Abu Ubayd ibn Masud al-Thaqafi

Abu Ubayd ibn Masud al-Thaqafi was appointed by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq as commander of the Muslim forces in Iraq, before Khalid ibn al-Walid had been recalled to Syria. He was a brave but inexperienced commander. In 13 AH, he faced a major Sassanid Persian counteroffensive. The two armies met near the Euphrates at a location called al-Jisr (the Bridge). The Persians deployed war elephants, which terrified the Muslim horses. Abu Ubayd made the fateful decision to cross the bridge and engage the Persians directly rather than maintain a defensive position. When the battle turned against the Muslims, a retreat across the bridge was ordered, but Abu Ubayd refused to be among the first to cross, standing his ground. He was killed — reportedly trampled by a war elephant when he tried to hamstring it. After his death, many Muslims were killed trying to cross the bridge, and many drowned in the Euphrates. The Battle of the Bridge was one of the few Muslim military defeats in the early Futuh (conquests). His death contributed to the urgency with which Umar ibn al-Khattab reorganized the Iraqi front.