Battle of Blood River 1838
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 16 December 1838 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1838 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | South Africa | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Great Trek | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | -28.1053, 30.5417 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Blood River, or Voortrekker–Zulu War, (16 December 1838) was fought on the bank of the Ncome River, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between 464 Voortrekkers ("Pioneers"), led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Zulu. Estimations of casualties amounted to over 3,000 of King Dingane's soldiers dead, including two Zulu princes competing with Prince Mpande for the Zulu throne. Three Voortrekker commando members were lightly wounded, including Pretorius.
The year 1838 was the most difficult period for the Voortrekkers from when they left the Cape Colony, till the end of the Great Trek. They faced many difficulties and much bloodshed before they found freedom and a safe homeland in their Republic of Natalia. This was only achieved after defeating the Zulu Kingdom, at the Battle of Blood River, which took place on Sunday 16 December 1838. This battle would not have taken place if the Zulu King had honoured the agreement that he had made with the Voortrekkers to live together peacefully. The Zulu king knew that they outnumbered the Voortrekkers and decided to overthrow them and that led to the Battle of Blood River.
After these two battles, Dingane's prime minister and commander in the Battle of Blood River, General Ndlela, who had also been Mpande’s personal protector, was strangled to death by Dingane for high…
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Blood River (revision 1370434619), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Talana Hill 1899 · 28 km
- Battle of Rorke's Drift 1879 · 28 km
- Battle of Isandlwana 1879 · 30 km
- Battle of Blood River Poort 1901 · 38 km
- Zungeni Mountain skirmish · 45 km
- Battle of Kambula 1879 · 48 km
Other battles of the Great Trek
- Battle of Vegkop 1836
- Battle of Italeni 1838
- Battle of Boomplaats 1848
All 4 battles of the Great Trek →
Browse more: battles in South Africa · Africa · 19th century battles