Draft:The Vaal River Massacre

This article will document what is known of the events that happened on the 23 of August 1836 on the Vaal River near the present town of Parys; what happened over the preceding days, and what happened in the immediate aftermath. The article will attempt to document those who died, and who survived. Historians regard the events at Kopjeskraal and Liebenbergskoppie as pivotal in the course of the Great Trek, the article will also attempt to document these interpretations.

An interesting detail - "In 1836, following health issues, Harris was ordered to southern Africa to rehabilitate, where he went on a five-month safari from the Cape Colony to Matabeleland." Did his route intersect with the Liebenberg trek?

That's William Cornwallis Harris - source here (List of big-game hunters - Wikipedia)

An extract from The Wild Sports Of Southern Africa 5th Edition

A party of the Matabili (sic.) soldiers had in the meantime detached itself from the main body, and fallen upon nine other waggons that were assembled at a distance from the principal camp. The waggons were saved, but the greater part of the flocks and herds were carried off, and twenty-four persons massacred — viz., Barend Liebenberg, sen. Stephanus, Hendrick, and Barend Liebenberg, jun. Johannes de Toit, an English schoolmaster, named McDonald, Mrs. H. Liebenberg, Mrs. de Toit, four children, and twelve black servants. Six days after this catastrophe, Erasmus’s curiosity prompted him to ascertain the fate of his family and property. Proceeding to the spot, he found the bodies of his five black slaves, and could distinguish the wheel tracks of his five waggons going in a northerly direction. Two of his sons, and a youth named Carel Kruger, had been taken prisoners, and it was afterwards ascertained, that having attempted to effect their escape, they were mercilessly put to death on their way to the king.

Initial Sources

Johannes J. Retief. 2015. The Voortrekker and the Ndebele. Part One: Attacks at the Vaal River and Liebenbergskoppie. The South African Military History Society. Vol. 16, No. 6.

Referencing the following:

• Becker, Peter, 'A comparative study of strategy in Bantu tribal warfare during the 19th century' in Military History Journal, Volume 1, Number 3, December 1968, pp 2 - 8.
• De Jong, C, 'Die walaer in verskillende lande en tydperke' in Military History Journal, Volume 3, Number 6, December 1976, pp 194-7.
• Du Plessis, Hans, 'Die romansier en die verlede: die skrywer se hantering van historiese materiaal in die skep van die historiese roman "Die pad na Skuilhoek" in LitNet Akademies Jaargang 8 (3) - Desember 2011). Also at:
• http://www.litnet.co.zalArticle/die-romansier-en-dieverlede-die-skrywer-se-hantering-van-historiese-materiaal-in-die-skep
• Giliomee, H, and Mbenga B, New History of South Africa (Cape Town, Tafelberg, 2007).
• Kotze, D J (Ed), 'Letters of the American Missionaries, 1835-1838' in VRS Publication No 31, (Cape Town, the Van Riebeeck Society, 1950).
• Lategan, F V, Die Boer se Roer, (Kaapstad, Tafelberg-Uitgewers, 1974).
• Markram, W J, 'Stephanus Petrus Erasmus: Grensboer Pionier en Voortrekker, 1788 - 1847', (unpublished MA thesis, University of Stellenbosch, 1992).
• Potgieter, Carel en Theunissen, N H, Hendrik Potgieter, (Johannesburg, Afrikaanse Pers Beperk, 1938).
• Preller, G S, Piet Retief, (Kaapstad, Nasionale Pers, 1920).
• Pretorius, Fransjohan (Red), Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika, (Kaapstad, Tafelberg-Uitgewers, 2012).
• Smail, J L, With Shield and Assegai, (Cape Town, Howard Timmins, 1969).
• Van der Merwe, P J, Die Noordwaartse Beweging van die Boere voor die Groot Trek, 1770 - 1842, (Stellenbosch, Sun Press, Second Special Reprint, 2006, originally published in Cape Town by Die Burger Boekhandel, 1937).
• Van der Merwe, P J, 'Die Matabeles en die Voortrekkers' in Argiefjaarboek vir Suid-Afrikaanse Geskiedenis, Nege-en-veertigste Jaargang - Deelll, (Pretoria, Die Staatsdrukker, 1986).

Kobie Ströh. 2019. Liebenberg Moorde Kopjeskraal Liebenbergkoppie Parys. Slag van Vaalrivier. Monumente, Gedenktekens en Interessanthede in Suid Afrika.