Atlas of Battles

battle, landmark, nineteenth century

Battle of Adwa

Battle of Adwa was a battle fought on 1 March 1896 at Adwa, in what is now Ethiopia. It was part of First Italo-Ethiopian War, which ran from 1894 to 1896. The recorded result: Ethiopian victory.

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De betekenis van de Amhaarse teksten, van links naar rechts en van boven naar beneden: 1) Sint Joris 2) De kerkelijke drie-eenheid 3) Sint Joris kerk in Adua 4) Generaal Baratieri 5) Keizer Menelik 6)
De betekenis van de Amhaarse teksten, van links naar rechts en van boven naar beneden: 1) Sint Joris 2) De kerkelijke drie-eenheid 3) Sint Joris kerk in Adua 4) Generaal Baratieri 5) Keizer Menelik 6). Collectie Stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought1 March 1896
WhereAdwa, Ethiopia14.019N, 38.973E
OutcomeEthiopian victory
BelligerentsEthiopian EmpireagainstKingdom of Italy
Part ofFirst Italo-Ethiopian War1894 to 1896

Where it sits in First Italo-Ethiopian War

Battle of Coatit, 1895Battle of Mek'ele, 1896Battle of Adwa, 189618951896Battle of Adwa, 1896
3 placed engagements of First Italo-Ethiopian War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date1 March 1896
PlaceAdwa, Ethiopia
14.019N, 38.973E
KindBattle, nineteenth century
Commanders
  • Menelik II
  • Taytu Betul
  • Makonnen Wolde Mikael
  • Mikael of Wollo
  • Ras Alula
  • Ras Mengesha Yohannes
  • Oreste Baratieri
  • Vittorio Dabormida
  • Giuseppe Arimondi
  • Giuseppe Ellena
  • Matteo Albertone
Battle of AdwaBattle of AdwaBattle of Mek'eleBattle of Amba AradamBattle of HalaiBattle of Amba AlagiSecond Battle of Amba AlagiBattle of Mek'eleBattle of Amba AradamBattle of HalaiBattle of Amba AlagiMendeferaAdigratAksum100 km14.019N, 38.973E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Adwa
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 100 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Adwa today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-04-15. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 1,907 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 2,314 m, 2,314 m of relief, mountainous country and today it is 40% grassland, 36% cropland, 19% shrubland.

grassland: 40%cropland: 36%shrubland: 19%bare ground: 3%grassland 40%cropland 36%shrubland 19%bare ground 3%
west to east, 10.0 km0 to 1,952 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 1,913 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1896

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: ETH ARMYDefender: IT ARMY
Strength120,00020,251
Casualties17,000 (14.2%)9,678 (47.8%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1092
Outcomeattacker won
Duration2 days
Front width7 km14 km
Attacker advanced10 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 235), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Adwa is one of 3,507 engagements of the 19th century in the atlas and one of 56 in present-day Ethiopia.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q302519, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Adwa, revision 1385556469, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.