BLOOD RIVER, BATTLE OF

(Dec. 16, 1838), South African battle between the Zulu and the Voortrekkers (the Boers who made the Great Trek from Cape Colony to Transvaal). It was fought on the banks of a tributary of the Buffalo River, which became known as Blood River after its water reddened with the slaughter of about 3,000 Zulu. Four Boers were wounded. This battle turned Voortrekker fortunes in Natal, at a low ebb as a result of successive earlier defeats at the hands of the Zulu. The power of the Zulu king, Dingane (Dingaan), was effectively undermined, and the Voortrekkers established themselves in Natal until its annexation by the British in 1843. Their victory is annually celebrated by white South Africans as the Day of the Covenant, or Dingaan's Day.