The late war was carried on in the Province of Auckland; but it was in Taranaki, the capital of which is New Plymouth, that Sergeant-Major Lucas won his laurels. He is a fine, soldierly-looking man, a native of the South of Ireland. He entered the army at an early period of life, and has served eighteen years in the same regiment. One of his brothers, a soldier of the 40th, was severely wounded in the Taranaki war, and allowed to retire from the service with a pension: he himself, though he took part in every engagement, escaped unhurt, and now occupies the highest rank that a non-commissioned officer can attain. The war in Taranaki had been carried on with varying success till March, 1861: the British forces under the command of Major-General Pratt had erected a series of redoubts for the purpose of keeping the enemy in check and protecting the town of New Plymouth. These redoubts were occupied by detachments of our men, and skirmishing parties were daily sent out to scour the neighbouring bush, where the enemy were known to be lurking. On the 18th of March, 1861, a party consisting of about thirty men of the 40th Regiment was sent out in front of No. 7 redoubt, situated on the river Waitara, in search of the enemy. Between the redoubt and the bush there intervened an open space of some eight hundred or nine hundred yards in breadth, over which our men were allowed to advance without resistance; but no sooner had they entered a narrow defile, surrounded on either side by bush and fern, than a heavy fire was opened on them by an invisible foe. Captain Richards, who was in command of the party, threw out his men in skirmishing order, and ordered them to fire in the direction whence the smoke proceeded. The enemy being concealed in the bush had the advantage of being able to take deliberate aim, and several of our men were killed or wounded. Lieutenant Rees, who was next in command to Captain Richards, seized a rifle which a wounded soldier had dropped, and encouraged the men by his example to keep up a steady fire. At the same time he requested Colour-Sergeant Lucas to send two men to remove two of the wounded who were badly hit. As the men were preparing to execute this order, a fresh volley from the enemy placed one of them _hors de combat_, and a bullet hit Lieutenant Rees in the right groin. He staggered and fell, when Colour-Sergeant Lucas, with much presence of mind, ran up to his assistance, and sent him to the rear under the charge of the soldier who remained unhurt. Three wounded men and four stand of arms still remained on the field, and the gallant sergeant resolved to present a bold front to the enemy till he was relieved. Sheltering himself behind a tree, he opened a brisk fire on the enemy, and kept them at bay. So long as he remained behind the tree he was safe, but whenever he left this shelter to take aim, he became exposed to the fire of the enemy, who, deterred from advancing by his gallant resistance,