Battle of Chyrów begins

On 13 October 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Second and Third Armies went over to a general attack on the positions of the Russian Eighth Army of General Aleksei Brusilov south of Przemyśl. The British chronology of the war dates the start of the Battle of Chyrów to this day. The first clashes in this sector had been going on since 9–10 October, which is why the Austrian official history begins the battle, which it calls the Battle of Przemyśl and Chyrów, on 10 October.

After the relief of Przemyśl

A few days earlier the Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive in Galicia had brought about the relief of Przemyśl. The Russians, however, did not make a stand at the fortress itself. North of the fortress they fell back behind the San, and south of it the Eighth Army occupied prepared positions on the hills, from the Przemyśl area through the Chyrów area to Stary Sambor on the Dniester. The Austro-Hungarian command hoped to beat the weaker Russian forces precisely here and get into the rear of the armies defending the San.

From the south, from the Carpathians, came the Second Army of General Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli. Its leading division reached Krościenko on 9 October and found the defile at Chyrów closed by the Russian XXIV Corps. The army’s right wing, General Tersztyánszky’s group, came down from the Uzsok Pass to Turka. From the direction of Przemyśl the southern wing of the Third Army of General Svetozar Boroević was attacking.

Attack and counter-attack

The main forces of the Second Army, VII and XII Corps, struck at the hills around the villages of Czyszki and Stara Sól. Tersztyánszky’s group was to take the hills south of Stary Sambor and advance down the Bystrzyca valley towards Sambor. The Austrians attacked in difficult, wooded terrain, along few roads, and their columns went into action piecemeal. The Russians had been strengthening their positions for several days.

The attack almost immediately ran into strong resistance. Brusilov, who at first had only two corps here, responded, as was his habit, with counter-attacks. In the very first days of the battle the Russians struck the left wing of the Second Army and tried to break through towards Chyrów and Dobromil. The heaviest fighting took place on the hills south of Stary Sambor and near the villages of Błożew Górna and Towarnia. The Austrians had to throw all their reserves into the fight, and on 16 October Boroević committed his III Corps to the battle.

Three weeks of fighting

The battle lasted until 2 November. Both sides suffered heavy losses, and the Austro-Hungarian troops were further weakened by cholera and shortages of ammunition. Brusilov held the front, although in the second half of October he also had to repel an Austro-Hungarian thrust on Stryj and Drohobycz, into the rear of his army. When at the end of the month the Austrians at last began to achieve local successes, the outcome of the battle was decided by the defeat of the Germans and Austrians on the Vistula. At the beginning of November the Austro-Hungarian armies once again had to retreat.