No cause to rejoice over the death of so many Christian men

From Anthony Mockler's Haile Selassie's War.

Ethiopia has a fascinating (and tragic) history. A native African empire that lasted into the modern era and one of the most ancient continuous Christian communities in the world. Mockler's book (so far) looks to be a well balanced history of the kingdom's (successful) struggle to remain independent at the time of the onslaught of European imperial land grabs in the late 1800s. In the first Italo-Ethiopian War, this culminated in the Ethiopian victory over the Italians on March 1, 1896 in the Battle of Adowa. Italy lost about a quarter or half of their invasion force of 16,000.

The tale is full of the exotic and unexpected from an event that is only a hundred and some years ago: eunuch generals, tribal champions, imperial courts, the Ark of the Covenant, Empresses leading divisions of the army, etc. Among the more striking elements is a moral consistency so rarely encountered in history. From page xxxx.

The Empress Taitu meanwhile had taken up her position on Mount Latsat behind her guns - six quick-firing Hotchkiss directed by the Commander of the Artillery, the young Galla eunuch, Bajirond Balcha. With her, gathered under the black umbrella - raised instead of the Imperial Red as a sign of grief at battle against fellow-Christians - were Woizero Zauditu, her step-daughter, and their maidservants.

[snip]

There was no organized pursuit of the routed [Italian] army. And there were no great rejoicings in the Ethiopian camp. Menelik cut short the boasting ceremonies and the war-songs in favor of 'Abba Dagnew', his horse-name. Later he told Dr. Neruzzini that he saw no cause to rejoice over the death of so many Christian men.