The Battle of Blood River | Zulus Vs Boers | Total War Cinematic Battle

bore settlers predominantly of Dutch descent established themselves in the interior regions of present day South Africa encountering various African tribes particularly the Zulu Kingdom under the leadership of King dingan tensions between the bores and the Zulus simmered as both sought to assert control over the land resources and trade routes in the region on the 6th of February 1838 King dingani invited Petra who was the boore leader into his Royal residence for a beer drinking farewell however the Zulu King betrayed pet ratif pet along with all his men who attended the event were killed [Applause] immediately after the massacre King dingani sent out his impis to attack several bore encampments at nighttime killing an estimated 500 men women children and servants [Music] [Applause] great this act of betrayal ignited outrage among the bors and galvanized them for retaliation on the 26th of November 1838 Andre pretorius was appointed as commander of over 500 heavily armed boar combatants directed against King dingan by December 1838 there was internal conflict within the Zulu ranks Prince impande and 177,000 followers had already fled from King dingani who was seeking to assassinate impande in support of Prince impande as ding's replacement pretorius strategy was to Target dingani only pretorius had first to weaken ding's personal military power base in umgungundlovu ding's Royal Residence at umgungundlovu was naturally protected against attack by hilly and Rocky terrain all around as well as an access route via italan pass passing through a narrow gorge on the 15th of December 1838 a scouting party including pretorius got news of a large Zulu force in rugged terrain to the east trying to lure the Boors into a trap while some of his men wanted to ride out and attack pretorius declined the opportunity to engage ding's soldiers away from their base instead pretorius decided on a fortified logger on the terrain of his choosing in the hope that the Zulu would attack pretorius on his terms as the site for the defensive wagon logger pretorius chose a defensible position close to a vertical 8 m descent into a deep hippo pool in the enoma river providing excellent protection on two sides the wide open area to the front of the logger provided absolutely no cover for an attacking Force along with 500 men defending this logger Andre pretorius had brought a 6B Naval carade with him from the Cape as night approached a thick Mist settled over the wagon site above which the sky was clear the Zulu were afraid to attack that night due to superstitions six Zulu regiments an estimated 20,000 Zulu soldiers led by dambuza crossed the encom river and started massing around the encampment however the elite forces of senior General and Lea did not cross the river thereby splitting the Zulu Army in two on the 16th of December Dawn broke on a clear day dambuza regiments began their Advance on The Bu position ready to out [Music] damboa regiments repeatedly stormed the logger but could not break through the attackers were hindered by a change introduced during shaka's rule that replaced most of the longer throwing Spears with short stabbing Spears with the power of their firearms and with their Ox wagons in a logger formation and some effective tactics the bors fought off the Zulu Buckshot was used on the cannon to maximize casualties after 2 hours and four waves of attack pretorius ordered a group of Horsemen to leave the encampment and engage the Zulu to induce the disintegration of their [Applause] formations the trekers pursued their fleeing enemies and hunted them down for 3 hours into the brid by the end of the battle 3,000 dead Zulu had been counting and three Bs were wounded of the 3,000 dead Zulu soldiers two were princes leaving Ina's favorite Prince mande as a front runner in the subsequent battle for the Zulu Crown the conflict between dingan and the BS continued for one more year after the battle of blood River only when ding's brother mande openly joined the bore side with his sizable Army was dingani finally defeated in January 1840 pretorius approved and attended the crowning of zulu King mande in Peta maritzburg they agreed on the tugela river as the border between zululand and the Republic of Natalia the defeat of the Zulus at blood River and the subsequent expansion of vort treer influence led to to displacement dispossession and the imposition of bore authority over local populations this period marked a significant turning point in the history of land ownership and governance in the region with lasting consequences for generations to come

Channel: Historical Total War Battles

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Id: D7FY99yVTR4

Length: 9min 21sec (561 seconds)

Published: Fri May 10 2024