Battle of Ctesiphon ( 1915 ) The Battle of Ctesiphon ( Turkish : " Selman - ı Pak Muharebesi " ) was fought in November 1915 by the British Empire and British India , 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 landing at Al Faw upon the Ottoman Empire ' s Declaration of War on November 5 , 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 . Battleground . Ctesiphon lies on the left bank of the Tigris River in the barren Iraqi desert , about upstream from Basra , north of Kut al - Amara , and south - east of Baghdad . It is a good defensive position located in a loop of the Tigris river . At the town there is a ruined palace , the remains of a Parthian capital . The Ottoman forces had formed a well - camouflaged and formidable line of trenches crossing the river . There were two lines of trenches , there was also a ancient wall south of the main line used for observation by the Ottoman forces . The Ottoman forces consisted of approximately 18 , 000 men and 52 guns . The overall commander of the Ottoman army in Mesopotamia was Khalil Pasha . The commander in the field for the previous nine months was Colonel Nureddin also called Nur - ud Din Pasha , but the Ottoman army was as of October under the command of Baron von der Goltz , a well known German general , military historian and , for 12 years , a modernizer of the Ottoman army . Baron von der Goltz was old but he was an expert on military matters and had a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Ottoman army . General Goltz was still making his way to Mesopotamia and it was Nureddin who was in charge at the battle and the British believed he was still the commander . This may have been a factor in the course of events as the British - with considerable justification based on previous experience - thought poorly of Nureddin ' s skills as a general . Nureddin had four divisions . The 35th and 38th Divisions were predominantly Arab . The 38th Divisions ' prewar garrison had been Basra , and the 35th ' s was Mosul . Nureddin also had the 45th and 51st Divisions , newly raised divisions , which were predominantly Turkish . They were made up of a mixture of active and reserve soldiers . He had about 18 , 000 total infantry . The British force consisted of the 6th ( Poona ) Division , at a strength of around 11 , 000 men . Some British troops had been left behind to garrison the recently captured town and river junction of Kut . The British advance past Kut was slow , partly due to the bad weather and wet ground and partly due to General Townshend ' s reluctance to advance further . But the Commander - in - Chief of British forces in the region , General Nixon , ordered Townshend to take Baghdad . So , he commenced his march up the Tigris river . British attack plan . Townshend ' s plan of attack was to separate his force into four columns . Three infantry columns , designated columns A , B , and C , were scheduled for a frontal attack on different points of the Ottoman lines . The other column , referred to as the flying column , was made up of a mix of cavalry and infantry , and was supposed to swing around the left flank of the Ottoman lines . The attack was to be supported by two river boats , a gunboat and HMS " Firefly " . Ottoman defense plan . Colonel Nureddin had over 55 days to prepare his defenses , and his forces prepared them well . He deployed his forces in an L shaped formation . The 38th Division occupied the long part of the L . The new and fresh 45th Division held most vulnerable part of the line , the small leg of the L on the left , with one regiment up in the front line trenches and two in reserve . There were 12 strong points along the first trench line , and a complete second line of trenches to fall back into . In general reserve was the veteran 51st Division . The 35th was across the river . The Ottoman artillery was centrally located where it could support his left flank or the central part of his line . The artillery was ordered to fire first on the British gunboats , and then shift fire to support the Ottoman reserves . Movements and the clash . Townshend , intending to copy his success at Battle of Es Sinn , ordered a night march in the closing hours of November 21 , 1915 , with the aim of attacking at dawn on the November 22 , The attack happened on schedule but due to poor ground conditions on the west bank the British ended up attacking the much stronger east bank positions . The advance was supposed to be supported by river gunboats , however two things prevented the gun boats from becoming a factor in the battle . First , the Ottoman guns on the west bank rained fire upon them . Secondly , the Tigris was extensively mined and several river obstructions made navigation difficult . At the beginning of the battle , C - Column , the one closest to the river bank came under heavy small arms and artillery fire and failed to reach the first trench line . A - Column , in the middle , was also halted short of the trench line . On the right , B - Column ( mainly Punjabis and Gurkhas ) reached the first line of trenches , forced the Ottoman forces to retreat and pursued the retreating enemy towards the second line of trenches . Colonel Nureddin committed the reserve regiments of the 45th Division and brought the unengaged 35th Division from the other side of the river to reinforce his lines , and the British - Indian forces were stopped . Townshend then ordered C - Column to fall back , and try and exploit the breakthrough . This movement was rather complicated and the task was made difficult by Ottoman forces firing into their flank . Meanwhile the flying column bogged down in inconclusive fighting against Turkish and Arab Cavalry . Here again Nureddin committed his reserves , in this case the 51st Division , to great effect , halting Townshend ' s flanking attack . By the end of the day the 6th ( Poona ) Division had captured the first line of trenches , but the British sustained heavy casualties . The Ottoman forces had also taken heavy casualties but held their position . Second day . On the second day , Townshend again attempted to break through , with a supporting flank attack . The Ottoman forces again stopped it . They then counter - attacked the British positions with all available forces . The fight was hard , but the British line held . Both armies had taken heavy casualties and all troops had endured two days of intense combat and were exhausted . The Ottoman forces had lost 6 , 188 killed and wounded . The 51st Division lost 12 % , the 35th Division lost 25 % , and the 45th Division , which bore the brunt of the British attacks , lost 65 % of its strength . Day three . On November 24 , both generals ordered a withdrawal . On the British side , General Townshend concluded he needed to retreat because his losses had been too great to continue the effort to take Baghdad . Colonel Nureddin also concluded he had to retreat due to the heavy losses . When he realized the British were retreating , he turned his army around and sent it in pursuit of the British - Indian forces . Aftermath . The 6th ( Poona ) Division had sustained a 40 % casualty rate , losing about 4 , 600 troops . They were exhausted from the heavy fighting of the past two days and had an effective strength of about 8 , 500 . Townshend decided a retreat back towards Kut was necessary to rebuild the strength of his army . A British soldier , commenting on the attempts of his officers to pronounce the name " Ctesiphon " , wrote “ we calls it Pistupon ” . The Ottoman Army had sustained casualties of 6 , 188 , but they had short supply lines and were able to get reinforcements from Baghdad and the northern provinces . Colonel Nureddin , learning that the British were also retreating , turned his army around and pursued the British . The Ottoman forces under the commande of Nureddin followed the British to Kut . Ctesiphon and its aftermath revealed a key British weakness in this campaign : an inadequate supply line . The British troops were under - supplied , and their medical corps was understaffed , considering the number of troops and rate of casualties ( both from battle and disease ) . In the later campaign which led to the capture of Baghdad by General Maude , logistics were much better dealt with . The battle also demonstrated that the Ottoman Army could fight well on its own . Colonel Nureddin had taken an army that had been beaten a number of times , put it in a carefully prepared defensive position , and held off the British and Indian forces . He also did this without any German advisors .