the voortrekkers arrived in south africa in 1837 - 1838.
the voortrekkers arrived in south africa in 1837 - 1838.
when did the voortrekkers arrive in south africa?
1837 - 1838
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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