The Boers Retreat

Temporarily abandoned by his BagaMmanaana and Bangwaketse allies the Mokwena's position must have initially appeared desperate. From their later reports it is clear that in the immediate aftermath of the battle both he and Scholtz were painfully aware of their losses, but uncertain of the status of their opponent's forces.

On August 31, 1852, Scholtz dispatched scouting parties to probe the now divided enemies’ strength and positions. It was during this period that his men broke into Livingstone's unoccupied Kolobeng mission where they reported: "We found several half-finished guns and a gunmaker's shop with an abundance of tools. We here found more guns and tools than Bibles, so that the place had more the appearance of a gunmaker's shop than a mission station, and more a smuggling shop than a school place." Meanwhile, Kgosi Senthufe had regrouped the Bangwaketse at Kanye's Kgwakgwe hill, from where they successfully repulsed the Boers.