Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend
Encyclopedia
Major General
Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend KCB
, DSO
(21 February 1861 – 18 May 1924) was a British Indian Army
officer who led the ultimately disastrous first British Expedition against Baghdad
during World War I
, and was later elected to Parliament
.
George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend
(his great great grandfather), about whom he wrote a book. Educated at Sandhurst
, Charles served in the Sudan Expedition of 1884, and the Hunza Naga expedition
in 1891. In 1894, while commanding the newly built fort at Gupis, he entertained the visiting George Curzon
, "through a long evening with French songs to the accompaniment of a banjo."
He was the garrison commander during siege of Chitral Fort
in the North West territories in 1895, for which he was awarded the CB
. He transferred to the British Egyptian army and again fought in the Sudan at the Battle of Omdurman
in 1898 (he was awarded the DSO
for his efforts).
Townshend achieved the rank of Brigadier General in 1909, and Major General in 1911. With the outbreak of World War I
, he was put in command of the 6th Indian Division. This large military force was one of the best of the military units of the Indian Army
- though it was under-equipped by the standards of the regular British army. The 6th Indian was sent to Mesopotamia
in early 1915.
river with the goal of capturing Baghdad
. The advance went well initially, Amara
was captured on 3 June 1915 (largely by bluff). The advance resumed three months later and Kut was captured on 28 September 1915. At this point, Townshend suggested halting but Nixon was convinced the Turks were weak and could be beaten. Townshend was ordered to continue to Baghdad.
Around 1 November, the 6th Indian left Kut and marched up the Tigris
river. They reached Ctesiphon, some 25 miles (40.2 km) south of Baghdad on 20 November 1915. Here they met a somewhat larger Ottoman force, under the new command of Baron von der Goltz. Goltz was a German field marshal who had spent 12 years re-organizing the Ottoman army in the 1880s. Called out of retirement, he had spent most of 1915 as the military advisor to the Sultan Mehmed V
.
The Battle of Ctesiphon
was fought over two days starting 22 November 1915. The result of the battle was a draw as both sides retreated from the field. Townshend, his division having lost 1/3 of its strength, resolved to retreat back to Kut. His forces arrived back at Kut on 3 December 1915. Baron von der Goltz, learning of the British retreat, had turned his battered army around and followed the British, arriving at Kut on 7 December.
).
The later relief expeditions fared little better. The British relief forces reached a point just 10 miles (16.1 km) from Kut but repeated assaults on Turkish positions failed to dislodge the defenders. The last effort---after three weeks of desperate attacks---took place on 22 April 1916, but it ended in failure. On the other side, the Ottoman commander, Baron von der Goltz, did not live to see his triumph. He died, supposedly from typhoid, on 16 April 1916.
General Townshend surrendered 29 April 1916. He himself was well treated by his Ottoman captors. He lived in comfort near Istanbul
for the remainder of the war, on a small island. He was given use of a Turkish navy yacht and had receptions in his honour at the royal Turkish court. He was given the KCB
for his command at Kut while he was a POW in 1917. The German journalist and newspaper editor Friedrich Schrader
reported that Townshend appeared personally in the office of his newspaper "Osmanischer Lloyd" to receive the cable from London notifying him about the award. At the end of the war, Townshend was involved in the negotiations which resulted in the Turkish armistice in October 1918.
in Shropshire
and was elected to a term in Parliament
as Member of Parliament
(MP) for The Wrekin (1920-1922). However, as reports surfaced about how badly his troops had suffered at the hands of the Turks (more than half of the soldiers who surrendered died in Turkish captivity), his reputation lost all its lustre. Military experts attacked him for not beating the Ottomans at Ctesiphon, for his passivity during the siege of Kut, and for his inaccurate reports which lead to the hasty first relief expedition. He died in disgrace in 1924.
When his will was published in 1924, Townshend's worldly wealth at the time of his death was found to have amounted to a mere £119.
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(21 February 1861 – 18 May 1924) was a British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
officer who led the ultimately disastrous first British Expedition against Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and was later elected to Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
Background and pre-war life
Townshend was born into a family with strong ties to the British army. He was a descendant of Field MarshalField Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend
George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend
Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, PC , known as The Viscount Townshend from 1764 to 1787, was a British soldier who reached the rank of field marshal.-Early life:...
(his great great grandfather), about whom he wrote a book. Educated at Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
, Charles served in the Sudan Expedition of 1884, and the Hunza Naga expedition
Hunza-Naga Campaign
The Hunza-Nagar Campaign was fought in 1891 by troops of the British Raj against the princely states of Hunza and Nagar in the Gilgit Agency . It is known in Pakistan as the "Anglo-Brusho War".-Cause:...
in 1891. In 1894, while commanding the newly built fort at Gupis, he entertained the visiting George Curzon
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
, "through a long evening with French songs to the accompaniment of a banjo."
He was the garrison commander during siege of Chitral Fort
Chitral Expedition
The Chitral Expedition was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral which was under siege after a local coup.-Background to the conflict:Chitral was at the extreme north west of British India...
in the North West territories in 1895, for which he was awarded the CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
. He transferred to the British Egyptian army and again fought in the Sudan at the Battle of Omdurman
Battle of Omdurman
At the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
in 1898 (he was awarded the DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
for his efforts).
