Emperor Theodore (Tewodros) II of Abyssinia retreated to the fortress of Magdala. The British began with an artillery bombardment on 13 April. Royal Engineers blew up the gates of the fortress, infantry poured in, then took the second gate, where they found Tewodros dead inside. He'd committed suicide with a pistol that had originally been a gift from Queen Victoria, rather than face captivity.

---

Size: 3776px × 5208px
Location: Ethiopia
Photo credit: © De Luan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 19th, abbysinia, africa, antiquarian, antiquity, army, art, artillery, battlefield, black, bodies, bombardment, british, bygone, century, committed, cornelius, dead, death, defeat, drawing, emperor, engraving, etching, ethiopia, expeditionary, field, force, fortress, gift, graphic, heritage, historic, history, horn, icon, iconic, ii, illustration, line, litho, lithograph, magdala, marshal, military, monochrome, napier, pictorial, picture, pistol, print, queen, robert, sketch, soldiers, study, suicide, tewodros, theodore, type, victoria, victory, white, woodcut