Charge at Kiswe

The pursuit to Damascus began on 26 September when the 4th Cavalry Division advanced east from the Jordan River, via Irbid to Deraa which was captured by Sherifial forces on 27 September. Their pursuit continued with Feisal's Sherifial Force covering the cavalry division's right flank, north to Damascus away. The Australian Mounted Division with the 5th Cavalry Division in reserve, began their pursuit to Damascus on 27 September, around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberias, via Jisr Benat Yakub and Kuneitra. Liman von Sanders and Yildirim Army Group withdraws By 26 September the Fourth Army's Amman garrison (less the rearguard captured at Amman) had not been "heavily engaged," and "was still intact as a fighting force even though it was in rapid retreat" northwards towards Damascus, along the Hejaz railway and Pilgrims Road, some miles to the east of the Jordan River. Between 6,000 and 7,000 German and Ottoman soldiers remaining from the Ottoman Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Armies of Yildirim Army Group, had managed to retreat via Tiberias or Deraa, before these places were captured on 25 and 27 September, respectively. The retreating columns which moved via Deraa were at or north of Muzeirib on their way to Damascus by 27 September. By the morning of 30 September, the leading column of the remnant Fourth Army consisting of an Ottoman cavalry division and some infantry, was approaching Kiswe south of Damascus, pursued by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's 4th Cavalry Division behind. 5th Cavalry Division During the cavalry phase of the Battle of Sharon the 5th Cavalry Division had captured Nazareth and Haifa. The division had followed the Australian Mounted Division's pursuit of the remnant Yildirim Army Group along the Jerusalem to Damascus road, when it was ordered to move to cut the road from Deraa to the south of Damascus. == Prelude ==

As the vanguard of the 5th Cavalry Division reached Sa'sa at 08:30 on 30 September 1918, Major General Henry John Macandrew, commanding the division, was ordered by Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel the commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, to "intercept a force of 2,000 Turks reported by an aeroplane to be retiring towards Damascus by the Pilgrims' Road." with the Essex Battery Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) following in support. The Tiberias Group commanded by Jemal Pasha (commander of the Fourth Army) was also ordered to defend Damascus. == Battle ==

As the 5th Cavalry Division's vanguard 14th Cavalry Brigade approached Kiswe and the Pilgrims Road along the left bank of the Wadi ez Zabirani, with the hills of El Jebel el Aswad on their left, patrols reported the village "strongly held." They reported "the enemy was established also on the hills of El Jebel el Aswad to the north and the road was packed with troops and transport." At Kiswe a rearguard of 2,000 Ottoman soldiers armed with machine guns defended the town, stopping the advance by the 20th Deccan Horse and the 34th Poona Horse (14th Cavalry Brigade). Macandrews ordered them to bypass Kiswe and at noon concentrated his force for the attack on another enemy rearguard to the north, leaving a squadron of Deccan Horse near Kiswe. During the day the retreating Fourth Army columns were bombed by five Australian aircraft south of Kiswe on the Wady Zabirani leaving about 4,000 infantry and cavalry scattered on the north bank of the wadi near El Jebel el Aswad. == Aftermath ==

At 14:00 a troop of the 1/1st Gloucester Hussars, 13th Cavalry Brigade with a Hotchkiss rifle section reconnoitred the Ottoman wireless station at Qadem; both the railway and wireless were found to be burning; they captured some Ottoman soldiers before "entering the close country west of Qadem" when they charged and killed a number before withdrawing back to the headquarters of the Australian Mounted Division. At 14:30 Macandrew ordered the 13th Cavalry Brigade consisting of the Gloucester Hussars, 9th Hodson's Horse and 18th Lancers, to advance from Kaukab to Kiswe but was withdrawn two hours later back to garrison Kaukab. Meanwhile, the brigade's vanguard; one squadron of 9th Hodson's Horse captured 700 prisoners which were sent to the rear escorted by two troops. The remainder of the squadron then pursued and attempted to capture a retreating column of about 1,500 east of the Pilgrims Road. The attack ceased without support from their brigade. Position of Desert Mounted Corps By midnight on 30 September/1 October, the Australian Mounted Division was at El Mezze to the west of Damascus. The 14th Cavalry Brigade, held "the last ridge south of the city, the others [brigades of the 5th Cavalry Division were] further back near Kaukab." The 4th Cavalry Division and an Arab force were, by the evening of 30 September in action against the remnant Fourth Army around Khan Deinun. Chauvel ordered the 5th Cavalry Division to the east of Damascus while the 4th Cavalry Division continued their advance from the south. == Notes ==