CHAPTER LXIV
CAUTIOUS RUSSIAN ADVANCE—RUSSIAN SUCCESSES—CAPTURE OF LEMBERG
On August 23, 1914, the Russians were almost on the heels of the retreating Austrians. After three hours' fighting, they drove them out of Tarnopol. Thereupon they retreated along the line of the Zlota Lipa, which is an affluent of the Dniester and runs almost directly southward.
On August 25 and 26, 1914, there was some heavy fighting along this river, especially at Brzezany. Heretofore, the army under Brussilov had not met with any important resistance, having encountered chiefly frontier posts, skirmishers, and small detachments of Austrians. It seems that no great body of Austrians had penetrated much beyond the Zlota Lipa. On the eastern side of this river was a line of low hills, offering a fine defensive position; the Austrians hastily began to make use of them. They were still constructing trenches when the Cossack cavalry appeared, driving the skirmishers of the Austrians before them.
A fight began on August 24, 1914, which lasted ten days. The Russian cavalry was not strong enough to attempt to take the Austrians' intrenched position, and therefore waited for the main body of the Russian forces to come up. The fight extended over twenty miles of front, stubbornly contested by the Austrians. Finally, by direct assault, the Russians took the position and the Austrians fell back, in good order, toward Halicz, where the Gnita Lipa joins the Dniester.
In the meantime, while Russky was thus pounding at Von Auffenberg's right, Brussilov was attacking his right and center. Having crossed the frontier between Brody and Sokal, Russky extended his forces on a wide front. While the center advanced straight for Busk and Krasne in a direct line toward Lemberg, the right, proceeding almost due west, was attempting to penetrate between the army of Von Auffenberg and that of Dankl on the north, and was pushing powerfully on Von Auffenberg's left. Gallantly resisting, the Austrians were forced back in all directions, slowly but firmly. The fighting on Russky's right and center was especially fierce and severe and resulted in great losses on both sides.
By the time Brussilov had taken the position on the Zlota Lipa, his right was in touch with Russky's left, and the first stage of the campaign was over. That Russia had been able to proceed so far with her plans would seem to indicate that the Austrians had underestimated the rapidity with which she could complete her preparations. It was the fall of Tarnopol that made possible a junction of the Russian armies and enabled them to advance in a united line upon Lemberg.
General Brussilov had to move to the attack without attracting attention. This was accomplished by both Russky and himself throwing out a screen of Cossacks all along the frontier of Eastern Galicia. For an extent of one hundred and fifty miles, the Cossacks skirmished at every border road or bridge between the Bug and the Dniester rivers. They started this immediately after war was declared and soon, so inconsequential did such activity appear, that the Austrians, it seems, came to regard it as lacking any real purpose. After the third week in August, however, the commander at Lemberg sent a force of 2,000 men to make a reconnaissance in Podolia.
These troops arrived at Gorodok, a small town across the border. Their presence there was most inconvenient for the Russians, for General Brussilov was at that time advancing with a big army through Gorodok on toward Galicia. It was imperative that the Austrian reconnoitering troops should be stopped and the only force available for this purpose was nine hundred Cossacks stationed at Gorodok to screen the main army. It was necessary for these Cossacks to repulse the Austrian reconnoitering force, without calling for large reenforcements. If the latter were done, it would excite the suspicions of fugitives from the fight.
Therefore, the Cossacks lined out in the woods far beyond the village and then thirty of them went forward from cover to cover until they came upon the Austrians. Simulating surprise, they fled in apparent panic. The Austrians entered upon a swift pursuit and were led into ambush. Thousands of them were cut down by a cross-fire of rifles and machine guns. The rest were pursued by Cossacks over the border and the invasion of Galicia was begun by the Russian main force.
Then began the perilous part of the enterprise. The army of Russky was advancing on Lemberg from the north and the army of Brussilov was converging on the Galician capital from the east. After they had been united, they would assuredly outnumber the Austrian force which was guarding Lemberg, but in the meantime either Russky or Brussilov was too weak to escape defeat. Each might be met singly and overwhelmed. The skill with which their combined operations were carried out was such, however, that General Brussilov was able to steal into Galicia and occupy a large part of the country before battle actually was joined.
