Battle of Ctesiphon
Battle of Ctesiphon was a battle fought on 22 November 1915 at Ctesiphon, in what is now Iraq; it lasted 3 days. It was part of the Middle Eastern theater of World War I, which ran from 1914 to 1918. The recorded result: Inconclusive. Recorded strength: 11,000 troops; 2 warships against 18,000–20,000 troops; 52 guns.
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This map shows the British advance into Southern Mesopotamia, 1915.. created by the Department of Military Art and Engineering, at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons .
Fought 22 November 1915 lasted 3 days
Where Ctesiphon, Iraq 33.094N, 44.567E
Outcome Inconclusive
Belligerents British Empire; British India against Ottoman Empire
Casualties and losses 4,600 and 6,200 to 9,500
Where it sits in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I Fao Landing, 1914 Battle of Basra, 1914 Battle of Qurna, 1914 Battle of Ardahan, 1914 Battle of Manzikert, 1915 Battle of Kara Killisse, 1915 naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, 1915 Battle of Shaiba, 1915 Siege of Van, 1915 Landing at Cape Helles, 1915 Battle of Kumkale, 1915 Battle of Krithia, 1915 Battle for Baby 700, 1915 Battle for No.3 Post, 1915 Battle of Amara, 1915 Battle of Chamba, 1915 Battle of Gully Ravine, 1915 Battle of Nasiriyah, 1915 Landing at Suvla Bay, 1915 Battle of Lone Pine, 1915 Battle of Sari Bair, 1915 Battle of Krithia Vineyard, 1915 Battle of the Nek, 1915 Battle of Hill 60 (Gallipoli), 1915 Battle of Scimitar Hill, 1915 Battle of Es Sinn, 1915 Battle of Ctesiphon, 1915 Siege of Kut, 1915 Battle of Robat Karim, 1915 Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad, 1916 Battle of Koprukoy, 1916 Battle of Wadi, 1916 Battle of Hanna, 1916 Kermanshah Operation, 1916 Battle of Dujaila, 1916 Battle of Katia, 1916 Battle of Romani, 1916 Battle of Muş, 1916 Battle of Bir el Abd, 1916 Fall of Baghdad, 1917 Battles of Ramadi, 1917 Battle of Oramar, 1917 Raid on Bir el Hassana, 1917 Raid on Nekhl, 1917 Second Battle of Kut, 1917 First Battle of Gaza, 1917 Second Battle of Gaza, 1917 Battle of Istabulat, 1917 Battle of Seray Mountain, 1917 Battle of El Buggar Ridge, 1917 Battle of Beersheba, 1917 Third Battle of Gaza, 1917 Charge at Huj, 1917 Battle of Mughar Ridge, 1917 Battle of Ayun Kara, 1917 Battle of Nebi Samwil, 1917 Battle of Jaffa, 1917 Battle of Megiddo, 1918 Battle of Abaran, 1918 Battle of Mastara, 1918 Capture of Erzincan, 1918 Capture of Trabzon, 1918 Battle of Charah, 1918 Battle of Erzurum, 1918 Capture of Erzurum, 1918 Battle of Hijla, 1918 First Battle of Amman, 1918 First Transjordan attack on Amman, 1918 Battle of Choloki, 1918 Battle of Suldouze, 1918 Battle of Ushno, 1918 Action of Arsuf, 1918 Battle of Karamaryan, 1918 Battle of Goychay, 1918 Battle of Kurdamir, 1918 Battle of Salyan, 1918 Battle of Abu Tellul, 1918 Battle of Tulkarm, 1918 Battle of Arara, 1918 Battle of Nablus, 1918 Battle of Tabsor, 1918 Battle of Nazareth, 1918 Capture of Jisr ed Damieh, 1918 Battle of Haifa, 1918 Battle of Samakh, 1918 Second Battle of Amman, 1918 Capture of Damascus, 1918 Charge at Kaukab, 1918 Charge at Kiswe, 1918 Charge at Khan Ayash, 1918 Battle of Sharqat, 1918 Battle of Aleppo, 1918 Charge at Haritan, 1918 1914 1918 Battle of Ctesiphon, 1915 96 placed engagements of the Middle Eastern theater of World War I in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.
Record
Date 22 November 1915to 25 November 1915 Place Ctesiphon, Iraq33.094N, 44.567E Kind Battle, First World War Strength 11,000 troops; 2 warships 18,000–20,000 troops; 52 guns Casualties and losses 4,600 6,200 to 9,500 Commanders Charles Townshend (British Army officer)
Battle of Ctesiphon Battle of Ctesiphon Siege of Ctesiphon Siege of Maiozamalcha Siege of Ctesiphon Battle of Ctesiphon Battle of Ctesiphon Siege of Ctesiphon Baghdad Najaf Al Hillah Karbala Al Kut Baqubah Al Fallujah Ilam 100 km 33.094N, 44.567E The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.
Nearest engagements
Contested ground: this site was fought over 6 times between AD 165 and 1915.
Combat data (CDB90)
Attacker: BR MESOPOTAMIAN FIELD FORCEDefender: TK ARMYStrength 13,756 20,400 Casualties 4,593 (33.4%) 6,188 (30.3%) Mission accomplishment, 1 to 10 4 6 Outcome defender won Duration 2 days Front width 12.1 km 16 km Attacker advanced 1.5 km
From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 303), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.
Battle of Ctesiphon is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 173 in present-day Iraq.
Sources
Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1582511 , released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Ctesiphon (1915) , revision 1381222711, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.
