Mesopotamian Campaign
General Townshend was ordered by his commander, General Nixon, to advance up the Tigris river with the goal of capturing Baghdad. The advance went well initially, Amarah was captured on 3 June 1915 (largely by bluff). The advance resumed three months later and Kut was captured on 28 September 1915. At this point, Townshend suggested halting but Nixon was convinced the Turks were weak and could be beaten. Townshend was ordered to continue to Baghdad.
Around 1 November, the 6th Indian left Kut and marched up the Tigris river. They reached Ctesiphon, some 25 miles (40 km) south of Baghdad on 20 November 1915. Here they met a somewhat larger Ottoman force, under the new command of Baron von der Goltz. Goltz was a German field marshal who had spent 12 years re-organizing the Ottoman army in the 1880s. Called out of retirement, he had spent most of 1915 as the military advisor to the Sultan Mehmed V.
The Battle of Ctesiphon was fought over two days starting 22 November 1915. The result of the battle was a clear Ottoman victory. Townshend, his division having lost 1/3 of its strength, resolved to retreat back to Kut. His forces arrived back at Kut on 3 December 1915. Baron von der Goltz, learning of the British retreat, had turned his battered army around and followed the British, arriving at Kut on 7 December.
Read more about this topic: Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend
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