The First Army was a

field army A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air army, Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and ...

of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

that existed during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. In March 1920 the Headquarters of the Army decided to disband the Front HQs active until then and reform them into separate armies. The largest of Polish fronts, the so-called Lithuanian-Belarusian Front (otherwise known as the Northern Front) was split up onto three armies: the 1st, 4th and 7th. The new 1st Army was composed mostly of former Corps-sized

operational group Operational Group (, GO) was the highest level type of tactical division of the Polish Army at various points in the 20th century, mainly during the Second World War. Polish-Bolshevik War (1919-1921) Operational groups first appeared in the Polis ...

s of Generals Edward Rydz and Józef Lasocki. Initially the command of the new formation was given to Gen. Józef Haller de Hallenburg, but eventually he took command of a new Northern Front while the 1st Army was given to Gen.

Stefan Majewski Stefan Majewski (born 31 January 1956) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the sporting director of Ekstraklasa club Cracovia. Club career Majewski was born in Bydgoszcz. He played for clubs such as ...

. Initially it faced the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

's 15th Red Banner Army under Avgust Kork. The composition of the newly created army changed over time. At various times the units under Majewski's command included the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and 2nd Lithuanian–Belarusian Divisions, the 5th,

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

, 10th, 11th, 15th and 17th Infantry Divisions, as well as 1st and 4th Air Groups and two cavalry brigades (the 1st and 4th). Also the post of commanding officer was occupied by a succession of generals. Majewski was succeeded by

Gustaw Zygadłowicz Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

(May - June 1920), then by Jan Romer (June 23–28, 1920), Mieczysław Kuliński (June 29–31, 1920), Władysław Jędrzejewski (until August 6),

Franciszek Latinik Franciszek Ksawery Latinik (17 July 1864 – 29 August 1949) was a Polish military officer, Colonel of Austro-Hungarian Army and Major General of the Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic), Polish Army. Graduate of the General Staff Academy ...

(until August 22), Lucjan Żeligowski (did not assume command) and finally Gen. Aleksander Osiński (from August 23 until September 1, 1920). The

chiefs of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

were Lt. Col. Adam Nałęcz Nieniewski (April and May 1920), Col. Jan Kubin (until June 1920) and Col. Franciszek Kleeberg. Following the battle of Warsaw, the army took part in pursuit after the fleeing Russian forces and took part in the Battle of the Niemen River. However, its forces were gradually reassigned to smaller formations and by the end of August 1920 the only division under its command was the 8th Infantry. By August 20 the unit reached the Orzyc River near

Krasnosielc Krasnosielc is a village in Maków County, in the Masovian Voivodeship, on the river Orzyc, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (''gmina'') called Gmina Krasnosielc. It lies approximately north of Maków Mazo ...

and was disbanded, with the 8th Division withdrawn to Lesser Poland for regrouping.

References

{{Reflist Polish armies Military units and formations established in 1920 Military units and formations disestablished in 1920 Polish–Soviet War 1920 disestablishments in Poland