This extraordinary battle at Vegkop, is where Potgieter decides to make a stand - with just forty men - against an Ndebele army numbering about 5000. Potgieter uses the long-established defensive device (going back at least as far as the Hussites) of a circle of wagons, known in South Africa as a laager, to form a temporary fortress against the attacking forces. Shooting from within this barricade, Boer muskets prove more than a match for African spears. After two assaults have failed, the Ndebele withdraw - leaving possibly as many as 500 dead around the perimeter of the laager. Within it, inside the ring of tied wagons, just two Boers are dead and some fourteen wounded. The conflict has been described as the 'Blood River of the Free State' because 35 Afrikaner men fended off a 400-strong army of Matabele warriors and incurred only two casualties. Vegkop itself is a rectangular-shaped lightly-wooded koppie, today it is a memorial museum. There is a hall on the site which can accommodate 500 people and can be rented for weddings, functions and conferences. There is an onsite fully equipped kitchen with a braai area as well.

Mon-Sat: 08:00-17:00; Sun only by Appointment.

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