The Battle of Gura’e
8 Mar, 1876 - 9 Mar, 1876
At the Battle of Gura'e, Egyptian fortress at Gura'e was attacked by Abyssinian army under Emperor Yohannes IV
Gura’e, the site of two major Egyptian (under Ottoman Empire) forts, was attacked by an Abyssinian army under Emperor Yohannes IV. The Egyptian commander Ratib Pasha intended to remain within the safety of the Gura’e fortress, but his American chief of staff Loring Pasha—the former Confederate Brig. Gen. William Loring—shamed him into direct confrontation with the main Ethiopian force by crying “No! March out of them! You are afraid!”
Raesi Woldemichael Solomon of Hazegga (Eritrea) allies himself with the Egyptians in this battle to fight against the Abyssinian Emperor whom, he sensed, would not appoint him to rule over Mereb Mellash (mainly the Central Highlands of Eritrea). He suspected that his nemesis, Degiat Hailu Tewoldemedhin of Tsaazegga (Eritrea) would get the favor from the monarch.
The subsequent rout from March 7 to 9 ended Egyptian hegemony over Eritrea and the Red Sea littoral and left open the possibility that the French would be able to colonize the entire region and endanger British routes through the Suez Canal.
Map of the battlefield of Gura’e
Degiat Hailu Tewoldemedhin of Tsazzega
Emperor Yohannes IV of Abyssinia
U.S. Confederate Brig. Gen. William W Loring with an Ottoman Pasha regalia