![]() ![]() The Ethiopians followed up their success, and closely invested Fort Gura, which they attacked in force on the 8th and 9th of March. Uthman Rifqi and his garrison of 5,500 men viewed the entire engagement from their fort at Khaya Khor but decided not to join the battle. Imagine 5,000 men who did not even know how to shoot, fighting over 50,000 savages who are at war all the time. We piled them up with our artillery by scores, but for every man shot, ten seemed to take his place, until the whole plain seem alive with these black demons. ![]() William Wing Loring describes the battle in his memoirs According to Lockett out of the 5,000 Egyptians that sortied out only a few hundred managed to return to the fort. In this stampede, many of the Egyptian infantry who were falling into ravines or slowed down by the thorny acacias were slaughtered in great numbers as they fled back to Gura fort. ![]() Soon the whole Egyptian brigade retreated in complete panic. 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. 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 gunners and infantry were enfiladed by the Ethiopians from higher ground, and the slaughter was so great that several regiments became completely demoralized. 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. 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. On March 7, the Egyptians that left the fort were attacked by the Ethiopians and surrounded. ![]() Little did they know, Ethiopian scouts had spotted their movements and prepared to attack the heavily outnumbered Egyptians. The 5,000 strong Egyptian infantry of Gura fort sortied out early on March 7. Fearing an attack on the supply depots, Rateb Pasha decided to send 5,000 out of his 7,500 strong force to attack the Ethiopian army, believing that dug-in Egyptian forces were unbeatable by enemies who did not possess artillery, such as the Abyssinians. Taking advantage of the lack of Egyptian reconnaissance, the Ethiopians positioned themselves on the Godolfelassie road, Yohannes could now strike Gura, Khaya Khor or Keren. Yohannes soon arrived in the area with a huge army of over 50,000 men mobilized from the provinces of Tigray, Gojjam and Wollo. Gura fort was garrisoned by 7,500 men led by Rateb Pasha and ex Confederate general William Wing Loring and Khaya Khor fort was garrisoned by 5,500 men led by Uthman Rifqi. This army moved to Gura plain, and made two forts there: "Gura" fort and "Khaya Khor" fort. The Egyptian army invaded the Ethiopian Empire from its coastal possessions in what is now Eritrea, and met that of Emperor Yohannes at Gundet on the morning of 16 November 1875.Īfter the defeat at Gundet, the Egyptians sent a much larger, well-armed force to attempt a second invasion. It was the second and decisive major battle of the Ethiopian–Egyptian War. 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. ![]()
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