by a group of fortresses. The Russian army, therefore,
could not make a direct western advance until it had protected its
flanks by the conquest of East Prussia on the north, and Galicia on the
south.

By the beginning of the third week in August the first Russian armies
were ready. Her forces were arranged as follows: Facing East Prussia was
the Army of the Niemen, four corps strong; the Army of Poland,
consisting of fifteen army corps, occupied a wide front from Narev on
the north to the Bug Valley; a third army, the Army of Galicia, directed
its line of advance southward into the country between Lemberg and the
River Sareth. The fortresses protecting Warsaw, still further to the
east, were well garrisoned, and in front of them to the west were troops
intended to delay any German advance from Posen. The Russian
commander-in-chief was the Grand Duke Nicholas, uncle of the late Czar,
and one of the most admirable representatives of the Russian at his
best; a splendid soldier, honest, straightforward, and patriotic, he was
the idol of his men. He had with him a brilliant staff, but the strength
of his army lay in its experience. They had learned war in the bitter
school of the Manchurian campaign.

The German force on the frontier was not less than five hundred thousand
men, and they were arranged for defense. Austria, in Galicia, had
gathered nearly one million men under the auspices of Frederick. The
first movement of these armies took place in East Prussia. The Army of
the Niemen had completed its mobilization early in August, and was under
the command of General Rennenkampf, one of the Russian leaders in
Manchuria. In command of the German forces was General von Francois, an
officer of Huguenot descent.

The first clash of these armies took place on the German frontier near
Libau, on August 3d. Two days later, the Russians crossed the frontier,
drove in the German advance posts, and seized the railway which runs
south and east of the Masurian Lakes. The German force fell back,
burning villages and destroying roads, according to their usual plan. On
the 7th of August the main army of Rennenkampf crossed the border at
Suwalki, advancing in two main bodies: the Army of the Niemen moving
north from Suwalki, the Army of the Narev marching through the region of
the Masurian Lakes. In the lake district they advanced toward Boyen, and
then directed their march toward Insterburg.

To protect Insterburg, General van Franco