Battle of Ctesiphon (1915)

Battle of Ctesiphon
	Part of the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I
	; British advance towards Baghdad, 1915.
Date	22 November 1915 – 25 November 1915
Location	Ctesiphon, present-day Iraq
Result	Inconclusive
Belligerents
British Empire India;	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Charles Townshend	Khalil Pasha; Nur-ud Din Pasha
Strength
11,000 troops; 2 warships;	18,000–20,000 troops; 52 guns;
Casualties and losses
4,600	6,200 to 9,500

The Battle of Ctesiphon (Turkish: Selman-ı Pak Muharebesi) was fought in November 1915 by the British Empire, against the Ottoman Empire, within the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I.

Indian 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 it had landed at Al-Faw Peninsula upon the Ottoman Empire's declaration of war on 5 November 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 Ottoman forces. Then after a year of a string of defeats, the Ottoman forces were able to halt the British advance in two days of hard fighting at Ctesiphon.

^ ^a ^b 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."
^ ^a ^b 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 Ottoman forces 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."
^ Erickson Edward J., Ordered to Die: a history of the Ottoman army in the first World War, Greenwood Press, pp. 113–114. "He [Townshend] thereupon made the fateful decision to withdraw his force back downstream to Kut al Amara. The final Ottoman casualty figures were put at 6,188 killed and wounded, earlier estimates having been found to be exaggerated."

[Griffiths-1] 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."

[Burg-2] 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 Ottoman forces 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."

[Erickson-3] Erickson Edward J., Ordered to Die: a history of the Ottoman army in the first World War, Greenwood Press, pp. 113–114. "He [Townshend] thereupon made the fateful decision to withdraw his force back downstream to Kut al Amara. The final Ottoman casualty figures were put at 6,188 killed and wounded, earlier estimates having been found to be exaggerated."

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