Veglaer

The Voortrekkers, dispirited by the death of Piet Retief and his party and the current wet, cold weather were forced to wonder whether Natal really was the promised land.

On August 12th 1838, a Zulu impi (army) was spotted approaching from the east. As the Bushmans River, against which the lager was located, was in flood, the Zulus attacked from the west.

The small laager was fortified and the occupants suffered three days and nights of terror. The Zulus attacked in waves from the dawn of each day, attempting to burn the wagons.

At night, lanterns were hung around the laager to prevent night attacks. The small cannon carried by the trekkers was loaded with pot shards or iron and anything else that might be used and inflicted heavy casualties on the Zulu warriors. More . . .

The final, fiercest attack came on the third day when the Zulus eventually fled. Three hundred Zulu bodies were dumped into a nearby ravine and the task of recovering some of the cattle started. The Wagendrift Dam has since flooded the original site of the attack on the Veglaer (fighting laager) laager but a diascope at the dam depicts the tactics employed by both combatants.

At this point, most of the Voortrekkers were ready to return back over the Drakensberg.

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