General August von Mackensen in the uniform of the Death's Head Hussars.
Generaloberst von Mackensen7178Verlag von Gustav Liersch & Co. Berlin, S.W.Original Aufnahme von Gottheil & Sohn, DanzigGeneral von Mackensen7178Published by Gustav Liersch & Co. Berlin, S.W.Original picture by Gottheil & Son, Danzig
". . . Scheffer, commanding the German reserve corps, kept his force together. Cavalry to the south and east co-operated with him, covering the retreat. Scheffer himself stayed awake for seventy-two hours to organise retreat along poor, icy roads as his battalions and batteries withdrew, in the night of 22nd-23rd November. The retreat succeeded. On the western side, the Lódz defenders were too exhausted to respond with any speed."
Russia's advance towards Berlin in early November was met by a German counter-stroke towards Warsaw that required the Russians to abandon their plan. The German Ninth Army under General von Mackensen threatened to surround the Russian Second Army around Lódz in Russian Poland. The Russian First and Fifth Armies moved uncommonly swiftly to prevent this, and in turn threatened to surround German units north and east of the city. Scheffer, commanding a German reserve corps, managed to extricate and save his men. The Russians overestimated the size of Scheffer's force when they mistook for German soldiers the many Russian prisoners he had taken. By the time the Battle of Lódz ended in early December, the Russians had lost over 100,000 men.
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 by Norman Stone, page 106, copyright © 1975 Norman Stone, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1975
1914-11-23, 1914, November, Battle of Lodz, Lodz, Lódz, Mackensen, von Mackensen
