| Battle of Debre Tabor | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Loyalists to Ali | Loyalists to Wube Hailemariam | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ali II of Yejju Birru Aligaz Dejazmach Merso | Wube Haile Maryam Birru Goshu | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~30,000 | ~30,000 | ||||||
TheBattle of Debre Tabor was a conflict during theZemene Mesafint in 1842 initiated byDejazmachWube Haile Maryam to overthrowRasAli II as Regent of theEmperor of Ethiopia and gain control ofEthiopia. This confused battle was won by Ras Ali, but at a steep price, and this victory failed to cement his position as the most powerful nobleman of his time.
Dejazmach Wube's strategy against Ras Ali depended on his ability to import more firearms, which would provide him with a tactical superiority that would more than outweigh the vauntedcavalry ofRas Ali'sOromo kinsmen, and to obtain anAbuna for theEthiopian Church, who would help unite the demoralized Christian population behind him. Wube made several appeals to obtain firearms from European governments, but did not succeed in obtaining any until the middle of 1841 whenTheophile Lefebvre returned from France with a small quantity of weapons and a number of artisans who immediately began to repair a cannon Wube had obtained fromRasWolde Selassie and manufacture war materials. About the same time, he learned that a new Abuna was on his way to Ethiopia,Abuna Salama III, who arrived in Ethiopia in the last months of 1841. With this success, theDejazmach lost all discretion and he treated the envoys ofRas Ali with contempt, and announced that he would defeatRas Ali, who he claimed was still aMuslim at heart, and install Tekle Giyorgis, related to theSolomonic dynasty, on the Imperial throne inGondar.
OnceAbuna Salama arrived in Wube's camp the Dejazmach marched intoBegemder, where with the help ofBirru Goshu he captured Gondar, then the allies continued south againstRas Ali's army. The two forces met nearDebre Tabor 7 February 1842;Ras Ali had summoned nearly 30,000 soldiers to support him, amongst whom were Wube's brotherDejazmachMerso and Ali's uncleDejazmachBirru Aligaz. Mordechai Abir observes that this "was clearly a battle between the ChristianAmhara andTigrean elements and the Oromo, fighting desperately to preserve their predominant position in northernEthiopia."[1]
Although the two forces were equal in numbers,Dejazmach Wube's superiority in firearms carried the day.Ras Ali escaped the battlefield with a number of his followers, and with possession of the battlefield theDejazmach and his ally Birru Goshu settled down to a feast to celebrate their victory. At that moment they were surprised by a small detachment underDejazmach Birru Aligaz, who capturedDejazmach Wube and chased Birru Goshu across theAbbay River intoGojjam. Released from his imprisonment,Ras Ali grudgingly rewarded his uncle with the governorship ofDaunt, a district along the border ofAmhara and Wello;Dejazmach Merso was given Wube's territories in Tigray.
Despite this victory,Ras Ali was in a worse position than before the battle. His enemies were still operating in Gojjam,Damot,Dembiya, andLasta; the clergy was still hostile to him, and his own Christian subjects in Begemder and Amhara were even more disaffected. To secure the Abuna's help, he was forced to freeDejazmach Wube and go to war against his allyDejazmach Merso to help Wube recover his territories. HisMoslem allies in Welo, alarmed at the Christian Birru Aligaz being invested on their borders, likewise grew disaffected.Ras Ali was forced to seek help elsewhere, and sought it from theEgyptians, who at the moment were consolidating their hold onSudan. Although in the short term a beneficial move, this only served to further erode his local support, leading to a vicious cycle leading toRas Ali's eventual defeat by a competent rival—the future EmperorTewodros II.[2]