It is probable that on the line from Grodek to Rawa-Russka there were more than 1,250,000 men in the armies on both sides. The line was more than sixty miles long, but the struggle was concentrated on certain points and fighting elsewhere was not important. The most critical points were at Grodek on the far south, where a position of considerable strength was occupied by the Austrians, and at Rawa-Russka. One advantage which accrued to the Austrians was that they occupied positions which had been well fortified before the battle of Lemberg, probably in anticipation of a retreat. Nature, itself, protected their right at Grodek against a turning movement. They had excellent railway facilities in their rear. The advantages possessed by the Russians were those of numbers and the fact that they were encouraged by victory. The battle had its beginning about September 8, 1914, round the position at Grodek, where the Austrians had retreated after the capture of Lemberg. It was on the extreme north of the line, however, that they first began to give ground. There they were not able to make any extended stand because the enemy, besides attacking them fiercely from in front, began to envelop their left. The fighting went on over a large extent of ground. At several places large numbers of Austrian prisoners were taken. The upper part of the Austrian line was forced steadily back, not without desperate fighting, and finally the entire line became doubled back on itself at a sharp angle from Rawa-Russka. Here the fighting was terrific. Rawa-Russka was a small Galician city, inhabited chiefly by Jews. The greater part of the town was old, but there was a modern settlement near the railway station, the town being one of the chief railway centers in that part of Galicia. There, two lines cross, one a branch of the main line to Cracow, from a point near Jaroslav to the frontier at Sokal, and the other extending northwesterly from Lemberg to the Polish frontier at Narol. There were at Rawa-Russka large railroad works, roundhouses, sidings, and storage yards. As the big battle began to develop on September 8, 1914, it was seen that Rawa-Russka was the place where it probably would be decided and the best efforts of both sides were exerted there. The defenses on the point of the angle of the Austrian line, just behind which was the town, were in extent no longer than six, or at most eight, miles. Nevertheless, during eight days, there were as many as 250,000 or 300,000 men engaged here in night and day fighting. After the first two days, the Russians concentrated their attack on the very apex of the Austrian angle, atop the bluffs at the edge of the ten-acre battle field. During eight days, the Russians stormed this point repeatedly. In a single mile the Austrians made no less than eight distinct stands.