End of the Battle of the San

According to the British chronology of the war, the battle of the San ended on 23 May 1915. For a week, since the Germans entered Jarosław, the Central Powers’ troops had fought for the crossings and bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the river, while the Russians tried to throw them back. The last days before 23 May, however, passed relatively quietly. The front had stabilised, and both sides were preparing for the next clash, which was to decide the fate of Przemyśl.

Failed counter-attacks

The heaviest fighting took place on 18 and 19 May. North of Jarosław the German Guard and X Corps widened their bridgeheads on the Lubaczówka and near Sieniawa, and the Austro-Hungarian VI Corps threw the Russian Siberian riflemen back beyond Wietlin. During the night of 18–19 May the Russian Third Army threw the newly arrived corps of General Nikolai Istomin into a counter-attack, and at dawn on 19 May two corps of the Eighth Army of General Aleksei Brusilov also attacked. All the attacks were repulsed. On the lower San the Russians crossed the river between Rudnik and Stare Miasto on 19 May, but an Austro-Hungarian counter-attack forced them to retreat. In the afternoon the German 56th Division broke into the gap between two Russian corps near Radawa and seized the crossings on the Lubaczówka.

The commander of the Third Army, General Radko Dimitriev, reported that day that the situation was worsening by the hour, and asked for permission to retreat. He did not receive it. The Russian high command had already been dissatisfied with him for several days, and the army was soon taken over by General Leonid Lesh. Sources give various dates for this change, from 20 May to the beginning of June.

Before the battle for Przemyśl

Despite the loss of Jarosław, the Russians held the most important position in this sector: the strongly fortified bridgehead at Radymno, linked to the northern fortifications of Przemyśl. They were again preparing for defence the fortress they had taken in March. They were short of ammunition, however, and the divisions bled white in the retreat from Gorlice and in the fighting on the San often had a fraction of their normal strength.

General August von Mackensen used the pause to bring up heavy artillery and ammunition over the roads and railways destroyed by the retreating Russians. Around 20 May his staff planned a new attack on the eastern bank of the San, which was to push the Russians away from Przemyśl from the north. On the last day of the battle, 23 May, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. The Austrians had to move some of their forces to the new front, but did not halt the offensive in Galicia. The next day the attack on the Radymno bridgehead began.