As soon as the Italians considered they were strong enough to advance into Abyssinia, they seized the villages of Ua-à and Zula along with the town of Sahati, in modern-day Eritrea, and erected a small redoubt on the heights commanding the water supply for the caravans.

Ras Alula Engida, the governor under Emperor Yohannes IV, had at the time left Asmara, his headquarters, for the Basen country, in order to punish the Dervishes for raiding the Dembala provinces.

Although the Italians were well-armed with modern rifles, cannon, and machine guns, they were outnumbered 14 to 1; they fought back against the Ethiopians and held out for hours, but they eventually exhausted all their ammunition.

This battle was celebrated under the Derg regime, and Mengistu Haile Mariam commemorated the centennial with much attention, including the erection of a monument topped with a red star on the battlefield.

"[8] This could be attributed to the fact that while Alula was an administrator appointed by Yohannes IV over part of the Eritrean highlands, he committed many atrocities against the local Biher-Tigrinya population, sowing seeds of discord.

[9] The huge square in Rome in front of Termini railway station is called Piazza dei Cinquecento, in honor of the 500 Italian soldiers killed in the Battle of Dogali.