The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1917-03-15

llOHuOll, AaFcH l%.-DuSu;lu, the
chief Turkish city in Mesopotamia and
formerly the capital of the empire of
The, cainhs, has been captured by the.
british forces. Announcement of the
'Glnitulation of the city was made by
the British official press bureau.
The statement was issued on re-
ceipt OF telegram from General
lIaude saying the British forces had
occupied Bagdad early Sunday morn
ing. No details Of the capture of the
city were contained in General
Euude's dispatch.
Turks Driven From Position.
I'M During the day the following Off
cid report was received concerning
The operations against Bagdad carry
ing them up to Saturday morning,
hen the Turks had been forced back
IT. within three miles west and south.
west of the city:
sour forces engaged with the
Turks on the Dlala line the night of
the Sih succeeded, despite the bright
ls,1 oonlight, in effecting a surprise
crossing of the Diala and establishing
g strong post on the right bank there.
pi. Meanwhile, on the morning of the
Eth, the ,Tigris having been bridged at
some distance downstream, a British
detachment marched up the right bank
and found the enemy holding posi-
ton about six miles southwest of Bag
dad.
THE enemy was driven from this
position to another position two miles
fl the rear.
British Advance Nearer.
During the night of the 9th pas
s"ge of the Diala was forced and our
troops advanced some four miles to-
ward Bagdad.
During the 9th our forces on the
right bank (Tigris) drove the enemy
f. ON his second position, bivouacking
on the ground gained. This advan-
t;ge, notwithstanding q binding dust
orm and a violent gale, was pressed
OF the morning of the 10th, the Turks
being pushed back to within three
miles west and southwest of Bagtlad."
Big Victory for Allies.
General Maude's drive nOrthward
along 'he crooked Tigris since the
c pture of Kut is regarded in London
a. one of the most spectacular and
Brilliant feats of the war.
News of Bagdad's capture reached
London late in the afternoon. 1t was
promptly flashed broadcast and came
to all Europe as one of the greatest
surprises of the war.
.. Esgdad Famous in History.
Bagdads capture marks the climax
to one of the most dramatic and pic
hrcSQue phases of the world war.
The city which has fallen to British
arms links the present to a past so
distant that it is semi-fabulous. The
known history of Bagdad reaches
back for more than 1900 years to the
shad0wy times of King Nebuchadnez.
Ear of Babylon, Il quay built by the
striptural monarch still existing sub
merged in the TigriS. Within its pre-
cinct also there still stand the tombs
OF the Jewish prophets Joshua, Ezra
and Ezekiel, and there, Also is the well
of Daniel.
Heart OF Great Empire.
The heart of the great Islamic en-
pire 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-liaschid, the potentate
whose magnificence is immortalized in
tire Arabian Nights.
With the fall of the caliphs before
the Turkish sultans-the decline of Bag
dad commenced.
The British campaign against Bag
dad was opened early in 1915 when
an AngloIndian force under Maj. Gen.
Charles We're Ferrers Townshend was
landed at the head of the Persian gulf
and moved rapidly up the Tigris.
Army Forced to Retreat.
General TGwnshend commanded a
force of about 10000 men. At first
he pushed forward with amazing speed.
Early in June. 1915, he captured Kut-
El-Amara.
General Townshend, his food supply
exhausted, was compelled to surrender
on April 10, 1916.
The resumption of British opera
tons on major scale did not occur
until December. 1916 when an advance
on KutzEl-Amara was made from the
Babyloilian plains While a second
force again moved up the Tigris.
General Maude in Command.
General Frederick Stanley Maude
was in command of the new campaign
and was unoflicially reported to have
10000 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.
On February 20 Kut-El-Amara was
captured for the second time and sew
eral thousand Turkish prisoners taken.
The fill of Kut-El-Amara and the
rapid progress Of the British toward
Bagdnd was the signal for the renew