The secrecy with which his great movement was executed was extraordinary. It was executed in daylight, covering a period of thirteen days, from August 19 to August 31, 1915. It was performed in spite of the fact that the Austrians had many spies, a large force of trained cavalry, and scouts in aeroplanes darting over the frontier. Yet not until it was too late did the Austrians discover the real nature of the Russian turning movement in Eastern Galicia.
In part, this was attributable to the fact that the territory in which Brussilov was operating was an ancient Russian duchy which had been wrested from the ancestors of the czar. Eastern Galicia might be compared to Alsace-Lorraine, which had been torn from France. Peopled by a Slav race, Eastern Galicia had the same language, religion, and customs as the soldiers in Brussilov's army.
When at the beginning of operations, Russia first assumed a general offensive on August 17, the Grand Duke Nicholas issued the following proclamation addressed to Russian inhabitants of Galicia:
"Brothers—A judgment of God is being wrought. With Christian patience and self-annihilation, the Russian people of Galicia languished for centuries under a foreign yoke, but neither flattery nor persecution could break in it the hope of liberty. As the tempestuous torrent breaks the rocks to join the sea, so there exists no force which can arrest the Russian people in its onrush toward unification.
"Let there no longer be a subjugated Russia. Let the country which forms the heritage of Saint Vladimir throw off the foreign yoke and raise the banner of united Russia, an indivisible land. May the providence of God, who has blessed the work of the great uniters of the Russian lands, be made manifest. May God aid his anointed, the Emperor Nicholas of All the Russians, to complete the work begun by the Grand Duke Ivan Kalita.
"Rise, fraternal Galician Russia, who have suffered so much, to meet the Russian army for you and your brethren, who will be delivered. Room will be found for you in the bosom of our mother Russia without offending peaceable people of whatever nationality. Raise your sword against the enemy and your hearts toward God with a prayer for Russia and the Russian Czar!"
This proclamation was received in Galicia with acclaim. When the Russian soldiers came, priests and people came out from the villages with flowers and banners to meet their "little brothers." Flowers were thrown on their heads from the upper balconies of houses, as they marched through the streets. Whatever could be done by pretended ignorance or silence to mislead the Austrians regarding the Russian advance was done by peasants.
Meanwhile, General Brussilov was making the most of his opportunities. He passed over the tributaries of the Dniester and without revealing his strength pushed back the Austrian cavalry screen. For this work he used large bodies of Cossacks, with all necessary infantry and artillery support.
Field Marshal von Hindenburg
While appearing to be merely a border raider, the Cossack had to veil his main army and clear its path through bridgeheads, forts, and blockhouses, and he was well suited to this kind of work. Moving at the rate of eight miles a day in advance of the infantry and the big guns, he maintained a continual skirmish with cavalry scouts, infantrymen, and gunners in places that had been fortified, and even armored trains.
In all, the Cossack in the Galician campaign, proved himself not only a most efficient soldier but well behaved. Previously, his reputation had been an evil one. Naturally, there were reports of brutality and savagery, but none were proved. In fact, neither on the part of the Russians nor the Austrians was there manifest any of the "frightfulness" attributed, rightly or wrongly, to combatants in the western theatre of war.
It was, of course, not to the interest of the Russians to mistreat the people of Galicia. They came, in their own estimation at least, as deliverers, not as despoilers. As for the Austrians, they were in their own country when in Galicia. When they penetrated north into Russia, it appears that they did little wanton damage. On their return, it is true, they laid waste a large part of the province of Volhynia, burning villages and farmsteads as they proceeded. But this was dictated by military exigencies, in order to delay and inconvenience their pursuers.
