The site of Dogali, about 20km west of Massawa, was the scene of the battle known as the “Battle of Dogali”, which took place on 26 January 1887, fought between the Italian colonial troops and the Ethiopian forces during Italy’s first attempt to expand into Eritrea.
In 1885, Italy had occupied the Eritrean port of Massawa, which was in Egyptian hands at the time.
Following the capture of Massawa, the Italian action from the coast - where, since 1882, Assab had been proclaimed an Italian colony - extended towards the interior of the country, entering into conflict with the kingdom of Abyssinia and the Dervishes of the Mahadi (Sudanese Islamists), who already held some regions of Eritrea.
In 1887, the Italians took the Saati hill, 28km from Massawa, as an outpost for the conquest of the plateau.
This action was seen by the Emperor of Ethiopia, Yohannes IV, as a threat to Ethiopia’s ambitions for a port on the Red Sea, aggravated by Italy’s support for Menelik, Negus of Shewa, rival of and later successor to Yohannes IV.
Alula Engida, an Ethiopian general appointed ras in 1876 by Yohannes IV, was sent to govern Hamasien, the central region of the plateau on which the capital Asmara stands. On 24 January 1887, the army commanded by Ras Alula moved against the Italian forces stationed in the fort of Saati, led by Major Boretti, who - aware of his disadvantage in terms of forces and supplies - asked for help at the fort of Moncullo, located 10km from Massawa.
On the morning of 26 January, a contingent of 548 soldiers commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Tommaso De Cristoforis left Moncullo, but was intercepted by Ras Alula and heavily defeated at Dogali, with the loss of 413 soldiers and 22 officers. Of that unit, only one officer and 86 soldiers survived - injured or mutilated, confused amidst their massacred comrades - and were saved the next day by a rescue unit. Those who fell in that battle can be found buried in various common graves located a short distance from the monument that was erected shortly after the event, on the Dogali hill.
The defeat aroused a wave of emotion in Italy, leading to the resignation of the Depretis government and the transfer of the responsibilities and jurisdictions relating to Eritrea from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of War, but this did nothing to slow Italy’s colonial expansion in Eritrea.
On 4 January 1888, a monument in memory of the fallen was inaugurated on the hill of Dogali, donated by Eumene Tomagnini of Pietrasanta. The monument consists of a three-metre base, with a column topped with a Corinthian capital standing atop it; this, in turn, supports a statue representing Italy. An inscription honours the memory of those who died on 26 January 1886.