After
killing Piet Retief and about 100 people of his delegation, the Zulu King
Dingane sent his
impis to kill the remaining voortrekkers who were camped at Doringkop,
Bloukrans (Blaauwekrans), Moordspruit, Rensburgspruit and other sites along the
Bushman River (), in the present province of
KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa, near the town of
Weenen. "Not a soul was spared. Old men, women and babies were murdered in the most brutal manner."
Death toll Among the
Voortrekkers, 41 men, 56 women and 185 children were killed. In addition another 250
Khoikhoi and
Basuto who accompanied the
Voortrekkers were killed, bringing the casualties to 532–534. The murdered included George Biggar, the son of
Alexander Biggar, a trader at Port Natal. Biggar and his second son, Robert, subsequently participated and died in retaliatory attacks on the Zulus. Most people camped at the Klein- and Groot-Moordspruit were murdered. Here a Boer woman,
Johanna van der Merwe, sustained 21
assegai wounds but survived. Two months afterwards, on 15 April 1838,
Andries Pretorius reflected in his journal: "As we were separated from one another, they succeeded in their attack at daybreak at Blaauwekrans, thereby killing 33 men, 75 women and 123 children." This implies a total of 231 deaths at the Blaauwekrans camps. The name Blaauwekrans () refers to bluish cliff faces present in the area. ==Aftermath==