There was an occasion when it might have been supposed there would have been excesses. This was when after an Austrian defeat, the Russian van, composed of three divisions of Cossack cavalry, pushed through Halicz in pursuit of the enemy. The victorious troops swept through a country, full of Jews, and utterly undefended. It was a garden of plenty, a rich and fertile country. Instead of presenting a picture of desolation and ruin after the Russian army had passed, its cattle still grazed in the fields, the fields were full of shocks of grain, and chickens, ducks, and swine wandered about the streets of the town.
There was not a single wrecked house in the town itself, only a few buildings, such as warehouses near the railway station, having been demolished by the Russians in order to hasten the departure of the enemy.
There was another significant incident at the neighboring town of Botszonce. Here the retiring Austrians attempted to make a stand, but were shelled out by the Russians with their heavy guns. There were only three buildings in the city which were not reduced to ruins. These were two churches and the Town Hall, which, having a church-like spire, the Russians evidently took for a church of worship, also. In this connection, we may quote here a second proclamation which the Grand Duke Nicholas, as Commander in Chief of the Russian forces, distributed in the districts of Austria captured by the Russians. It was designed to prevent ill feeling between the people and the invaders. It was dated September 17, and read:
"To the inhabitants of Austria-Hungary:
"The Government of Austria declared war against Russia because the great empire, ever faithful to its historical traditions, could not forsake inoffensive Serbia, nor acknowledge its enslavement.
"On entering the Austro-Hungarian territory, I declare to you in the name of the great Emperor, that Russia, which has spent its blood many times for the emancipation of nations from the yoke of foreigners, only seeks the rehabilitation of right and justice.
"Russia also brings liberty and the realization of your national views. For many centuries the Austro-Hungarian Government planted among you discord and enmity, for it knew that as a result of this strife its dominion over you would continue.
"On the contrary, my sole aim is that each and every one of you may grow and prosper and keep at the same time the precious inheritance of language and faith of your fathers.
"Let every one of you, united to his brothers, live in peace and harmony with his neighbors, respecting their national rights. Being convinced that you will cooperate with all your strength to realize this, I call upon you to welcome the Russian troops as faithful friends who are fighting for the realization of your greatest ambitions."
Now, to return to the campaign which had been waged by Von Auffenberg:
While he may be said to have lost this preliminary campaign, his army was unbeaten. Immediately it fell back into the powerful and carefully built line of defenses in front of Lemberg, extending over a front of seventy or eighty miles, from the vicinity of Busk on the north to Halicz on the Dniester, on the south. An irregular extent of volcanic hills, some containing extinct craters, extended along the greater part of its length, and ended on the south in a ridge parallel to the Gnita Lipa as far as the Dniester. The northern end of this territory was skirted by the railway running due east of Lemberg. The Austrian left rested north of the railroad on the River Bug and the lake district around Krasne. Artificial fortifications improved these natural defenses. There were many miles of trenches with barbed-wire entanglements, and at different points massive fortifications of concrete and steel. The position was difficult to take at any point.
On August 26 and 27, 1914, after the forces of Russky and Brussilov had been joined, the Russians immediately began their attack along the entire front. The days that followed were replete with furious charges. Positions were taken only to be surrendered. Bayonet fighting figured largely in the clashes. After two days, though the Austrian lines were still intact, the Russians claimed a victory. Events came about in this way: After he had forced the crossing of the Zlota Lipa on August 26, and his right wing had connected with Russky on the north, Brussilov had extended his left, by forced march through a country almost devoid of roads, as far to the south as the valley of the Dniester. On August 31, 1914, the main body of this flanking body arrived in front of Halicz. On the day following, September 1, 1914, a furious attack began. More guns were brought up and a fierce attack was concentrated near the little village of Botszonce, where the enemy had taken a position. Afterward, the condition of the field, which had been literally plowed up with shell fire and strewn with the débris of cannonading and accouterments, showed how terrific the conflict had been. The final assault was made by the Russian Ninth and Fifty-ninth Infantry under cover of a heavy shell fire. Enormous losses were sustained, but the Russians were enabled to make a breach some kilometers wide in the Austrian line.
