On 16 December 1838 at Blood River occurred the battle between the Afrikaaner Vortrekker & Zulu King Digane. With 464 fighting men and 200 servants the Afrikaaners defeated 10,000-20,000 Zulu, leaving 3 wounded versus 3,000 dead. When asked afterwards how so few Afrikaaners could beat them, one Zulu warrior said, "It was not them, it was the men fighting from the clouds."
On 16 December 1838 at Blood River occurred the battle between the Afrikaaner Vortrekker & Zulu King Digane. With 464 fighting men and 200 servants the Afrikaaners defeated 10,000-20,000 Zulu, leaving 3 wounded versus 3,000 dead. When asked afterwards how so few Afrikaaners could beat them, one Zulu warrior said, "It was not them, it was the men fighting from the clouds."
Voortrekkers migrated into Natal and negotiated a land treaty with the Zulu King Dingane. Upon reconsideration, Dingane doublecrossed the Voortrekkers, killing their leader Piet Retief along with half of the Voortrekker settlers who had followed them to Natal. Other Voortrekkers migrated north to the Waterberg area, where some of them settled and began ranching operations, which activities enhanced the pressure placed on indigenous wildlife by pre-existing tribesmen, whose Bantu predecessors had previously initiated such grazing in the Waterberg region. These Voortrekkers arriving in the Waterberg area had believed they were in the Nile River area of Egypt based upon their understanding of the local topography.[2][3]
Andries Pretorius filled the leadership vacuum hoping to enter into negotiations for peace if Dingane would restore the land he had granted to Retief. When Dingane sent an impi (armed force) of around twelve thousand Zulu warriors to attack the local contingent of Voortrekkers in response, the Voortrekkers defended themselves at a battle at Nacome River (called the Battle of Blood River) on 16 December 1838 where the vastly outnumbered Voortrekker contingent defeated the Zulu warriors. This date has hence been known as the Day of the Vow as the Voortrekkers made a vow to God that they would honor the date if he were to deliver them from what they viewed as almost insurmountable odds. The victory of the besieged Voortrekkers at Nacome River was considered a turning point. The Natalia Republic was set up in 1839 but was annexed by Britain in 1843 whereupon most of the local Boers trekked further north joining other Voortrekkers who had established themselves in the region.
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