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 First Italo-Ethiopian War. In the 1890s, the government of Ethiopia began plotting an insurrection in Italian Eritrea to push back against Italian encroachment on their country. On December 15, 1894, Bahta Hagos, the "chief of Okule-Kasai province in northern Tigré," launched a rebellion against the Italian authorities. On December 18, a force of Italian troops, led by Major Pietro Toselli discovered that a small Italian fort at Halai (garrisoned by 220 men) was being besieged by 1,600 of Bahta's rebels. Toselli attacked with 1,500 men, hitting his enemy (who "had almost taken the fort" ) in the rear. Bahta was killed in the ensuing battle and his army fell apart. In total, eleven Italians were killed and twenty-two wounded in the action.