Then the entire Austrian line began to give way. A desperate stand was made as a last resort in the village of Botszonce itself, but this was turned into a useless sacrifice when the Russians, pushing forward heavy guns, unlimbered them on the same hills where the Austrians had fought so determinedly and quickly reduced the town to ruins.
On September 3, 1914, the Austrian retreat began in earnest. Where the fighting had been hottest around Botszonce and Halicz, the Russians claim they buried 4,800 Austrian dead and captured thirty-two guns, some of which had been mounted by the Austrians but taken before they could be brought into use. The Austrian reports deny such figures, while claiming heavy losses by the Russians.
There was a fine steel bridge across the river Dniester at Halicz, and the extreme right of the retiring Austrian army crossed this, with, the Russian cavalry pursuing. The bridge was destroyed and also the only other bridge in that region of the Dniester at Chodorow. In such wise was the pursuit southward delayed until pontoons could be thrown across the stream by Russian engineers.
This was done on the following day, whereupon Cossack cavalry to the strength, it was reported, of three divisions, crossed the river and came up with the retiring enemy. Behind the cavalry at a short distance came several divisions of Brussilov's infantry, which rapidly pushed across the south of Lemberg toward Stryj.
After the extreme right of the Austrian line had been shattered and Russky had been victorious in his attack on the other extreme, the whole line fell apart quickly and while the entire front was exposed to attack, the Austrian left was being enveloped from the direction of Kamionka by a flanking movement. One end of the Austrian line was being broken and the other bent back. The Russians increased the fury of their attack and it was not long before the entire Austrian army was in retreat.
On September 2, 1914, Lemberg was in the hands of the Russians. This city, otherwise known as Lwow or Löwenberg, was first known as Leopolis, being founded in 1259 by the Ruthenian Prince Daniel for his son Leo. His history had been a checkered and stormy one. In 1340 it had been captured by Casimir the Great; it had been besieged by the Cossacks in 1648 and 1655, and by the Turks in 1672; it had been captured by Charles XII of Sweden in 1704, and bombarded in 1848. As capital of the crownland of Galicia, it had come to be a handsome city, of many parks, wide boulevards, three cathedrals, many churches, and a great number of important public monuments. It was the seat of a university which contained a highly valuable library of books and manuscripts and a great many treasures of historic and antiquarian interest. Its population was about 200,000.
The Austrians declared that Lemberg had been evacuated in order to save all these treasures from destruction. It is certain that the civil population of the town was strongly opposed to its being defended. It was cosmopolitan and contained elements, doubtless in the minority, who sympathized with Russia and who welcomed the Russian troops with great enthusiasm. Whatever other reasons may be given for its abandonment, however, the fact remains that any attempt to hold it would have been futile.
After the Russians had taken possession of Lemberg, tranquillity again prevailed. Although it was crowded for a considerable time thereafter with Russian soldiery, there was no violence, disorder, or confusion. On every hand were seen Russian soldiers of all branches of the service fraternizing with the people of the place. If a soldier even jostled a civilian accidentally he saluted and apologized. No drunkenness was permitted. A considerable number of Austrian policemen continued to patrol the streets, with a Russian badge on their arms, however.
Austrian surgeons and nurses, left in the town when the Austrian troops retreated, continued to help care for Austrian wounded, also left there, and received the same pay for their services as their Russian associates of the same rank. Austrian Red Cross attendants were allowed to walk about the streets at will, unmolested.
After its occupation by the Russians, Lemberg at once became a huge hospital base. For the care of wounded that daily came in from the front, there were forty-two immense institutions.
The inhabitants of Lemberg welcomed the Russians as deliverers. A deputation came to General Russky and requested him to make known to the czar the readiness of the whole Slav population of the city to be loyal "sons of Russia." In surrendering the government to Count Bobrinsky, whom the czar appointed Governor General of Galicia, M. Rutovsky, Mayor of Lemberg, said:
"Not without our cooperation have the Austro-Hungarian troops left Lemberg, without firing a shot. There was no struggle here, thanks to our efforts. We believe your excellency has been informed that your troops found here cooperation and a cordial reception.
