Battle of Ctesiphon (1915)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Ctesiphon


caption=Mesopotamian Front
July–November 1915
partof=Mesopotamian Campaign
(World War I)
date=22 November, 1915 – 25 November, 1915
place=Ctesiphon, present-day Iraq
result=Inconclusive
combatant1=flagicon|United Kingdom British Empire

*flagicon|India|British British India
combatant2=flagicon|Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
commander1=flagicon|United Kingdom Charles Townshend
commander2=flagicon|German Empire Colmar von der Goltz
strength1=11,000 troops,
2 warships
strength2=18,000 troops, 52 guns
casualties1=4,600 Griffiths William R., "The Great War: The West Point Military History Series", Square One Publishers, Inc. p. 91 "The day's battle cost Townshend 4,600 casualties and Nur-ud-Din 9,500."] David F. Burg & L. Edward Purcell, "Almanac of World War I", University Press of Kentucky, p. 90 "After two days of futile efforts to dislodge the Turks at Ctesiphon, Townshend concedes failure and orders a withdrawal to Lajj. His total casualties number nearly forty-six hundred; the Turks, nearly sixty-two hundred."]
casualties2=6,200 Erickson Edward J., "Ordered to Die: a history of the Ottoman army in the first World War", Greenwood Press, p. 113-114 "He [Townshend] thereupon made the fateful decision to withdraw his force back downstream to Kut al Amara. The final Turkish casualty figures were put at 6,188 killed and wounded, earlier estimates having been found to be exaggerated."] to 9,500

The Battle of Ctesiphon was fought in November 1915 by the British Empire and British India, against the Ottoman Empire, within the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I.

British Expeditionary Force D, mostly made up of Indian units and under the command of Gen. Sir John Nixon, had met with success in Mesopotamia since landing at Al Faw upon the Ottoman Empire's Declaration of War on November 5, 1914.

One of the primary reasons for initiating the campaign in Mesopotamia was to defend the oil refinery at Abadan at the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab. Adopting a forward defence policy, the British army under General Townshend fought off a series of small Turkish forces. Then after a year of a string of defeats, the Turks were able to halt the British advance in two days of hard fighting at Ctesiphon.

Battleground

Ctesiphon lies on the left bank of the Tigris River in the barren Iraqi desert, about 380 miles upstream from Basra, 40 miles North of Kut al-Amara, and 16 miles South-East of Baghdad. It is a good defensive position located in a 6 mile long loop of the Tigris river. At the town there is a ruined palace, the remains of a Parthian capital.

The Turks had formed a well camouflaged and formidable line of trenches crossing the river. There were two lines of trenches, there was also a twenty foot high ancient wall three miles south of the main line used for observation by the Turks.

The Ottoman forces consisted of approximately 18,000 men and 52 guns. The overall commander of the Ottoman army in Mesopotamia was Khalil Pasha. The commander in the field for the previous nine months had been an Arab leader named Nur-ud Din Pasha, but the Ottoman army was now (as of October) under the command of Baron von der Goltz, a well known German general, military historian and, for 12 years, the modernizer of the Turkish army. Baron von der Goltz was old but he was an expert on military matters and had a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Ottoman army. Nur-ud Din Pasha was at the battle and the British believed he was still the commander. This may have been a factor in the course of events as the British - with considerable justification - thought poorly of Nur-ud Din's skills as a general.

The British force consisted of the 6th Poona Division, at a strength of around 11,000 men. Some British troops had been left behind to garrison the recently captured town and river junction of Kut.

The British advance past Kut was slow, partly due to the bad weather and wet ground and partly due to General Townshend's reluctance to advance further. But the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in the region, General Nixon, ordered Townshend to take Baghdad. So, he commenced his march up the Tigris river.

British attack plan

Townshend's plan of attack was to separate his force into four columns. Three infantry columns, designated columns A, B, and C, were scheduled for a frontal attack on different points of the Turkish lines. The other column, referred to as the flying column, was made up of a mix of cavalry and infantry, and was supposed to swing around the left flank of the Turkish lines. The attack was to be supported by two river boats, a gunboat and HMS "Firefly".

Movements and the clash

Townshend, intending to copy his success at Battle of Es Sinn, ordered a night march in the closing hours of November 21, 1915, with the aim of attacking at dawn on the November 22. The attack happened on schedule but due to poor ground conditions on the west bank the British ended up attacking the much stronger east bank positions.

The advance was supposed to be supported by river gunboats, however two things prevented the gun boats from becoming a factor in the battle. First, the Turkish guns on the west bank rained fire upon them. Secondly, the Tigris was extensively mined and several river obstructions made navigation difficult.

At the beginning of the battle, C-Column, the one closest to the river bank came under heavy small arms and artillery fire and failed to reach the first trench line. A-Column, in the middle, was also halted short of the trench line.

On the right, B-Column (mainly Punjabis and Gurkhas) reached the first line of trenches, forced the Turks to retreat and pursued the retreating enemy towards the 2nd line of trenches.

Townshend then ordered C-Column to fall back, and try and exploit the breakthrough. This movement was rather complicated and the task was made difficult by Turks on the wall firing into their flank. Meanwhile the flying column bogged down in inconclusive fighting against Turkish and Arab Cavalry.

By the end of the day the 6th Poona Division had captured the first line of trenches, but the British sustained heavy casualties.

econd day

On the second day, the Ottomans attacked the British positions. This counter-attack, intended to retake the first line of trenches, was weak and stopped shortly after it started. That night, they attacked again in greater strength. The fight was much harder than in the morning, but the British line held.

Day three

On November 24, Baron von der Goltz ordered a general withdrawal. By the time the British realized the Ottoman forces were retreating, General Townshend had concluded he needed to retreat as well. His losses had been too great to continue the effort to take Baghdad. So both sides ended up retreating from the field of battle.

Aftermath

The 6th Poona Division had sustained a 40% casualty rate, losing about 4,600 troops. They were exhausted from the heavy fighting of the past two days and had an effective strength of about 8,500. Townshend decided a retreat back towards Kut was necessary to rebuild the strength of his army.

The Ottoman Army had sustained casualties of 6,200, but they had short supply lines and were able to get reinforcements from Baghdad and the northern provinces. Baron von der Goltz, learning that the British were also retreating, turned his army around and pursued the British. The Turks followed the British to Kut.

Ctesiphon and its aftermath revealed a key British weakness in this campaign: an inadequate supply line. The British troops were under-supplied and their medical corps was understaffed considering the number of troops and rate of casualties (both from battle and disease). In the later campaign which lead to the capture of Baghdad by General Maude, logistics were much better dealt with.

Notes

References

* [http://www.1914-1918.net/meso_bat7.htm The Battle of Ctesiphon] - Downloaded from "The Long, Long Trail: The Story of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918". Retrieved August 16, 2005.
* Bruce, A. (n.d.). 22nd - 25th November 1915 - The Battle of Ctesiphon. [Electronic Version] "An Illustrated Companion to the First World War".
* [http://firstworldwar.com/battles/ctesiphon.htm The Battle of Ctesiphon, 1915] - from "The First World War". Retrieved August 16, 2005.
* Millar, Ronald W. (1970). "Death of an Army: The Siege of Kut, 1915- 1916". London: Houghton Mifflin.
* [http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Battle_of_Kut/Battle_of_Kut_01.htm The Battle of Kut] - first hand account of an earlier battle published in an English illustrated magazine in 1916.