The Battle of Naauwpoort Nek refers to a clash between the Trekboers and Basotho warriors on 29 September 1865. Naauwpoort lies immediately to the north of the Free State town of Clarens. Battle Conflict between the Basotho and European settlers from 1858 to 1868, in and around the Lesotho and the Free State, were fought to maintain territorial rights. Following an attack on Trekboers in what is now Harrismith by the Batlôkwa led by the warrior chieftainess, Manthatisi, Paul Kruger ordered the dispatch of 300 – 400 South African Republic men to clean up Witsieshoek. The men pushed the Basotho through the Golden Gate Highlands and set up camp for the night near Clarens on a farm called Bashoek on 28 September 1865. Around 10pm when they arrived, they did not arrange a campsite formed by a circle of wagons, often referred to as a laager, as soldiers usually did in South African history. The horses were also not hobbled. Earlier in the morning of 29 September while it was still dark, Basotho warriors charged on the unsuspecting group, killing five Trekboers (or burghers) while the unhobbled horses escaped. War was declared between the South African Republic, also known as the Transvaal, and the Basutoland people's leader Morena e Moholo Moshoeshoe I. Within two days of word being sent out about the violent conflict, more armed men from neighbouring settlements including Paul Roux, Bethlehem and Senekal arrived to assist the Trekboers. The commando reassembled his team and managed to drive the Basotho back through Naauwpoort Nek about two kilometres away where many of the warriors were wounded and killed. This attack near Titanic Rock on native people by the European settlers is called the Battle of Naauwpoort Nek. Aftermath Marthinus Wessel Pretorius and Kruger led a 1000-man-strong commando south to assist the Orange Free State during the Free State–Basotho Wars between 1865 and 1866. The Orange Free State waged the second Free State-Basotho war in 1865. This is commonly known as the Seqiti War. The word "seqiti" refers to the sound that the Boer canons made when they permeated the Basotho strongholds, which is mainly what is now known as the Free State Province. The Basotho were defeated by the Boers and the Free State army forcibly took the Basotho's cattle and destroyed their crops. During this time, they also made two unsuccessful attempts to invade Moshoeshoe's stronghold in Thaba