"In proffering the government of this capital, allow me to express my gratitude to the former military governor, who lessened our hardships."
In his reply, Bobrinsky outlined the principles of his policy:
"I consider Lemberg and East Galicia the real origin of Great Russia," he said, "since the original population was Russian. The reorganization will be based on Russian ideals. We will immediately introduce the Russian language and Russian customs. These steps will be taken with the necessary care.
"We shall at first limit this to the appointment of Russian governors and other officials. Many of the present officials will not be replaced. We shall forbid the convocation of your Legislature during the war. All social and political organizations must be discontinued, and may resume their activities only by permission. These precepts obtain only in East Galicia; West Galicia will be treated differently."
The Russians considered Lemberg to be of great strategical importance. Railroad lines radiated from it in all directions giving its captors direct communication with Kiev and Odessa, with their fortified positions at Dubno and Rovno and thence to Petrograd, with Brest-Litovsk and Warsaw—save only for the inconvenience of changing the gauge at the frontier. Soon after crossing the frontier, the Russians had changed the gauge of many of their engines and cars to fit the Austrian gauge. They found at Lemberg thirty locomotives and a large number of railway cars left there by the Austrians.
When on September 3, 1914, the Russians entered Lemberg, the official Russian announcement of its taking was as follows:
"Seven days of the most stubborn fighting in Eastern Galicia have resulted in a complete victory for the Russians. Five Austrian Corps were completely routed, and in retreating in disorder westward, abandoned their arms and baggage.
"Besides an enormous number of killed, the Austrians lost not less than 40,000 prisoners, including many generals. The roads of retreat of the Austrians are so encumbered with carts, guns, and impedimenta that the pursuing troops are unable to use the roads. Panic is spreading among the Austrian troops. During the seven days the Russians have taken over 200 guns, several colors, and about 70,000 prisoners. Lwow (Lemberg) is in our hands."
Russia received this report with great joy. The news of the occupation of the town was conveyed by Grand Duke Nicholas to the czar. The Fourth Class of the Order of St. George was bestowed on General Russky for "his services in the preceding battles." The Third Class was given him for the capture of Lemberg. The Fourth Class of the same Order was bestowed on General Brussilov. Throughout the empire, Thanksgiving Services were held to celebrate "the reunion with Galicia." General Count Bobrinsky was appointed Governor General of the province.[Back to Contents]
CHAPTER LXV
DANKL'S OFFENSIVE AND RETREAT
Let us now turn our attention to the scene of operations further north. There, it will be recalled, was taking place the principal Austrian offensive by the First Army commanded by General Dankl. In the middle of August, he was being held up by the armies of Generals Ewerts and Plehve, who barred his way toward Lublin and Kholm. A strong offensive was not attempted then by the Russians against him, as they were gathering strength and waiting until Dankl's army should be cut off from reenforcements. It was desired that their advance take place at the same time as the completion of the advance on Lemberg of Russky and Brussilov. Finally, on September 4, 1914, the brief official announcement was made by Russia:
"Our armies on September 4 assumed the offensive along a front between the Vistula and the Bug."
Coming as it did, when the Russian people were rejoicing over the taking of Lemberg, this news was greeted with great enthusiasm.
It will be recalled that when Russky's army advanced, a portion of the Austrian Reserve Army, commanded by Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, was hurriedly withdrawn from the position it held in Poland on the left of the Vistula, across the rear of Dankl's army, to assist General von Auffenberg.
This was referred to as an "advance," in a "communiqué" published by the Austrian General Staff on September 3, 1914. It is probable that at that very early date some German troops also were being brought up for the same purpose. Some of the Austrian reenforcements had been joined with Von Auffenberg's army and had shared in its reverses. Some had remained to screen Dankl on the right.
