōua Kuahuʻula
Keawemauhili
|strength1= ≈1,000 – 3,000
|strength2= Unknown
|casualties3= ~4,000 – 8,000 for both combatants{{cite book
| last = Schmitt
| first = Robert C.
| title = The Hawaiian Journal of History, Volume 3 – 1969
| publisher = Hawaiian Historical Society
| location = Honolulu
| pages =
| chapter = Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii
| quote = Even where figures on battle deaths are available, according to Stokes, the data are notoriously unreliable and subject to wild exaggeration.
| year = 1969
|display-authors=etal}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Hawaii}}
The Battle of Mokuʻōhai, fought in 1782 on the island of Hawaiʻi, was a key battle in the early days of Kamehameha I's wars to conquer the Hawaiian Islands. It was his first major victory, solidifying his leadership over much of the island.
Background
After King Kalaniʻōpuʻu died in the spring of 1782, his family took his remains to the royal mausoleum known as Hale o Keawe at the important religious temple Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau. While Kalaniʻōpuʻu's son Kīwalaʻō had inherited the kingdom, his nephew Kamehameha was given a religious position, as well as the district of Waipiʻo valley. When a group of chiefs from the Kona district, including his brothers and uncles, Keaweaheulu, twins Kamanawa and Kameʻeiamoku, and Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiaheahe, offered to back Kamehameha instead of Kiwalaʻo, he accepted eagerly, traveling back from his residence in Kohala.{{cite book |last=Desha |first=Stephen L. |title=Kamehameha and his warrior Kekühaupi'o |publisher=Kamehameha Schools Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-87336-056-7 |location=Honolulu, HI}}
Kīwalaʻō's half-brother Keōua Kūʻahuʻula had been left with no territory from his late father.
He went into a rage, cutting down sacred coconut trees belonging to Kamehameha (considered a great insult) and killing some of Kamehameha's men.
Their bodies were offered as a sacrifice to Kīwalaʻō, who accepted them, and Kamehameha felt he had to respond to the challenge to his honor.William De Witt Alexander (1891) A brief history of the Hawaiian people
Battle
The battleground was just to the south of Kealakekua Bay, near the present-day community called Keʻei.,Thomas S.Dye (2003) [https://web.archive.org/web/20210418084204/http://www.tsdye2.com/reports/022/report.pdf Archaeological Survey of a Portion of Keʻei Makai] on the bay now called Mokuʻakae (which could be a misspelling of Mokuʻōhai), South of Palemano point. The name means "grove of ʻōhai trees".[http://ulukau.org/cgi-bin/hpn?e=q-0mahele--00-0-0--010---4----dtx--0-0l--1en-Zz-1---20-about-mokuohai--00031-00010escapewin-00&a=d&c=mahele&cl=search&d=HASH013e41d95ea96f5b8a387f05 lookup of Mokuohai] on Hawaiian Place Names web site The tree, Sesbania tomentosa, is now endangered, and no longer grows in the area, so the site is only known from oral history.
As tensions were building, women and children from both sides flooded into the "place of refuge", Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau.
Kameʻeiamoku was the first leader injured, but when Kīwalaʻō approached, Kamanawa came to his aid. Then Kīwalaʻō was knocked down by a sling stone, and the injured Kameʻeiamoku was able to slit his throat with a shark-tooth dagger.
It was during this battle that the renowned red feather cloak of Kīwalaʻō (now in the Bishop Museum) was captured by Kamehameha the Great.
Aftermath
Keawemaʻuhili (uncle of Kīwalaʻō) was captured but escaped to Hilo, and Keōua Kūʻahuʻula fled to Kaʻū where he had relatives.
After the battle, Kamehameha controlled the Northern and Western parts of the Big Island, including Kona, Kohala, and Hāmākua while Keawemaʻuhili controlled Hilo and Kīwalaʻō's half-brother Keōua Kūʻahuʻula controlled Kaʻū.{{cite book
| last = Dukas
| first = Neil
| title = A Military History of Sovereign Hawaiʻi
| publisher = Mutual Publishing
| year = 2004
| location = Honolulu
| pages = 66–74
| url = http://dukas.org/books/koa/MilHist3.html
| isbn = 1-56647-636-4}}
Kamehameha fought several more battles over many years to consolidate his control. In 1790, Keōua's party was to have their footprints frozen into volcanic ash,{{Cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hlov/hlov23.htm|title=XVII The Annihilationion of Keola's Army|last=Westervelt|others=#1Lib1Ref|access-date=February 1, 2018}} and in 1791 Kamehameha's forces finally killed Keōua at Puʻukoholā Heiau.
References
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{{Hawaii history}}
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Category:Battles involving Hawaii
Category:History of Hawaii (island)
Category:Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Oceania