King Dingane was to witness the arrival of the Voortrekker wagons as they struggled down the escarpment from the high veld, intent on settling on the rolling plains of the northern Natal. Their leader Piet Retief and his men approached the Zulu King for permission to settle on land that is now KwaZulu-Natal. A series of bloody encounters were to follow culminating in the battle of Ncome/Blood River on the 16 December 1838.
Within nine months the Voortrekkers believed themselves capable of defeating Dingane's Zulu hordes, and at Wasbank on 9 December 1838, vowed to sanctify that date and build a church… should God grant them victory over their enemy.
Exactly one week later – along the banks of a river near Dundee known to the Zulu as 'Peaceful One' – a 15 000- strong impi attacked the 460 Voortrekkers… and experienced the first failure of their Shaka-devised battle strategies. Traditional weapons, ox-horn formation and unquestioning bravery proved no match for the flintlocks, field artillery and mounted marksmen of the Boer's own unique tactics… and the ensuing carnage remains known as 'The Battle of Blood River'.
King Dingane fled northwards, only to be assassinated in a forest on the edge of Swaziland… while the Voortrekkers built their Church of the Vow three years later in a more secure Pietermaritzburg, and religiously maintain their Day of the Vow.
When you visit the brooding wagon lager at Blood River, visions of assegai wielding impis are sure to raise a shiver. On site is a full-size bronze replica of the wagon lager. The Ncome Museum is dedicated to fallen Zulu warriors and to Zulu culture. |
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Selected Links
Offical Tourists Site
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