The Russian cavalry attached to the advancing XVI and Grenadier Corps failed to detected the Austro-Hungarian X Corps in front of them, and the infantry columns blundered into the enemy and sharp fighting soon developed. Purely by accident than by any design, the Russian Grenadiers found the gap between the Austrian 2nd and 24th Infantry Divisions, formed when both Austrian units responded to the appearance of Russians on their front by attacking them. Feldmarschall-Leutnant Leopold Freiherr von Hauer’s cavalry division had been tasked with screening and reconnaissance, but when the Grenadiers attacked Hauer promptly ordered his troopers to dismount and stop them in infantry combat.

The cavalry did something the Austrian infantry would not – dug themselves in to hold their ground and block the Russian advance. By holding the Grenadiers, the cavalry not only protected the inner flanks of the two neighboring infantry divisions but pinned their Russian opponents to allow a Landwehr infantry division to turn the Grenadier Corps’ left flank.