Translated from Dutch: The Boers and the Battle of Blood River

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[This is an article written by one of my Dutch supporters in the Netherlands about the Battle of Blood River. Jan]

Our morality, i.e. our set of norms and values that form the most important directive of our collective action, is something interesting.

Where does our morality come from?

What caused it?

Can it be subject to change or is one set in marble?

Does an individual direct his own morality differently if the society around him is orderly, peaceful and prosperous then when he has to fight for his existence?

And, one interesting question to ask yourself, are there different kinds of morality?

Recently I heard about the concept of layered morality.

Just as there is a religious morality, so there can be a geographical, cultural and genetic morality at the same time.

And in our daily life, a mixture of all these different layers of morality forms the basis of our actions.

But what if something so traumatic happens that all other layers of morality are temporarily sidelined?

What if something so shocking happens that only our most pure, biological morality remains?

Our genetic morality?

In the book You Gentiles by the Jewish writer Maurice Samuel, he sets out his observations of the behavior of the European, white man and mirrors the behavior of his own ethnicity.

Thus he makes some striking observations about our morality.

We are ‘playful’, that’s how he describes us.

And in war the playful nature of the white man comes back in its most raw, pure and above all definitive form.

Undaunted, with one song on our lips and one prayer in our hearts, we march into battle.

Somewhat disparagingly, he speaks of our morale to go to war as if we were entering a sports competition.

With clear rules and one code of honor.

According to Samuel, these self-imposed rules and code of honor are very important to us whites.

We can withstand the most severe trials and inflict unimaginable cruelties as well as cash in, as long as these rules and code of honor are observed before us.

This is our ethnic, biological morality and its ultimate expression in the form of warfare.

But there is also religious morality and this too has an effect on our behavior on the battlefield.

In the case of the Christianized West, our religious morality comes from the Christian faith.

Turning things the other cheek, non-violence, non-violent resistance and rejection of violence are fundamental values of this religious morality.

There is one historical event that I would like to discuss in which violations of the code of honor and rules of war caused a shock effect that resulted in an unprecedented fury where the layer of religious morality was temporarily pushed aside and our ethnic, biological morality gained the upper hand: The Battle

of Blood River, South Africa

In 1837, the group of Voortrekkers led by Piet Retief traveled through the Zulu Kingdom, hoping to find land to settle. The then Zulu King Dingane negotiated this with Piet Retief. Dingane would give the Voortrekkers a large piece of land between the Tugela and Umzimvubu rivers, on the condition that they would return his cattle, stolen by the tribal chief Sikonyela, to him. On February 3, 1838, Retief arrived with stolen cattle.

King Dingane of the Zulu kingdom had a declaration drawn up in which the ‘Voortrekkers’ would be awarded their reward forever.

In the expectation that Retief and his men would go to a festive ceremony, they had complied with Dingane’s wish that they would come unarmed.

But things went differently…

The same day, at the ceremony where the land contract between Dingane and Retief was signed, Retief, his son and 68 of his men were however captured and executed. The group of Retief, who were waiting for his return, were slaughtered at Bloukrans on the night of 17 February and all their cattle were stolen. One punitive expedition of the other Voortrekkers was hopelessly lost at the Battle of Italeni.

However, according to sources, Dingane’s betrayal did not go unnoticed and there were several witnesses to the slaughter, including one missionary.

The outraged Voortrekkers gave up the idea of a peaceful coexistence with the Zulus and claimed their land concession as property. They chose Andries Pretorius as their new leader and sent a messenger to Dingane to convey their decision. Dingane killed the messenger and gathered one impi of Zulu warriors to drive the Voortrekkers away.

It must have been around this period that the dismay at the violation of the treaty, the betrayal and the atrocities against not only Retief and his 69 male companions but also the left behind ‘Voortrekkers’ including the women and children of the 70s, that the Christian morality of non-violence was pushed aside by the pious, Christian Voortrekkers.

Our deeper morality, the ethnic, biological morality of a warrior people took over.

On 9 December 1838, Sarel Cilliers made a vow to God in front of the (Calvinist) Voortrekkers, which they repeated every evening until the day of the battle. If God would grant the victory, they would honor the day as a day off and build a church on the spot.

On 15 December, Pretorius settled on the banks of the Ncome and built one camp (a circle of 64 bullock carts).

Scouts from Dingane had already noticed the arrival of the small army of Voortrekkers.

On 16 December, a Zulu army of approximately 10,000 men stormed, other sources have it over 15,000 men strong, with a camp of 464 Voortrekkers with 200 soldiers.

According to certain sources, the Zulu army was split into 2 parts due to communication errors in the army leadership: one part that ‘Bloedrivier’ had already been crossed and one part that had yet to do so.

In order to use their assegais (Zulu spears) well, the Zulu had to come as close as possible to het laager. The Voortrekkers were much better equipped with their firearms and the charging Zulus fell dead near the bushes. After three unsuccessful attacks by the Zulus, Pretorius sent his cavalry towards the enemy and the Zulus put to flight.

Thanks to their bearing, their guns, their motivation and their two specially purchased ship’s guns, the Voortrekkers crushed the Zulus: around 3000 Zulus were killed. Only three Voortrekkers were wounded during this battle, including Andries Pretorius, who was hit by an ash hawk. Not a single Boer was left alive. Because, according to tradition, the blood of the fallen Zulu warriors colored the Ncome blood red, the river was renamed Blood River by the Voortrekkers.

And with this resounding victory in the bag, the ‘Voortrekkers’ finally got what the fallen Retief and his men had cost their lives instead via the peaceful way: a country of their own.

The triumphant Voortrekkers decided after this victory to commemorate their pact with God annually as Promise Day Today, December 16 is still a South African holiday.

At the place where the Battle of Blood River was fought, there is today a monument.