Viktor Dankl of the Austro-Hungarian First Army placed his 3rd Cavalry Division to screen his left flank and provide a connection between his I Corps and the solid anchor provided by the Vistula River. When Dankl’s army clashed with the Russian Fourth Army, a small cavalry corps of one division and one brigade performed a similar function on the Russian right. While the Austrians probed for contact and information, the Russian Guard Cavalry Brigade reacted with an aggressive attack.

FML Adolf Ritter von Brudermann of 3rd Cavalry Division, younger brother of Third Army commander Rudolf Ritter von Brudermann (and thus known throughout his life as “the other Brudermann”) seems to have owed his position to a sudden string of promotions after Rudolf became inspector general of cavalry before the war. Adolf was noted as perhaps the finest horseman in the K.u.K. Army; as a commander his skills lagged considerably behind. The Austrian cavalry was driven back by the Russian Guards, commanded by the aggressive Carl Gustav Mannerheim, with only the timely arrival of infantry reinforcements restoring the situation and preventing a rout.