Battle of Mekelle (1896)

The Battle of Mekelle, sometimes known as the siege of Mekelle, took place in January 1896 during the First Italo-Ethiopian War. Italian forces surrendered a partially completed fort at Mekelle, a city in the northern Tigray Region of Ethiopia which they had occupied since 1895, to Ethiopian forces.

Battle of Mekelle
Part of the First Italo-Ethiopian War

Ethiopian troops attacking the besieged Italians
Date7-21 January 1896
Location
Mek'ele, Ethiopia
Result Ethiopian victory
Belligerents
 Italy  Ethiopia
Commanders and leaders
Giuseppe Galliano Ras Makonnen
Qäññazmach Bäshah †
Strength
1,306[1] (1,114 Askari & 192 Italians)
2 mountain guns		 27,000
Casualties and losses
35 killed
78 wounded [1]		 150 killed[1][nb 1]

The Italians numbered 20 officers, 13 non-commissioned officers, and 150 privates, they were supported by 1,000 Askari and two mountain guns. The Ethiopian army numbered around 27,000 men.

After two weeks of bombardment by Ethiopian artillery - which possessed a longer reach than that of the Italians - the Ethiopians managed to cut off the fort's water supply, prompting the defenders' surrender.[3]

References

Footnotes
  1. Alone for the engagement on 11 January according to Gäbrä-Sellasé the Ras's biographer. Exact total casualties unknown but presented as heavy or costly. [2]

Citations
  1. Caulk, Richard (2002). "Between the Jaws of Hyenas": A Diplomatic History of Ethiopia (1876-1896). Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden. pp. 519, 522.
  2. Richard Caulk, "Between the Jaws of Hyenas": A Diplomatic History of Ethiopia (1876-1896), p. 519
  3. McLachlan, Sean (2011-09-20). Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781849089388.


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