At the same time that the Tigris was being crossed westward of Kut, the Turkish intrenchments at Sannaiyat were fiercely attacked in front, and the brave defenders, learning that the river defence had fallen behind them, at last gave way. On the 24th the maze of trenches which had resisted so many onslaughts was carried with a rush, and sweeping on rapidly the British troops replaced the British flag on the walls of Kut. On the same morning the British Cavalry poured across the bridge from the southern bank in pursuit of the retreating enemy, and the British gunboats pressed up the river again to join in his destruction. There was reason to hope that he had held on too long, and that his stubborn troops were doomed to be taken or destroyed. This hope proved to be delusive. The Turks had to retreat very rapidly to extricate themselves in time, and they lost heavily in doing so; but they, or the bulk of them, did succeed in getting away. Many were slain, and some thousands remained in British hands, but by steady and determined rearguard fighting they checked their pursuers, and when they reached Azizieh, a hundred miles off, half way to Baghdad,[29] they were still a military force, if a defeated one. The share of the Thirteenth in the victory and pursuit was not all that they hoped it might have been. Some eager spirits among them chafed at the caution with which the Cavalry was handled and the pursuit carried on. But nevertheless the mounted men, although unable to storm entrenchments held by a resolute enemy, had throughout done much to cover and facilitate the operations of the Infantry and guns, and they now did all that mounted men could do to harass the retreat. If it did not mean converting the retreat into a complete rout, and annihilating a Turkish army, it was a material contribution towards that end. After three days of steady pressure, during which the Cavalry lost a good many men, they had pushed the Turks over a long stretch of road, capturing prisoners and guns and booty of all kinds; and if they were stopped there, half-way to Baghdad, it was only because they had got in advance of their supplies and of the supporting Infantry. [Illustration: _THE ADVANCE ON BAGHDAD_ SCALE ABOUT 25 MILES TO THE INCH] The following extracts from letters and journals tell the story in greater detail.