The Battle of Kassala was fought on July 17, 1894, between an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

colonial troop and Mahdist Sudanese forces.Conquest of Kassala, with map of the battle (in Italian)
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Prelude

Governor Oreste Baratieri sought to capture

Kassala Kassala ( ar, كسلا) is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. Built on the banks of the Gash River, it is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. Many of its inhabit ...

, to forestall Mahdist attacks on

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...

. In July 1894, Baratieri saw his moment when the

Atbarah River The Atbarah River ( ar, نهر عطبرة; transliterated: Nahr 'Atbarah), also known as the Black Nile, is a river in northeast Africa. It rises in northwest Ethiopia, approximately 50 km north of Lake Tana and 30 km west of Gondar. ...

started to rise, and marched his small army of ''"''56 Italian officers, 41 NCOs and 2510 native soldiers led by 16 Bukbashis''"'' towards

Battle

An account of the capture of Kassala was published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on July 20, 1894: ''"'' Rome, July 19.- ...The attack upon the earthworks of the Mahdists was at once ordered and a fiercely contested battle ensued. The Mahdists fought desperately, but were finally driven from their position, leaving hundreds of dead and wounded in and about the intrenchments. Being hotly pursued, the Mahdists scattered under a continuous fire, and many of them in their efforts to escape plunged into the River Adbara, hoping to reach the other side. ...Hundreds of the enemy were drowned, and it is believed that none succeeded in reaching the opposite bank.''"''

Aftermath

The

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

captured two flags and a number of cannons, in addition the Italians freed captured people, including ''"s''everal white men and about a hundred of the remnants of the former

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

ian garrison; also a number from the tribes around.''"'' On July 23 the General Oreste Baratieri left, leaving a garrison of a thousand men with two guns under Colonel Turitto. Three years later, in 1897, the Italians gave control of Kassala back to the British, returning to their

Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea ( it, Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in 1 ...

, in order to get international recognition of their colony of

Sources

{{coord missing, Ethiopia 1894 in Sudan

July 1894 events