- Battle of Segale
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Segalecaption=
partof=Palace Coup against Lij Iyasu
date=27 October 1916
place=Segale , 40 miles north ofAddis Ababa
result=Lij Iyasu's chief supporter crushed, removing his ability to keep the Imperial throne
combatant1=Regents of Ethiopia
combatant2=Loyalists to Lij Iyasu
commander1=FitawrariHabte Giyorgis
commander2=Negus Mikael
strength1=120,000
strength2=80,000
casualties1=TBD
casualties2=TBD|The Battle of Segale, fought on27 October 1916 , defeated the supporters of Emperor Iyasu V ofEthiopia and secured the effects of the palace coup that led toZawditu being proclaimed Empress. Henze states that "Segale was Ethiopia's greatest battle since Adwa." [Ref Ethiopia|Henze-2000|pages= p. 196]Background
The nobility of
Ethiopia had grown uneasy with the rule of Emperor Iyasu V. At last, when Iyasu failed to observe the important religious holiday ofMeskel in the capitalAddis Ababa , instead he remained in the predominantlyMoslem city ofHarar , they decided to strike. A number of nobles met 17 days later on27 September , and convincedAbuna Mattewos toexcommunicate Iyasu on the accusation that he converted toIslam , then announced on the steps of the Palace that Iyasu had been deposed in favor of EmpressZawditu .The plotters had sent orders to Harar that Iyasu would be arrested, which went astray. Sources dispute exactly what Lij Iyasu's did next.
Bahru Zewde states that Iyasu started to march on Addis Ababa, but his advance was blocked atMieso by 15,000 soldiers and he fled into the Afar desert.Ref Ethiopia|BahruZewde-2001|pages= p. 128] Harold Marcus, drawing on the reports filed by the European diplomats, states that instead Lij Iyasu had sent one force towards the capital under Dejazmach Gebre, and another, raised from loyal Afars and Somalis, to secureDire Dawa ; the Dejazmach went over to the opposing army and the Afars and Somalis deserted before reaching the city, and Iyasu fled with his bodyguard toJijiga . [Harold G. Marcus, "Haile Sellassie I the Formative years: 1892-1936" (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1996), pp. 19f.]Aleqa Gebre Igziabiher Elyas's narrative supports Marcus in that Iyasu fled to the desert where his Afar supporters helped him. [ Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas "Prowess, Piety, and Politics: The Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia (1909-1930)", translated by Edward Molvaer (Köln: Rüdiger Köppe, 1994), p. 366, with a list of his 17 supporters.] In either case, Harar failed him as a base of support and he took refuge in the desert.The Engagement
His father and most important supporter,
Negus Mikael ofWollo , was slow to march south upon the capital and restore Iyasu to the throne, not moving until the middle of October. Yet, when he did, the Negus crushed the troops sent against him. On18 October , Negus Mikael's troops defeated an advance force of 11,000 men inMenz and killed their leader, Ras Lul Segged. [Marcus, "Haile Sellassie", p. 22.] Under the command of the regent Ras Tafari (the future Emperor Haile Selassie) andFitawrari Habte Giyorgis , a force estimated to number between 25,000 and 35,000 marched north to do battle and the two armies came to face each other atSegale on the 22nd.Afterwards, the then Ras Tafari stated that because "bloodshed among Ethiopians themselves is extremely saddening, I arranged that monks from the monasteries of
Debre Libanos and Zequala ... [should] come with their crosses to request Negus Mikael to go back to Wollo without making war." Negus Mikael is said to have simply arrested these emissaries, ignoring their message. [As quoted in Haile Selassie, "My Life and Ethiopia's Progress" (Chicago: Frontline Distribution International, 1999), pp. 54f.]Negus Mikael opened the battle early in the morning, but his
artillery was put out of commission by his opponent and hismachine-gun ners ran out of ammunition. [Marcus, "Haile Sellassie", p. 23] Aleqa Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas, drawing from eyewitness accounts, describes the battle opening with a charge of Negus Mikael's infantry and cavalry. However, the Shewan troops had been trained to fire their rifles in rows and from the prone position, allowing them to fire in quick succession "and felled [them] like leaves." Then the Shewans attacked, "and they pursued the army of Wello and took capives. And particularly the Shewan cavalry went from valley to valley" and overran Negus Mikael's camp."Gebre-Igzabiher Elyas, "Chronicle", p. 371] At 3:25 pm, one of the Shewan officers telephoned to the capital that they had won the battle. "The dead are very numerous on both sides."Marcus, "Haile Sellassie", p. 24] Aleqa Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas explains one cause for this bloodshed was that the two sides did not differ in dress or insignia, and could only distinguish each other by their passwords, which were not always well known to the soldiers. Bahru Zewde succinctly comments: "The Wallo forces were defeated. "Negus" Mikael was captured. The coup [of 27 September] was now sanctioned by blood."Afterwards
Negus Mikael defended himself in his corral until his defeat was undeniable, when he surrendered.Gebre-Igzabiher Elyas, "Chronicle", p. 372] Amnesty was offered to the soldiers from the losing side, provided that they swear loyalty to the new Empress. However, two of Negus Mikael's chief lieutenants escaped the battle unvanquished: Ras Yimer, who managed to rally some of the defeated army and lead them to
Dessie ; and Fitawrari Sirah Bizu, who discarded his weapons and battle-dress and slipped from the battlefield in the garb of a sick priest with a single servant, and met up with Ras Yimer in Dessie. Dejazmach Gebre Igziabiher who had been a lukewarm supporter of Negus Mikael sat out the battle, but when the Negus surrendered and he attempted to flee back to Welo, the peasants ofAliyu Amba ambushed and killed him.As for the deposed Lij Iyasu, he had just reached Ankober by the time the battle ended; he led his small army of 6,000 into the desert back to
Dessie , arriving there8 November and joining with Ras Yimer and Fitawrari Sirah Bizu. When the Imperial army reached that town10 December , he fled further north to the old stronghold ofAmba Mariam , further away from the center of power. "Iyasu could not even slow down the consolidation of the new government," notes Harold Marcus. [Marcus, "Haile Sellassie", pp. 25f]Notes
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