Ambush of Stockenstrom, Zuurberg

In October 1811, the British Governor John Cradock was determined to "clear" the Zuurveld of the amaXhosa by forcing them back to the east of the Fish River. He appointed Colonel John Graham this task who then raised three forces by December. The force that was stationed north of the Zuurberg was a Commando from Graaff-Reinet. This group were led by Landdrost Anders Stockenstrom. Graham believed that the major Xhosa force was stationed near his central unit at Addo, so he instructed Stockenstrom to bring his force across the Zuurberg. On December 28 1811, they left their camp and began their journey south over the Zuurberg. When they were nearer the peak of the Zuurberg, they encountered a group of Xhosa (the imiDange). In the 1811-12 war, Stockenstrom and about a dozen of his men were killed by the surprise attack.

The site is now in the grounds of the Zuurberg Inn (now known as Zuurberg Mountain Village). This incident, one of the few where a specific site can be linked to an incident from the war, also relates to an earlier frontier war. In attacking the Boers, Mdange warriors were seeking retribution for those who had been massacred by the ‘tobacco trick’ of a Boer commando in the first frontier war of 1781. In June 1781 Adriaan van Jaarsveld met with a large group of imiDange and, after scattering tobacco on the ground, ordered his commando to fire whilst imiDange scrambled to pick up the tobacco. About 200 imiDange were massacred.