side Potgieter made what was reported as a "half-hearted" attack on the Zulu forces, and then retired. However, 16 members of his commando attacked the Zulus at the base of the hill on the left, riding close and firing at them. The Zulus charged this small party, who turned and fled. One man was killed on the Voortrekker side. After the survivors of the attack reached the rest of Potgieter's commando, they mounted and left the battlefield. This gave the remaining Zulu impis the opportunity to attack Uys' commando from the rear. Uys saw the Zulu force advancing and sent Gert Rudolph, the voortrekker leader that had replaced the ailing Gert Maritz, to Potgieter to request him to cover his rear. However, Potgieter ignored this request and continued retreating. The action of sending Rudolph as a messenger to Potgieter almost certainly saved Rudolph's life. Meanwhile, two members of Uys' party (the Malan brothers) had become isolated from the rest of the commando while pursuing the fleeing Zulus and were being led into an ambush in a bushy gorge. Seeing the danger they were in, Uys wanted his whole commando to ride to their rescue. Most of the members considered this too risky, and refused. In response, Uys formed a party of fifteen volunteers (including his son, Dirkie) and rode to their rescue. During the subsequent fighting Uys, his son, the Malan brothers as well as five of the volunteers were killed (for ten Voortrekker dead during the battle). The part of Uys' commando that remained behind (under the command of Field Cornet Potgieter), were surrounded and had to fight their way out. Due to the outcome of the battle, the Voortrekker forces involved in the fighting subsequently became known as the Vlugkommando (Flight Commando). Aftermath The commandos returned to their camp on 12 April. During a subsequent meeting of the Voortrekkers, Potgieter was accused of cowardice and treachery for his refusal to endanger his commando in an attempt to rescue Uys' party. In vain, Potgieter argued that if he had attacked, he and his men would also have died at Italeni. In disgust at the cries of "traitor", Potgieter and his followers left and returned to the Orange Free State. However, it has been speculated that, without the lessons learnt as a result of the Battle of Italeni - such as fighting from the shelter of ox-wagons whenever possible and