the first wave of voortrekkers arrived in south africa on february 1835.
the first wave of voortrekkers arrived in south africa on february 1835.
when did the first wave of voortrekkers arrive in south africa?
february 1835
section::::first wave.









































the first wave of voortrekkers lasted from 1835 to 1840, during which an estimated 6,000 people (roughly 20% of the cape colony's total population or 10% of the white population in the 1830s) trekked.









































the first two parties of voortrekkers left in september 1835, led by louis tregardt and hans van rensburg. these two parties crossed the vaal river at robert's drift in january 1836, but in april 1836 the two parties split up, just seventy miles from the zoutpansberg mountains, following differences between tregardt and van rensburg.
great trek
the battle of blood river () was fought on 16 december 1838 on the banks of the blood river ("bloedrivier") in what is today kwazulu-natal, south africa. in the aftermath of the weenen massacre, a group of about 470 voortrekkers, led by andries pretorius, defended a "laager" (circle of ox wagons) against zulu impis, ruled by king dingane and led by dambuza (nzobo) and ndlela kasompisi, numbering between 10 and 20 thousand. the zulus repeatedly and unsuccessfully attacked the "laager", until pretorius ordered a group of horse riders to leave the encampment and engage the zulus. partly due to the fact that the voortrekkers used rifles and at least one light cannon against the zulus' spears, as well as the good location and motivation of the voortrekkers, only three voortrekkers were wounded and none perished; that contrasted against the more than 3,000 zulu warriors who died. the voortrekkers credited god as the reason why they had won the battle as they had made a covenant asking for protection beforehand.
military history of south africa