by Neville Worthington

By the winter of 1838, the Voortrekkers in Natal had suffered innumerable setbacks (Bloukrans; the murder of Retief and his party; and the Vlug Kommando had failed to defeat Dingane). Sickness and fever was rife in the laagers and the livestock was suffering from lack of grazing.

On the 23^rd of September, leader Gerrit Maritz died. A deputation from Natal was sent to Andries Pretorius to ask for support.

In October Pretorius gathered a convoy of 68 wagons in the Cape and arrived at Sooi laager on the 22^nd of November. Pretorius was duly elected Commandant and on the 27^th of November the Commando left to march directly to the Zulu capital, Umgungundlovu. The force consisted of 464 Voortrekkers plus 3 English Settlers (one of whom was Alexander Biggar) and 120 Port Natal natives.

On arriving in Waschbank, Sarel Cilliers led the commando in prayer and pledging that if God granted them victory, they would consecrate that day and keep it Holy.

Moving on past the present day Dundee, the Commando made contact with groups of Zulu warriors. On the 14^th of December, they came to the site of what is today Blood River.

The site that Andries Pretorius had chosen to stand and face the Zulu army was well selected. It was bordered on one side by the Ncome River (Blood River), with a deep donga on the east side. A laager of 64 wagons was formed and here the Voortrekkers awaited the Zulu attack, which began on the 16^th of December 1838, the height of summer in the southern tip of Africa.

The morning of the 16^th dawned misty. The Zulu army, led by Ndlela and Dambuza, had lost contact with some of their regiments in the mist and they did not attack as a combined force but in separate groups.

The Voortrekkers, with their canon loaded with pieces of metal and any metal fragments such as broken pot legs, cut swathes into the Zulu regiments. The warriors took shelter in the donga where they were so densely packed that the Voortrekkers poured a devastating fire into these forces, causing most of the casualties.

The Voortrekkers then pursued the Zulu on horseback. They ran into the river, where they were killed in great numbers, causing the water to turn red - thus giving the name Blood River. The Battle of Blood River was over.