Townshend achieved the rank of Brigadier General in 1909, and Major General in 1911. With the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he was put in command of the 6th Indian Division. This large military force was one of the best of the military units of the Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
- though it was under-equipped by the standards of the regular British army. The 6th Indian was sent to Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
in early 1915.
Mesopotamian Campaign
General Townshend was ordered by his commander, General Nixon, to advance up the TigrisTigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
river with the goal of capturing Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. The advance went well initially, Amara
Amara
Amara, the sun beetles, are a large genus of carabid beetles, mostly holarctic, but a few species are neotropical or occurring in eastern Asia.These ground beetles are mostly black or bronze-coloured...
was captured on 3 June 1915 (largely by bluff). The advance resumed three months later and Kut was captured on 28 September 1915. At this point, Townshend suggested halting but Nixon was convinced the Turks were weak and could be beaten. Townshend was ordered to continue to Baghdad.
Around 1 November, the 6th Indian left Kut and marched up the Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
river. They reached Ctesiphon, some 25 miles (40.2 km) south of Baghdad on 20 November 1915. Here they met a somewhat larger Ottoman force, under the new command of Baron von der Goltz. Goltz was a German field marshal who had spent 12 years re-organizing the Ottoman army in the 1880s. Called out of retirement, he had spent most of 1915 as the military advisor to the Sultan Mehmed V
Mehmed V
Mehmed V Reshad was the 35th Ottoman Sultan. He was the son of Sultan Abdülmecid I. He was succeeded by his half-brother Mehmed VI.-Birth:...
.
The Battle of Ctesiphon
Battle of Ctesiphon (1915)
The Battle of Ctesiphon was fought in November 1915 by the British Empire and British India, against the Ottoman Empire, within the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I....
was fought over two days starting 22 November 1915. The result of the battle was a draw as both sides retreated from the field. Townshend, his division having lost 1/3 of its strength, resolved to retreat back to Kut. His forces arrived back at Kut on 3 December 1915. Baron von der Goltz, learning of the British retreat, had turned his battered army around and followed the British, arriving at Kut on 7 December.
Siege of Kut
The siege of Kut was a drawn out and bitter affair for the British army. General Townshend sent reports about his supplies to his commander, General Nixon, which (in the event) proved to be false. He reported that he only had supplies for a month at full ration. Actually, his troops finally ran out of supplies near the end of April 1916, almost five months longer than he had reported. This led the British in Basra to hastily send a relief expedition, which was defeated by the Ottoman defences (expertly directed by Baron von der GoltzColmar Freiherr von der Goltz
Wilhelm Leopold Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz also known as Goltz Pasha, was a Prussian Field Marshal and military writer.-Military career:...
).
The later relief expeditions fared little better. The British relief forces reached a point just 10 miles (16.1 km) from Kut but repeated assaults on Turkish positions failed to dislodge the defenders. The last effort---after three weeks of desperate attacks---took place on 22 April 1916, but it ended in failure. On the other side, the Ottoman commander, Baron von der Goltz, did not live to see his triumph. He died, supposedly from typhoid, on 16 April 1916.
General Townshend surrendered 29 April 1916. He himself was well treated by his Ottoman captors. He lived in comfort near Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
for the remainder of the war, on a small island. He was given use of a Turkish navy yacht and had receptions in his honour at the royal Turkish court. He was given the KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
for his command at Kut while he was a POW in 1917. The German journalist and newspaper editor Friedrich Schrader
Friedrich Schrader
Friedrich Schrader was a German philologist of oriental languages, orientalist, art historian, writer, social democrat, translator and journalist. He also used the pseudonym Ischtiraki...
reported that Townshend appeared personally in the office of his newspaper "Osmanischer Lloyd" to receive the cable from London notifying him about the award. At the end of the war, Townshend was involved in the negotiations which resulted in the Turkish armistice in October 1918.
Post-war
After the war, he resigned from the army in 1920 and wrote a book My Campaign in Mesopotamia (1920). He stood as an Independent Conservative candidate in a by-electionBy-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
and was elected to a term in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for The Wrekin (1920-1922). However, as reports surfaced about how badly his troops had suffered at the hands of the Turks (more than half of the soldiers who surrendered died in Turkish captivity), his reputation lost all its lustre. Military experts attacked him for not beating the Ottomans at Ctesiphon, for his passivity during the siege of Kut, and for his inaccurate reports which lead to the hasty first relief expedition. He died in disgrace in 1924.
When his will was published in 1924, Townshend's worldly wealth at the time of his death was found to have amounted to a mere £119.
Further reading
- Barker, Col. A. J. Townshend of Kut: A Biography of Major-General Sir Charles Townshend KCB DSO Cassell, 1967
- Barker, Col. A. J. The First Iraq War, 1914-1918: Britain's Mesopotamian Campaign, Enigma Books, 2009. ISBN 978-1-929631-86-5
- Braddon, Russell The Siege Viking Adult, 1970 ISBN 0-670-64386-6
- Dixon, Norman On the Psychology of Military Incompetence Random House, London, 1976, pp 95–110
- Townshend, Major General Sir Charles V.F. K.C.B., D.S.O. My Campaign in Mesopotamia London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd, 1920.
External links
- Summary Guide to Charles Townshend from the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives - downloaded January 2006.
- Biography of Charles Townshend from First World War.com - downloaded January 2006.