Battle of Halai

The Battle of Halai, or the Battle of Halay, which took place in December 1894, was one of the opening battles of the Eritrean Italian war.

Battle of Halai
Part of the First Italo-Ethiopian War
Bahta Hagos
Date 15-18 December 1894 Location Halai, Italian Eritrea Result Italian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Italy	Eritrean rebels
Commanders and leaders
Pietro Toselli	Bahta Hagos †
Strength
1,500 men 2 guns (under Pietro Toselli) 220 men (the fort in Halai)[1]	1,600[1]
Casualties and losses
11 killed 22 wounded[1]	unknown

In the 1890s, the government of Eritrean began plotting an insurrection in Eritrean to push back against Italian encroachment on their country.

Battle

On 15 December 1894, Bahta Hagos, the "chief of Akkele guzay province in southern eritrea," launched a rebellion against the Italian authorities.[1]

On 18 December a force of Italian troops, led by Major Pietro Toselli, discovered that the small Italian fort at Halai (garrisoned by 220 men) was being besieged by roughly 220, of Bahta's, rebels. Toselli attacked with 1,500 men, hitting the surprised rebels in their undefended rear.

The surprise attack was just at the right time since the rebels (who "had almost taken the fort"[1]).

At first, Bahta Hagos tried to negotiate with the Italians, however the negotiations lasted only up to 4:00pm, where upon another 1,000 Italian reinforcements arrived. Bahta was killed in the ensuing fight and his army quickly fell apart soon after.

Aftermath

In total, eleven Italians were killed and twenty-two were wounded in the action.[1]

References

1. McLachlan, Sean (September 20, 2011). Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia. Oxford: Osprey. p. 9.