Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1917-03-12
(By Morning Journal Special Leased Wire. J

wells at the mouth of the Tieris, but
the ultimate and far greater object
was the ehatteripg of the great Ger
man dream of dominion In the near
cast. The realization of this dream
was based on tho construction of the
Berlin Observation-Disclosures railway
and by the seizure of Bagdad the Brit
| ish hoped to prevent the completion of
this road, at least by German handa.
and strike a shattering blow at Ger
man prestige in that section of the
world.
Tovnshend Captures Knit.
General Townshend commanded a
force OF about 10000 men and at first
he pushed forward with amazing
speed. Early in June, 1915, he cap
tured Kut-elAmara, about 250 miles
from the mouth of the Tigris and
about 100 miles from Bagdad. On the
22nd of the following November he
reached Cesiphon, twenty miles from
! his goal, when he was attacked by an
overwhelming force OF Ottoman
troops. His water supply gave out
| and he was forced to retreat
Fighting a continuous rear guard
action the British expedition regained
Kut-el-Amara on December s. Hero
General Townshend determined to
mako a stand with a portion OF his
forces, and entrenched with about
1900 men. while the remainder Of
his troops continued 10 fall back along
the Tigris in order to Join hands with
the relief army that was hurriediy
dispatched from France and India.
after tho defeat Mt Ctesiphon.
Thirty thousand Indian troops and
two Anglo-Indian divisions which had
been fighting in France. formed the
relief corps that Joined the remnants
of the Townshend expedition, and
made a desperate effort to rescue the
beleaguered garrison at Kut-el-
Amara.
Kut IL Retaken.
For three months Gen. Sir Percy
Lake, the relief commander, fought
his way UP the Tigris and was within
eight riles of his besieged comrades
when on April 13, 1916, General
Townshend. his food supply exhaust
Cd was compelled to surrender In
.'|t III l''NllNllllt INlliLblt'IltllLS ndd
hcon sent from Egypt. including the
T'rtrcnth colonial division, which
Nad tak'n uart In the ill-fated Galli-
.nli cam aiFn. But after the disaster
st Krr-cl-Amara the British abandon
"A the offensive for several months
General Towrshcut'. rurrIuoG-
.c,inst Bagdad had been seconded b..
h, Russians, who had advanced
from Persia and the Mush region, and
had reached within seventy miles of
the Tigris when the Townshend sur.
render occurred. shortly afterward
the Russians abandoned their cam
paign and. after some desultory fight
ing. withdrew to the Persian noun
tains
The resumption Of British opera
lions on a major scale did not occur
until December, 1916. when an ad-
vance on Kut-ei-Amara was nlnG"
from the Babylonian plains. while
second force again moved up the IT.
girls. Cen. Frederick Stanley Maude
was in command of the new cam
paign and was officially reported to
have 120, 900 men at his disposal The
exact composition and numbers of the
British forces have, however, never
been officially made public.
British Progress Steady.
From the time OF the opening of
the new campaign the British prog
ress was steady and uninterrupted,
and, in it's last phases, of remarkable
rapidity, on February IS Kut-el-
Amara was captured for the second
time and several thousand Turkish
prisoners taken. Within two weeks
the British cavalry patrols were with
in a few miles of Bagdad.
The fall of kut-el-Amara and the
rapid progress of the British toward
Bagdad was the signal for the renew
nj of the Russian campaign to the
north. A Russian army advancing
from Persia captured Hamadan and
pushed swiftly forward in the direc-
ton of the Tgris.
On March 9. the Russian troops
were reported within seventy miles of
the Tigris, while another diversion
was caused by the unheralded ad-
vance of L second British expedition
into Palestine from Egypt. At last