User:HoneybadgerWIKI/Battle of Vegkop

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Battle of Vegkop

Battle of Vegkop (Vechtkop)
Part of the Great Trek
Date October 1836 (exact day disputed) Location About 20km south of Heilbron, Free State, South Africa 27°28′31″S 27°55′16″E / 27.47528°S 27.92111°E / -27.47528; 27.92111 Result Decisive Voortrekker victory
Belligerents
Voortrekkers	Matabele Kingdom (Ndebele)
Commanders and leaders
Andries Pretorius Sarel Cilliers	Chief Mzilikazi
Strength
33 fighting men + 7 boys	3,000–5,000 men
Casualties and losses
2 dead	430+ dead

The Battle of Blood River (Afrikaans: Slag van Bloedrivier; Zulu: iMpi yaseNcome) is the name given for the battle fought between 470 Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 15,000–21,000 Zulu attackers on the bank of the Ncome River on 16 December 1838, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Casualties amounted to three thousand of king Dingane's soldiers dead, including two Zulu princes competing with prince Mpande for the Zulu throne. Three Trekker commando members were lightly wounded, including Pretorius himself.

In the sequel to the Battle of Blood River in January 1840, Prince Mpande finally defeated King Dingane in the Battle of Maqongqe, and was subsequently crowned as new king of amaZulu by his alliance partner Andries Pretorius. After these two battles of succession, Dingane's prime minister and commander in both the Battle of Maqongqe and the Battle of Blood River, General Ndlela, was strangled to death by Dingane on account of high treason. General Ndlela had been the personal protector of Prince Mpande, who after the Battles of Blood River and Maqongqe, became king and founder of the Zulu dynasty.