After Von Auffenberg's army began to encounter difficulties and its progress was stopped, the gap between its left and Dankl's right and rear grew too large for safety, so that there was a hurrying of forces from the left bank of the Vistula to fill the gap. Later, as the Russian strength grew, an entirely new Austrian army was assembled, consisting, it seems, of portions of the Third or Reserve Army under Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, which was augmented by two corps withdrawn from the Serbian frontier, and also some German troops.
The "Fourth" Army, under the command of the Archduke, was referred to thereafter in official announcements by Russia as the "Tomaszow Army." To strengthen Dankl's left, which lay upon the Vistula at Opolie, German troops from Breslau also were brought up.
In the last part of August and the first part of September, 1914, there was considerable confused fighting between detached forces on both sides in the frontier country between Zamosc and Sokal. Both sides claimed successes. The Russians claimed that their wedge was driven through successfully to Tomaszow and that there a severe defeat was administered to the Austrians.
From there the latter retired to the swampy land about Bilgoraj and upon Tarnograd. The tactics of the Russians had put a last barrier between the two principal sections of the Austrians. Interest thereafter centered in Dankl's First Army.
Fighting on the Lublin-Kholm front, having been purely defensive on the part of the Russians, at first, had grown fiercer as days passed, until there was continuous battle along the entire line. When Von Auffenberg had been defeated and his right and rear threatened, the condition of the northern army seemed so critical that General Dankl decided to force the issue. He might fall back or break through the Russian defense. He decided to attempt to pierce the line between Lublin and Kholm. On September 2, 1914, the Tenth Austrian Army Corps led the assault against the weaker part of the Russian line and reached within eleven miles of Lublin. There it was halted, and so the Austrian offensive seems to have spent itself.
As we have seen, the Russian offensive began definitely on September 4, 1914. According to the Russian official announcement, two days later, "the enemy's center, lying in the region West of Krasnostaw (this being almost due north of Zamosc, about halfway to the center of a line drawn from Lublin to Kholm) was particularly disorganized. The Forty-fifth Austrian Regiment including the colonel, forty-four officers, and 1,600 men were surrounded, and surrendered." The same announcement stated that "a German division, coming to the aid of the Austrians, was attacked on the left bank of the Vistula." Presumably, the Russian troops there had come from Ivangorod.
After the Austrian First Army began to retire, it was followed by the Russian forces along its line. And this line, at first, was approximately eighty miles. As it retired, the left wing being hemmed in by the River Vistula, and the right feeling steady pressure from Russian forces on the right, where direct retreat was prevented by the swampy nature of the country, the front was contracted until it was less than forty miles.
This had been accomplished by the time the army reached the San, where it was necessary to effect a crossing by four or five bridges at different points. Dankl was highly praised for the manner in which he handled his army during this retreat, and saved it from destruction. In Russia, it had been assumed that the retreat would degenerate into a panic and the fate of the First Army was regarded there as practically sealed. Russian strategists themselves speak in high terms of the way Dankl handled his army in this crisis.
The Austrian advance on this front had its high mark on a line drawn from Opolie on the Vistula, through Krasnostaw to Grabiowiec, whence the line curved southward toward Tyszowce. And it was in the region of the latter place that the Austrians claimed a big success, though this was denied by Petrograd.
After the Russian advance on this front from Lublin and Kholm, as we have seen, had begun with the "disorganization" of the Austrian center at Krasnostaw, the next attempt was to strike at the Austrian left, starting at Opolie and developing thence along the entire line as far as Turobin.
It was on this wing of the Russian army that the chief strength had been assembled, the other parts of the line being left comparatively weak. Reasoning that even if the Austrians were able to break through the front, where it was weaker, it would only make more certain their being surrounded finally, all new troops that arrived were shifted over to the right wing.
On September 5 and 6, 1914, the Russians attacked the Austrian army at Tomaszow, situated northeast of Krubessiow and southeast of Rawa-Russka. The Austrian army retired.
