hen they fell back. One of the sergeants was hit in
the chest, Sergeant Tivey, a Canadian; he was put on one of the Turkish
garrons and led along. 'From the attention he received from the enemy's
guns, they must have thought him a Field-Marshal.'[15] The Turks, for
all their force, crept up timidly. After securing the guns, they raced
to Tekrit, thirty miles away. But they sent a large body in pursuit of
the retreating 'Tigers.'

The Leicestershires fell back rapidly, the enemy pressing hard. The
51st Sikhs were found, hidden by the hollows of the ground; they had
been a buttress to the left flank of that handful of adventurous
infantry in their forward sweep into the heart of the Turkish position.
It was now that Graham and the 56th Rifles checked the counter-attack,
which threatened to drive a wedge between the Leicestershires and the
river. The whole front was now connected up, and, in face of an
attacking army, British and Indians dug themselves in. The 51st sent
along some ammunition. The sun was setting, and in the falling light
the last scene of this hard-fought day took place. Turkish officers
could be seen beating their men with the flat of their swords. The
enemy came, rushing and halting. The sun, being behind them, threw a
clear field of observation before them; but over them it flung a
glamour and dimness, in which they moved, a shadow-army, silhouettes
that made a difficult mark. And our men were down to their last rounds
of ammunition. Our guns opened again, but too late, and did not find
their target. But the Leicestershires' bombers, sixty men in all, were
thrown forward, bringing ammunition which saved the day. Thirty of the
sixty fell in that rush. The Turks were now within two hundred and
fifty yards; but here they wavered. For half an hour they kept up a
heavy rifle-fire. Then, at six o'clock, the 19th Brigade poured in, and
the thin lines filled up with Gurkhas, Punjabis, and Seaforths.
Moreover, the new-comers had abundance of ammunition. Darkness fell,
and our line pushed forward. For over two hours we could hear the
Turks man-handling their guns away. But there were strong
covering-parties, and our patrols were driven back with loss. Our guns
put down a spasmodic and ineffectual fire. Then all became quiet. All
along the enemy's line of retreat and far up the river were flares and
bonfires. Away in Samarra buildings were in flames, and down the Tigris
floated two burning barges, of which more he