Battle of Gura

Battle of Gura
	Part of Ethiopian–Egyptian War
	; Depiction of the Battle of Gura
Date	7–10 March 1876; (2 days)
Location	Gura, Akele Guzay, Ethiopian Empire
Result	Ethiopian victory
Belligerents
Khedivate of Egypt	Ethiopian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Rateb Pasha; William Wing Loring; Uthman Rifqi	Yohannes IV; Ras Alula; Abuna Atnatewos †
Strength
13,000	50,000
Casualties and losses
~3,500 killed or captured	1,800 killed

The Battle of Gura was fought on 7–10 March 1876 between the Ethiopian Empire and the Khedivate of Egypt near the town of Gura in Eritrea. It was the second and decisive major battle of the Ethiopian–Egyptian War.

^ Dunn, John (1994). "For God, Emperor, and Country! The Evolution of Ethiopia's Nineteenth-Century Army". War in History. 1 (3): 278–299. doi:10.1177/096834459400100303. S2CID 162377977."Gura, fought six months later, confirms the superior capabilities of the Ethiopian military. Here 13,000 Egyptian regulars, backed by significant artillery, were thrashed by Yohannis and his 60,000 men. Fought on 7–9 March 1876, it was the decisive battle of the war." (294)
^ [1], p. 68
^ Jesman, Czeslaw (1959). "Egyptian Invasion of Ethiopia". African Affairs. 58 (280): 75–81. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a094619."The Emperor mobilised it at the last possible moment since Ethiopian troops lived off the land and Commissariat services were unknown to them. It was nlore of a tribal host travelling with women and children than an organised force. It numbered some hundred thousand. About 50,000 of them were combatant troops with perhaps ten thousand rifles. At no time were more than 15,000-20,000 Ethiopians in action at the same time owing to the nature of the battlefield" (80)
^ Robinson, Arthur (1927). "The Egyptian-Abyssinian War of 1874-1876". Journal of the Royal African Society. 26 (103): 263–280. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a100610."On November 6th and 7th the Egyptians were attacked by the Abyssinian army, which was estimated at 50,000 men, and surrounded. Most of the Abyssinians were armed with fire-arms, and although they had one field-gun, it is said to have had no effect in deciding the action." (275) The reliability of Robinson's information can be questioned, as field guns are mentioned in no other primary source, and nearly all sources agree that the Ethiopian force was not as armed with guns as Robinson asserts
^ Loring, Willaim (1884). A Confederate Soldier in Egypt. Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 410. ISBN 9781465534101."Within half a mile of Osman, and a mile and a half of our position, and in its immediate front, marshalled in barbarian splendor upon an elevated ridge, were the seated hosts of the foe, full 50,000 strong, their banners and shields glittering in the declining sun, waiting the orders of their king, the ablest and most renowned African warrior of modern times, to move en masse across the valley." (410); "No man of sense can for a moment think this isolated battery, though it might have been supported to some extent by the small battalion of 400 men placed around the mountain, and so far from it as to not afford immediate support, could have beat back King John and his 50,000 men, with every possible advantage on their side, as already detailed"(412)
^ O'Mahoney, Kevin. The Ebullient Phoenix: 1860-1881. p. 197. By late afternoon the Egyptians were routed, having lost around 3,500 dead and captured, 1,500 wounded, and no more than 400-600 had fled to safety
^ Erlikh, Haggai (1996). Ras Alula and the Scramble for Africa A Political Biography : Ethiopia & Eritrea, 1875-1897 (PDF). p. 19. "The Dadjazmaches, the Afa Negus, the Turk Basha perished, let alone the soldiers. Abuna Antanewus was injured by lead shot and became sick and died." Alula himself was saved from being shot by a sudden move of his horse. Among the 1,800 dead Ethiopians Shalaqa Alula found the body of his elder brother Basha Gabra Maryam whom he later buried at Mannawe and whose only daughter he adopted.

[1] Dunn, John (1994). "For God, Emperor, and Country! The Evolution of Ethiopia's Nineteenth-Century Army". War in History. 1 (3): 278–299. doi:10.1177/096834459400100303. S2CID 162377977."Gura, fought six months later, confirms the superior capabilities of the Ethiopian military. Here 13,000 Egyptian regulars, backed by significant artillery, were thrashed by Yohannis and his 60,000 men. Fought on 7–9 March 1876, it was the decisive battle of the war." (294)

[2] [1], p. 68

[3] Jesman, Czeslaw (1959). "Egyptian Invasion of Ethiopia". African Affairs. 58 (280): 75–81. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a094619."The Emperor mobilised it at the last possible moment since Ethiopian troops lived off the land and Commissariat services were unknown to them. It was nlore of a tribal host travelling with women and children than an organised force. It numbered some hundred thousand. About 50,000 of them were combatant troops with perhaps ten thousand rifles. At no time were more than 15,000-20,000 Ethiopians in action at the same time owing to the nature of the battlefield" (80)

[4] Robinson, Arthur (1927). "The Egyptian-Abyssinian War of 1874-1876". Journal of the Royal African Society. 26 (103): 263–280. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a100610."On November 6th and 7th the Egyptians were attacked by the Abyssinian army, which was estimated at 50,000 men, and surrounded. Most of the Abyssinians were armed with fire-arms, and although they had one field-gun, it is said to have had no effect in deciding the action." (275) The reliability of Robinson's information can be questioned, as field guns are mentioned in no other primary source, and nearly all sources agree that the Ethiopian force was not as armed with guns as Robinson asserts

[5] Loring, Willaim (1884). A Confederate Soldier in Egypt. Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 410. ISBN 9781465534101."Within half a mile of Osman, and a mile and a half of our position, and in its immediate front, marshalled in barbarian splendor upon an elevated ridge, were the seated hosts of the foe, full 50,000 strong, their banners and shields glittering in the declining sun, waiting the orders of their king, the ablest and most renowned African warrior of modern times, to move en masse across the valley." (410); "No man of sense can for a moment think this isolated battery, though it might have been supported to some extent by the small battalion of 400 men placed around the mountain, and so far from it as to not afford immediate support, could have beat back King John and his 50,000 men, with every possible advantage on their side, as already detailed"(412)

[6] O'Mahoney, Kevin. The Ebullient Phoenix: 1860-1881. p. 197. By late afternoon the Egyptians were routed, having lost around 3,500 dead and captured, 1,500 wounded, and no more than 400-600 had fled to safety

[7] Erlikh, Haggai (1996). Ras Alula and the Scramble for Africa A Political Biography : Ethiopia & Eritrea, 1875-1897 (PDF). p. 19. "The Dadjazmaches, the Afa Negus, the Turk Basha perished, let alone the soldiers. Abuna Antanewus was injured by lead shot and became sick and died." Alula himself was saved from being shot by a sudden move of his horse. Among the 1,800 dead Ethiopians Shalaqa Alula found the body of his elder brother Basha Gabra Maryam whom he later buried at Mannawe and whose only daughter he adopted.

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Battle of Gura

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