page_title: Giuseppe Galliano
section_title: Defense of the fort of Mek'ele
hierarchical_section_title: Giuseppe Galliano / African Colonial Service / Defense of the fort of Mek'ele
caption_attribution_description: English: Site of Ethiopian siege of the Italian garrison between December 1895 and January 1896
context_page_description: Giuseppe Galliano was an officer of the Royal Italian Army, mostly known for his role during the First Italo-Ethiopian War. He perished in the Battle of Adwa and was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour.
context_section_description: In autumn 1895 all of Tigray was occupied; the Governor of Eritrea, General Oreste Baratieri returned to Massaua. A few weeks later, Negus Menelik II denounced the undue Italian occupation of Tigray, a territory that the Treaty of Wuchale assigned to Ethiopia. Menelik II collected huge supplies of provisions, cattle, arms and ammunitions and gathered a big army in order to march against the Italian column. In December the Abyssinian army could boast 100,000 men, while the Italian forces had been divided into two contingents: 5000 men were stationed in Adigrat and 5000 in Mek'ele, under General Giuseppe Arimondi.
  
  Arimondi intended to support Major Pietro Toselli, isolated with its company on the plateau of Amba Alagi in an advanced position. However Governor Baratieri telegraphed that the garrison in Mek'ele had to be maintained and prohibited general Arimondi from moving. On 7 December approximately 2000 soldiers, commanded by Major Toselli, died heroically.
  Arimondi, that had advanced as far as Aderà, (20 km from Amba Alagi), could only collect the few survivors and go back to Adigrat, leaving Giuseppe Galliano with 1.300 men in the fort of Enda Yesus near Mek'ele. The army of the Negus began the siege of the fort. Galliano resisted for two months to the continuous attacks of 100,000 Abyssinian armed men. The small garrison of approximately 1500 men endured serious losses, mainly for diseases, but did not surrender. The peace negotiations reached the peak on 17 January 1896, when Menelik II offered to stop hostilities and let the Italians in Mek'ele go free, asking in compensation that the Treaty of Wuchale be cancelled. The Italian government, though demanding the liberation of the besieged ones of Mek'ele, remained firm in asking that the Treaty be renewed. The siege finally came to an end when Menelik agreed to free the Italian army and negotiate. This was good news for Galliano because his army was facing defeat and was short of water supplies. Galliano with all his men joined the Italian forces near the Eritrean border. For the heroic defense of the fort of Enda Yesus (then called in his honor “Fort Galliano”) Galliano received another Silver Medal of Military Valor and was moved up to lieutenant colonel in January 1896.
caption: Enda Yesus Fort, Mek'ele, Ethiopia, ca. 1890
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