t of these
civilians, he stated to the British emissaries that he contemplated no
reprisals or persecutions in regard to the civilian population and
that their future treatment at the hands of the Turkish troops would
depend entirely on their future behavior.

With the least possible delay the Turks moved their prisoners from
Kut-el-Amara to Bagdad and from there to Constantinople, from which
place it was reported on June 11, 1916, that General Townshend had
arrived and, after having been received with military honors, had been
permitted to visit the United States ambassador who looked after
British interests in Turkey during the war. An official Turkish
statement announced that together with General Townshend four other
generals had been captured as well as 551 other officers, of whom
about one-half were Europeans and another half Indians. The same
announcement also claimed that the British had destroyed most of their
guns and other arms, but that in spite of this the Turks captured
about forty cannon, twenty machine guns, almost 5,000 rifles, large
amounts of ammunition, two ships, four automobiles, and three
aeroplanes.

It was only after the capitulation of General Townshend that details
became available concerning the suffering to which the besieged army
was subjected and the heroism with which all this was borne by
officers and men, whites and Hindus alike. An especially clear picture
of conditions existing in Kut-el-Amara during the siege may be gained
from a letter sent to Bombay by a member of the Indian force and later
published in various newspapers. It says in part:

"Wounded and diseased British and native troops are arriving from
Kut-el-Amara, having been exchanged for an equal number of Turkish
prisoners. They bring accounts of Townshend's gallant defense of
Mesopotamia's great strategic point. Some are mere youngsters while
others were soldiers before the war.

"All are frightfully emaciated and are veritable skeletons as the
result of their starvation and sufferings. The absolute exhaustion of
food necessitated the capitulation, and if General Townshend had not
surrendered nearly the whole force would have died of starvation
within a week.

"The Turkish General Khalil Pasha provided a river steamer for the
unexchanged badly wounded, the others marching overland. Because of
the wasted condition of the prisoners the marches were limited to
five miles a day.

"When the capitulation was signed only