The Battle of Vegkop, alternatively spelled as Vechtkop, took place on 16 October 1836 near the present day town of Heilbron, Free State, South Africa.

So they secured their laager by placing the 46 wagons in a circle and filling the spaces underneath and between them with thorn branches to prevent the attackers from crawling through.

Inside the laager, a square of four wagons were placed and covered with animal skin and wooden planks to protect the women and children from the assegais (stabbing and throwing spears) of the Matebele.

[1] Every man in the laager (camp) went to his designated post, the muzzles of the muskets were rinsed because a dirty barrel slowed the loading process, and fresh flintstones were inserted into the firing mechanism.

As the Matabele warriors surrounded the laager, they divided into three groups, outside the range of the rifles, approximately 500 metres.

On 17 January 1837, voortrekkers under the command of Hendrik Potgieter and Gerrit Maritz destroyed the town of Mosega [nl], recovering about 6,000 cattle.

The Marico region was eventually evacuated by the Matabele population when, in 1838, about 15,000 of them travelled across the Limpopo River to settle further north in Modern-day Matabeleland in Zimbabwe.