The Austrian 6th Cavalry Division made the first foray over the border into Russian Poland, advancing ahead of Fourth Army to screen its deployment and find the Russians. Just on the Austrian side of the frontier it ran hard into the Russian cavalry screen, and its commander FML Oskar Wittman called up his attached infantry, two battalions from Vienna's famed Deutschmeister regiment and a Feldjäger battalion, all from the 25th Infantry Division. The Deutschmeister's commander, Col Ludwig Holzhausen, and his entire staff led the regiment into the war's first battle.

Holzhausen drew his sword and led his men forward at a walk, to be struck down by Russian bullets as soon as he came into range. The Cossacks had prepared their own field fortifications, though their supporting regular infantry had not, and they held off repeated attacks by the Imperial and Royal Army's best infantry regiment. The Deutschmeister suffered 39 killed, including Holzhausen, and 51 wounded. Unimpressed by dismounted combat, even in victory, the Stavka fired 1st Don Cossack Division's commander, Lt. Gen. Alexei Kuzmin-Korovaev, that evening.