Dec.16, 1838: Blood River and the Covenant

[Texas Star]

On Dec. 16, 1838, Afrikaners engaged hordes of Zulu warriors in a pivotal battle at the Blood River in South Africa.

The badly outnumbered Boers/Afrikaners, of Dutch descent, made a covenant with God that if He led them to victory and the survival of their trek, they would build a church there in His honor.

It was built and known as the Church of the Covenant.

Does anyone know if it's still standing? I probably can't say here why I might wonder.
I know we have a couple of South African members.

Look up that battle and read which tactics saved the Boers. Pretty interesting, and much like US pioneers dealt with Indian attacks on covered wagons here, although I don't know if Americans used their cavalry to fight the enemy from outside the laager as well as from within.

Dec. 16 has also been known as Dingaan's Day, after the Zulu king who was defeated.

Military history buffs will probably enjoy the accounts of that pivotal battle.

I'm sure that the Battle of the Bulge beginning on Dec. 16, 1944 is just coincidence.

If you have a Krugerrand coin, you have the likeness of one of the Boer leaders from that time. Oh: "Boer" just means farmer, and is no longer so typical of these people's careers.

 

[Onomea]

T-Star, more info re Church of the Covenant here: The cultural significance of the Church of the Vow in Pietermaritzburg KwaZulu-Natal

 

[Absalom]

Pretty interesting, and much like US pioneers dealt with Indian attacks on covered wagons here, although I don't know if Americans used their cavalry to fight the enemy from outside the laager as well as from within.
....

While found in movies, there is actually not a single documented instance of a large-scale Indian attack on a circled civilian wagon train in the history of Western Indian wars.

The event in Western history that comes closest to Blood River, although much smaller in scale, is the Wagon Box Fight near Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming, on August 2, 1867 during Red Cloud‘s War.

It also involved much outnumbered soldiers, fighting off Indian warriors from behind a barricade of wagon boxes. Unlike Blood River, it was a defensive battle; the US soldiers were protecting a woodcutting operation, not trying to provoke a battle like the Boers.

 

[jimmyj]

Wagon Box Fight: wasn't the soldiers armed with new issue breech loading rifles instead of the regular muzzle loading rifles?

 

[Warren Sear]

On Dec. 16, 1838... (blah, blah, blah)...

I'm sure that the Battle of the Bulge beginning on Dec. 16, 1944 is just coincidence...

OP, would you explain please?

 

[BearBio]

Side note: While I am primarily Celtic (77% Irish, Welsh & Cornish), I have a Dutch name. My brother went to South Africa to hunt and everyone kept talking to him in Afrikaans. Turns out there are two pages of people with my last name! Before 2000, I knew just about everyone listed in L.A. in the phone book by their first name.

 

[Texas Star]

Side note: While I am primarily Celtic (77% Irish, Welsh & Cornish), I have a Dutch name. My brother went to South Africa to hunt and everyone kept talking to him in Afrikaans. Turns out there are two pages of people with my last name! Before 2000, I knew just about everyone listed in L.A. in the phone book by their first name.

Not awfully surprising, I guess. The Dutch founded Cape Town in 1652 and still comprise about 60% of white South Africans. With the exception of author Wilbur Smith, who was actually born in what was then N. Rhodesia (now Zambia), most famous South Africans today are of Dutch descent, sometimes mixed a bit with French and Germans. The French arrived in some numbers after the withdrawal of the Edict of Nantes, causing a large exodus of French Protestants. I think that was in 1688.

Oddly, all the famous Afrikaners I know of now are women: Candice Swanepoel, Behati Prinsloo (Married to Adam Levine, frontman for Maroon Five), Charlize Theron, and Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters. You can find all on Wikipedia, many photos, etc.

I like to watch hunting videos on YouTube and almost all of the South African outfitters and guides seem to be Afrikaans speaking.

Which phone book was your brother looking in? All the major cities probably have two pages of people with Dutch names like yours.

 

[Texas Star]

OP, would you explain please?

Nothing to explain. Just coincidence. I don't know of Dec. 16 being when any other famous battles were fought.

I don't think the date is jinxed.

 

[Texas Star]

Wagon Box Fight: wasn't the soldiers armed with new issue breech loading rifles instead of the regular muzzle loading rifles?

That's my recollection, yes. I think the rifles were in .50-70 caliber, forerunners to the .45-70 of 1873. These were the US equivalent to the British Snider, soon replaced by the advanced Martini-Henry.

Of course, the Boers at Blood River all had muzzleloaders. The heaviest, used for elephant, were called "roers."

 

[Texas Star]

T-Star, more info re Church of the Covenant here: The cultural significance of the Church of the Vow in Pietermaritzburg KwaZulu-Natal

Arlo-

The link won't work. I'll look it up otherwise.

 

[kamloops67]

Not awfully surprising, I guess. The Dutch founded Cape Town in 1652 and still comprise about 60% of white South Africans. With the exception of author Wilbur Smith, who was actually born in what was then N. Rhodesia (now Zambia), most famous South Africans today are of Dutch descent, sometimes mixed a bit with French and Germans. The French arrived in some numbers after the withdrawal of the Edict of Nantes, causing a large exodus of French Protestants. I think that was in 1688.

Oddly, all the famous Afrikaners I know of now are women: Candice Swanepoel, Behati Prinsloo (Married to Adam Levine, frontman for Maroon Five), Charlize Theron, and Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters. You can find all on Wikipedia, many photos, etc.

I like to watch hunting videos on YouTube and almost all of the South African outfitters and guides seem to be Afrikaans speaking.

Which phone book was your brother looking in? All the major cities probably have two pages of people with Dutch names like yours.

Of course you can not omit Yolandi Visser from your list of notable South African women

 

[Texas Star]

Of course you can not omit Yolandi Visser from your list of notable South African women

Have't heard of her but if she looks as good as the others, I'll look her up!!

"Playboy" did a photo shoot some years ago on Candice Boucher, too.

Later-

I found Visser, a stage name. Her real last name is DuToit, and she was adopted. Pretty far out for me, but thanks for the tip.