Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 75, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1917 — FAILURE TURNED INTO A VICTORY [ARTICLE]

FAILURE TURNED INTO A VICTORY

Capture of Bagdad Marks Climax of One of jilost Dramatic Phases of War. / ' _ ONCE FIRST CITY^IF WORLD Known History of City Reaches Back to Shadowy Times of Nebuchadnezzar—Story of Failure of Townshend. London. —Bagdad's capture marks the climax to one of the most dramatic and picturesque phases of s war. The eity’which has fallen*to British arms links the present to a past so distant it is semi-fabulous. Tlie known history of Bagdad reaches back for more than four thousand years to the shadowy , times of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, a quay built by the sprlpturnl monarch still existing, submerged in the Tigris. Within its precincts also there still stand the tombs of the Jewish prophets, Joshua, Ezra, and Ezekiel, and the well of Daniel.

Long after the Babylonian dynasty had ceased to be more than a memory Bagdad rose to splendor as the artistic, literary, scientific, and religious* capital of the world. The heart of the great Islamic empire of the caliphs for hundreds of years, it was known throughout the world as "the Glorious City,” and was the scene of the fantastic exploits of Haroun-al-Raschid, the potentate whose magnificence Is Immortal izedint he Arabian Nights. "Price Had 2,000,000 Souls. In 800 B. C. Bagdad was credited with a population of 2,000,000 inhahh tants, and was easily the first city iu the world in wealth and commerce. With the fall of the caliphs before the Turkish sultans, the decline of Bagdad commenced. It was successively the prey of Turks, Mongols, Tartars, and Persians, but it was not until 1638 that the city became definitely a part of the Turkish empire.

Its ancient importance was largely due to the fact that it stood at the center of the lines of communication between India am> Persia and the west, but the opening of new routes by way of Trebizond and through Armenia diverted its trade and was a vital factor In Its decline. The British campaign against Bagdad was opened early in 1915 when an Anglo-Indian force under Maj. Gen. Charles Vere, Ferrers Townshend was landed at of the Persian gulf and moved rapidly up the Tigris. General Townsbeiui commanded a force of about 40.000 men and at first lie pushed forward with amazing speed. Early in June, 1915, he captured Kut-el-Amara, about 250 miles from the mouth of the Tigris and 100 miles from Bagdad On the 22d of the following November he reached Ctesiphon, 20 miles from his gogl, where he was attacked by an overwhelming force of Ottoman troops. His water supply gave out ahd lie Was forced to retreat. Fighting a continuous rear-guard action, the British expedition regained TTnt-ei-A mai n on December- -s.—Here General Townshend determined to make a stand with a portion of hts forces and entrenched with nbout 10.000 men, while tlie remainder of his troops continued to fall back along the Tigris in order |o join hands with tha relief army that was hurriedly dispatched froffi France anjL India after the defeat at Ctesiphon.

-' ./ Relief Comes Too Late. For three months Gen. Sir Percy Lake, the relief commander, fought his way up the Tigris and was within eight miles of his besieged comrades when on April 13, 1916, General Townshend, his food supply exhausted, was compelled to surrender. In the meantime additional re-en-forcements had been sent from Egypt. But after the disaster at Kut-el-Ainara, the British abandoned the offensive for several months. The resumption of British operations on a major scale did not occur until December, 1916, when an advance on Kul-el-Amara was made from the Babylonian plains, while a second force again moved up the Tigris. Gen. Frederick Stanley Maude was In command of the new campaign and was unofficially reported to have 120,000 men at his disposal. From the time of the opening of the new campaign the British progress was steady and uninterrupted and. in its last phases, of-remarkable rapidity.