The Battle of Blood River

The new leader of the Voortrekkers in KwaZulu-Natal, Andries Pretorius was determined to seek revenge for the murder of Piet Retief and made a pact with God at Danskraal that was repeated by all the Voortrekkers each night. The Covenant held that a church would be built in his honour should they be victorious over the Zulu army.

He formed a commando to seek out the Zulus and encountered a heavy Zulu presence on the 15th December. He formed their 57 wagons into a 'D' shaped laager at the junction of a donga (gully) and the Ncome ('praiseworthy') River.

The Zulu Army Attacks

On the morning of the 16th December 1838, some fifteen thousand Zulu warriors charged the 460 Voortrekkers, and charged again, and again for a third time but were repulsed. Their short spears were no match for musket ball, grapeshot and the pieces of pot iron in the cannons.

The force that attacked the Voortrekkers was in fact only half of the total force - the other half still assembled across the Ncome River.

The Zulus are Cut Down

After the third attack the Zulus faltered and Pretorius sent out a mounted commando to cut them down on the veld, by the banks of the stream and trying to cross the Ncome river. No prisoners were taken. At the end of the day, the Ncome River ran red with Zulu blood and 3,000 Zulus lay dead.

The 460 Voortrekkers suffered 3 men injured - including Pretorius. Dingane fled to Swaziland where he later was killed. More on the battle . . .

Commemoration

Their revenge was terrible indeed. Pretorius declared that December 16th 1838 would be forever remembered in Voortrekker history and that a church be erected in its memory - the Church of the Vow in Pietermaritzburg.

The Blood River Monument of 57 bronze wagons now sits on the site near Wasbank. A national holiday on the day of the battle - December 16th - was long held in South Africa as Dingane's Day or Day of the Covenant. This holiday is still observed as the Day of Reconciliation. Across the river Ncome, the ENcome Museum celebrates the Zulu side of the confrontation. The museum is in the shape of bull's horns - the formation in which the Zulus normally attacked their enemies.



The Victory is Pressed Home

Four days after the battle, the victorious Vootrekkers arrived at Dingane's great kraal Mgungundlovu (near present day Eshowe) to find it deserted and ablaze. The bones of Retief and his men were found and buried where a memorial exists today.

A second memorial nearby marks the place at which the treaty between Dingane and Piet Retief was allegedly signed. The site is currently under restoration with a small museum.