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Dynamic people of Eritrea
By Petty La Duke
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The Ethiopian- Egyptian War: 1874 –1876
Egypt emerged as a powerful force in Africa during the latter stages of
the decline of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. In the second half of the
19th century, an ambitious and energetic new Khedive negotiated with the
Ottomans to take control of Egypt. He intended to create an Egyptian
African empire by swallowing up Sudan and Ethiopia.
For this purpose he recruited a large army staffed with European
officers and Confederate officers from the American Civil War which had
ended 10 years earlier. These officers were sent to Ethiopia, and the
following accounts of the Battles of Gundet and Gura are drawn in large
part from their diaries and other notes. The accounts are extracted from
an article published in the Journal African Affairs in 193x by A.E.
Robinson This account is useful as it presents a different perspective
on the Ethiopia-Egypt conflict. Other accounts of these battles from
Ethiopian and other sources can be found in the biography of Ras Alula
and in general histories of Ethiopia.
Note: The battle sites of Gundet and Gura are both located within
present-day Eritrea. Eritrea did not exist at the time. It is currently
the fashion in Eritrea to hack out a separate Eritrean identity from the
broader current of Ethiopian history. Therefore this period of history
is ignored or deliberately twisted by Eritrean historians, and most of
the younger Eritreans have no idea about it.
Gundet: 1875
Note: Colonel Kirkham was a British officer who was contracted to help
train the Ethiopian soldiers. Munzinger was a Swiss adventurer who was
in the service of Egypt.
In December 1874, a force of 1,200 [Egyptian] troops from Kassala, under
the command of Munzinger, occupied Keren, but as protests were lodged,
he withdrew. A skeleton garrison was however, left for the protection of
the Roman Catholic mission (so it was said), although for nearly forty
years, they had managed without such measures.
Owing to the presence of Turco-Egyptian troops within what he regarded
as the Ethiopian frontier, Colonel Kirkham entrenched a force of
Ethiopians at Ginda.
During the month of October, Colonel Arendup with an Egyptian force
occupied Ginda without resistance. Arendup then hoisted the Turkish
ensign. Colonel Arendup sent the Naib Muhammad of Arkiko to King John of
Ethiopia with a message (which in reality constituted an ultimatum),
whereby the immediate delimitation of the frontier was demanded. King
John imprisoned the messenger, who occupied the unenviable position of
being tributary to both the Turks and Ethiopians in respect to all
custom duties he collected on imports and exports.
Meantime, reports reached the Ethiopians that the Gallabat garrison had
been reinforced by the Egyptians, and had crossed the frontier into
Ethiopian territory en-route to Gondar. This force was probably that of
Munzinger Pasha, which marched from Kassala to Danakil country. It
consisted of about 2,000 men, and would pass through Agordat and via the
Mereb, near to Adowa. This force was ambushed, and Munzinger and nearly
all his followers were killed on November 7th by Danakil tribesmen.
There were practically no survivors reported.
On November 14th , Colonel Arendup’s force was attacked at Gundet, to
which place it had advanced on the road to Adowa. His column consisted
of 2,500 infantry, armed with Remington rifles, and 12 mountain guns.
There were a number of European and American officers under his command.
Possibly due to overconfidence at the occupation of Ginda without any
resistance, Colonel Arendup was unprepared for an attack, and the fact
that the Ethiopians commenced firing with rifles was a complete
surprise. His force was practically annihilated, despite the personal
bravery of its commander. Among those killed were Colonel Arendup,
Arakel Bey Nubar (nephew of the Egyptian Prime Minister), Count Zichy,
and Rustem Bey. An American officer collected the survivors, and with
Rauf Bey and Major Dornholtz, managed to reach Massowah.
For comparison, Haggai Erlich provides the following, more detailed
description of the Battle of Gundet, based largely on a Ge’ez biography
of Ras Alula written over 100 years ago.
“On 14 November, Alula crossed the Mereb river and immediately engaged
forward Egyptian posts. The main Ethiopian army under the emperor (Yohannis
IV) crossed the river on the night of 15-16 November. Meanwhile, Shalaqa
Alula had disengaged his forces; he had completed a flanking action from
the west against troops advancing from Addi Quala; and had appeared in
the Egyptian rear, blocking their line of retreat. “
“On the morning of 16 November 1875, the Egyptians found themselves
surrounded in a steep valley, and the battle soon turned into a massacre
from which only a few of the 3,000 Egyptians managed to escape. Two
thousand two hundred Remington rifles and sixteen cannons were captured
by the Ethiopians, who lost some 550 dead and 400 wounded. Among the
latter of whom was Alula’s brother Basha Tessema, whose wound remained
unhealed for a long period.”
Gura: 1876
Note: After the defeat at Gundet, the Egyptians sent another, much
larger force to attack Ethiopia in 1876. The Egyptians advanced to Gura
and built a fort there.
On November 6th and 7th, the Egyptians were attacked by the Ethiopian
army, (which was estimated at 60,000 men) and surrounded. Most of the
Ethiopians were armed with firearms, and although they had only one
field-gun, it is said to have had no effect in deciding the action.
The accounts of the American officers are silent on the point; but it is
said that Rateb Pasha allowed his views to be overruled by Loring Pasha,
who insisted on the ramps of the trenches which had been erected being
razed, so that the artillery could have a clear zone of fire.
The gunners and infantry were enfiladed by the Ethiopians from higher
ground, and the slaughter was so great that several regiments became
completely demoralized. Those officers who attempted to rally their men
and the survivors, were accused generally of joining in the panic, and
of cowardice in the field.
The Egyptian troops and officers were called upon to fight under
conditions hitherto unknown to them, and without the benefit of tried
and skilled leaders. The result was inevitable. The regiment of Ismail
Pasha Kamel stampeded during the action and could not be rallied.
The Ethiopians followed up their success, and closely invested Fort Gura,
which they attacked in force on the 8th and 9th of March.
On March 10th, Rashid Pasha and Osman Bey Neghib led an attack on the
Ethiopians which was repulsed with loss, and both officers were killed
while leading their men. From one of the accounts, this attack would
appear to have been a sortie from the fort of 5,000 picked troops and
artillery (Loring, p. 413).
The Ethiopians then withdrew to loot the dead and collect the rifles,
etc. which the panic-stricken Egyptian troops had abandoned. Most of the
artillery was lost, as well as considerable quantities of rifle
ammunition.
After the withdrawal of the Ethiopians, the Egyptian troops got entirely
out of hand, and burnt the dead and wounded enemies. The Ethiopians
retaliated by a cold-blooded massacre of about 600 prisoners whom they
had taken. Among these prisoners killed were Dr. Muhammad Ali Pasha and
Neghib Bey Muhammad. Dr. Badr (who had been educated in Edinburgh)
escaped by the assistance of an Ethiopian girl who discovered him,
wounded.
On March 12th, an amnesty was arranged, and Monsieur Sarzac (the French
consul at Massowah) went over the battlefield… the survivors of the
Egyptian army were collected, and reached Massowah in May.
[Note: The battle of Gura ended Egypt’s ambitions against Ethiopia. Two
of the captured Egyptian cannon can still be seen at Aksum]
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