ds, with the
purpose, it was suspected, of joining with the Swedish-led rebels and
mountain tribes. The Turks and intriguers in Persia evidently thought
the time ripe for a quick conquest of Persia, as the main Russian
armies in Poland were not in a position to interfere. It seemed to the
Turks and their German advisers that the hour was propitious to send
forward an army that would drive the British-Indian Expeditionary
Force out of Mesopotamia.

Sir John Nixon had no adequate forces at his command for the proposed
task of capturing Bagdad, having only at his disposal one division of
Indian and British troops, and a brigade or so in reserve with which
to attack the Turkish army that was daily increasing in numbers.

The most implacable foe that the British troops had to contend against
was the climate. It was found impossible to march more than eight
miles a day and after sundown. The heat in the tents at times varied
between 128 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit. With burning sand underfeet,
and scorching rays of the sun from above, blood dried up in the body,
the brain became inflamed, followed by delirium, coma, death. It was
impossible for the white soldiers to perspire unless they were near
marshes where they might quench their intolerable thirst in the
brackish waters. Owing to the lack of fresh vegetables and improper
food, the rations of bully beef and hard-tack, and the assaults of
blood-sucking insects, many deaths occurred. Even the Northwest Indian
troops, accustomed to the desert and life in a hot climate, suffered
intensely in Mesopotamia. It is necessary to consider the climatic
conditions the British forces had to contend with in this country to
understand why their progress was necessarily slow, and why so many
men fell by the way.

The attempt to capture Bagdad was much criticized when projected, and
since, as being foolhardy, and likely to fail, and in any case not
worth the great loss of men it must entail. But the British-Indian
Expeditionary Force was in a position where it must take a gambler's
chance and stand to win or lose. To capture the city of the Caliphs
would in the first place greatly impress the Mohammedan population and
restore British prestige, which had sadly suffered through the
Dardanelles failure. And it was necessary that the British troops
should act promptly and without counting the possible cost, for every
hour's delay permitted the Turks and their allies to grow in strength.

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