[5] The battle was notable for establishing that an appropriately built fortified pā could withstand bombardment from cannon fire, with a frontal assault by soldiers suffering heavy casualties.

After the Battle of Te Ahuahu a debate occurred between Te Ruki Kawiti and the Ngatirangi chief Pene Taui as to the site of the next battle; Kawiti eventually agreed to a request to fortify Pene Taui's pā,[6]: 38–43  which was 4 km (2 mi) from the present settlement of Ōhaeawai and 6 km (4 mi) from Kaikohe.

In the winter of 1845 Lieutenant Colonel Henry Despard led a combined force of troops from the 58th, 96th, and 99th Regiments, Royal Marines and Māori allies in an attack on Pene Taui's pā,[7] which had been fortified by Kawiti.

[8] However the main fault of the bombardment was a failure to concentrate the cannon fire on one area of the defences, so as to create a breach in the palisade.

[12] The scalp of Lieutenant Phillpotts was brought to the tohunga Te Atua Wera, who made divinations and composed a song foretelling victory against the British.

[4] The defenders of the pā had four iron cannons on ship-carriages including a carronade that was loaded with a bullock-chain, and fired at close quarters at the attacking soldiers.

[4]: 71 Captain William Biddlecomb Marlow, RE, noted in relation to his drawing, Plate IV, of Ōhaeawai pā: The dotted lines denote rows of fences composed of trees deeply sunk in the ground, between 9 and 15 inches thick, bound close together by a strong native line or rope at the top and bottom: upon the outer row of trees a screen between 4 and 6 inches thick, and 8 and 9 feet high, was formed from a native plant called the New Zealand flax, which is exceedingly tough, and at a distance capable of resisting a musket-ball.

[14] Ensign John Jermyn Symonds, 99th Regiment, described in his drawing that Ōhaeawai's inner palisade was 3 metres (9.8 ft) high, built using puriri logs.

[15] Relying on the report of her husband Henry who observed the battle, Marianne Williams commented on the ingenuity of the construction of the war pā in a letter to Mrs. Heathcote, 5 July 1845: It is quite astonishing how they seem to defy the British in their fortifications.

The fence round the pa is covered between every paling with loose bunches of flax, against which the bullets fall and drop; in the night they repair every hole made by the guns.

A Maori church of old-fashioned design is seen on the left as one travels from Kaikohe; it stands on a gentle rise a short distance west of the main road.

The locality is usually called Ngawha, from the hot springs in the neighbourhood, but it is the true Ōhaeawai; the European township which has appropriated the name should properly be known as Taiamai.