Attack of the Dead Men

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Attack of the Dead Men
Part of Eastern Front (First World War)
Date August 6, 1915 Location Osowiec Fortress, Congress Poland, Russian Empire (now Poland) Result Russian victory German forces routed and withdrew Russian evacuation on August 18
Belligerents
German Empire	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Paul von Hindenburg Rudolf von Freudenberg [ru]	Vladimir Kotlinsky † Władysław Strzemiński (WIA)
Units involved
11th Landwehr Division	226th Zemlyansky Infantry Regiment
Strength
14 battalions ~7,000–8,000 men	~900 men 500 regulars 400 militia  • ~60–100 in the counterattack
Casualties and losses
Heavy	~800 dead from gas (almost all present were wounded or killed)

The Attack of the Dead Men, or the Battle of Osowiec Fortress, was a battle of World War I that took place at Osowiec Fortress (now northeastern Poland), on August 6, 1915. The incident got its name from the bloodied, corpse-like appearance of the Russian combatants after they were bombarded with a mixture of poison gases, chlorine and bromine by the Germans. While coughing up blood and often pieces of their inner organs, the Russians covered their faces with cloths and managed to rout German forces.