In December 1846, 180 soldiers from the 58th Regiment and four Royal Artillery men were landed at Whanganui with two 12-pounder guns and began fortifying the town, building the Rutland Stockade on a hill at the town's northern end and the York Stockade towards the south. Another 100 soldiers from the Grenadier Company of the 65th Regiment arrived the following May. The establishment of the garrison heightened Te Mamaku's expectations of government intervention, and he vowed he would protect settlers but would fight the soldiers.