Second Battle of Agordat
Second Battle of Agordat | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Mahdist War | |||||||
Colonel Giuseppe Arimondi | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Italy | Mahdist Sudan | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Giuseppe Arimondi [2][3][5] |
Emir Ahmed Ali [2][3][6] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Italian troops: Eritrean Askaris; 400 of which were equipped with swords, spears, and shields |
Mahdi troops:[3][4][5] 10,000–12,000 Mahdists 6,000 armed with rifles | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
108 killed[5][7][8] 124 wounded[7][8] |
1,000+ killed[4][5] hundreds wounded[7][8] 180 men, 700 rifles and 72 flags captured [7][8] |
The Second Battle of Agordat was fought in late December 1893, between Italian colonial troops and Mahdists from the Sudan. Emir Ahmed Ali campaigned against the Italian forces in eastern Sudan and led about 10–12,000 men east from Kassala. This force encountered 2,400 Italians and their Eritrean askaris at Agordat, west of Asmara, commanded by Colonel Arimondi.[2] Over 1,000 Dervishes, including the Emir, were killed in severe fighting.[3][5] The outcome of the battle constituted:[9]
"...the first decisive victory yet won by Europeans against the Sudanese revolutionaries,..."
A year later, Italian colonial forces seized Kassala.
Sources[]
- ^ a b Wylde, Augustus Blandy (1900). Modern Abyssinia. London.
- ^ a b c d Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E. Westport.
- ^ a b c d e Arthur, Sir George (1920). Life of Lord Kitchener: Vol.1. New York.
- ^ a b c Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica. 01 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 82–95 see page 94, para (24) see last sentence.
A fine action by Colonel Arimondi gained Agordat for Italy (21st December 1893), and a brilliant march by Colonel Baratieri resulted in the acquisition of Kassala (17th July 1894)."
. In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). - ^ a b c d e Manchester Geographical Society (1893). The Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society: Vol.9–10. Manchester.
- ^ Hill, Richard Leslie (1951). A biographical dictionary of the Sudan. Oxford.
- ^ a b c d McLachlan, Sean (2011). Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896. Colchester.
- ^ a b c d Anthony D'Avray, Richard Pankhurst (2000). The Nakfa documents: Aethiopistische Forschungen 53. Wiesbaden.
- ^ Barclay, Glen St John (1973). The rise and fall of the new Roman empire: Italy's bid for world power, 1890–1943. London. ISBN 9780283978623.
Categories:
- 1893 in Sudan
- 1893 in the Italian Empire
- Battles of the Mahdist War
- Battles involving Italy
- Battles involving Sudan
- Conflicts in 1893
- December 1893 events
- Italian Eritrea