Near Frempol, the Russian cavalry rushed big convoys of the enemy in the direction of Lublin. Troops and convoys which were moving in the direction of the road leading from Josefow to Annopol were dispersed by Russian artillery on the left bank of the Vistula.
Detachments of the Fourteenth Austrian Army Corps attempted an attack near Rawa-Russka, during the night of September 7, but were repulsed. Near Tomaszow the Russians took an enemy aeroplane.
Aerial battles were not infrequent. Captain Nesteroff, one of the most daring of Russian aviators, sacrificed his life in a successful attempt to destroy an Austrian aeroplane. He was returning from the front after an aerial reconnaissance when he saw an Austrian aeroplane hovering over the Russian forces with the intention of dropping bombs.
The Russian aviator immediately headed straight for the Austrian machine at full speed and dashed into it. The force of the impact caused the collapse of both machines, which plunged to earth, both aviators meeting instant death.
The fortress of Nikolaieff, twenty miles south of Lemberg, was taken by the Russians after severe fighting. The fortress was one of the most modern military strongholds in Austria, being supplied with all the newest forms of defense and offensive weapons. It had steel cupolas, masked ranges of earthworks, and guns of modern type and heavy caliber.
The Nikolaieff fortress commanded the passage of the River Dniester. At the fortress forty guns of the heaviest type and stores of all kinds were captured. Like Lemberg, the fortresses had been well stocked with provisions, which fell into the Russians' hands.
After occupying Nikolaieff the Russians undertook, after allowing their soldiers only two hours of rest, a night march for the purpose of attacking new positions occupied by the enemy. A Russian battery, placed on the Vistula River, engaged with success an Austrian steamboat armed with rapid-fire guns.
About the same time troops were sent by train from the east of Lemberg to near Chelm, and put in action against Austrian infantry intrenched on a long line, which included the village of Michailowka. The Russians entered the village the same night, the Austrians having fallen back to a half circle of small, steep hills which overlooked the town. Some houses had been set afire, but the flames had been extinguished by the villagers themselves.
At three o'clock the following morning the attack on the hills began. The Austrians occupying them numbered 15,000, of which a large number were in a deeply wooded gorge. The Russian artillery swept the crest of the hill and shelled the gorge with shrapnel. The Austrians replied strongly.
At noon the position was stormed. The Russians, at the word of command, rose with cheers and rushed the hill. Austrian guns to the left cut them down badly. Later, after a desperate, brave fight, the position was taken. The gorge was full of dead men lying in heaps. Officers said they had never seen so many dead lying in a single place. The troops gave the place the name of "The Valley of Death."
It was reported that the Austrian general commanding the defense watched some of his men being disarmed after the battle. Presently the Austrian standards were brought up from the gorge. At this sight, it was said, the Austrian general drew his revolver and shot himself dead.
On September 5, 1914, Austrian troops which had been stationed behind the Grodek Lake district passed the railway lines of Rawa-Russka and Horynier, and on the next day advanced to Kurniki. On the following day a heavy battle began between these forces and a strong Russian force advancing northward. Two days later the Austrians opened their offensive on a forty-mile front, having the better of the conflict until September 11, especially on the southern wing near Lemberg.
The Austrians then retired because of the necessity which had arisen for a new grouping of their forces, the north wing of their army near Rawa-Russka being threatened by superior Russian forces near Krasnik and between Krasnik and the battle fields of Lemberg.
The attack by the Russians on the Opolie-Turobin section of the line seems to have been a powerful one and the Austrians retired southward, paralleling the course of the Vistula. For nineteen miles the Russian cavalry was engaged with the rear guard of the retreating forces. There was particularly fierce fighting at Suchodola and also at Krasnik. At Frampol, there was a strong Russian cavalry charge. From this point, the Austrians were forced back on the left into the morasses about Bilgoraj and the right and the center were crowded together as they drew near the San. By that time, Russia claimed to have sent 10,000 prisoners back to Lublin. These movements were all the first days of September, 1914.[Back to Contents]