First Cadre Company

First Cadre Company (Pierwsza Kompania Kadrowa) was a military formation created by Józef Piłsudski at the outbreak of World War I, on August 3, 1914 in Kraków, from members of the Riflemen's Association and the Polish Rifle Squads. The company numbered 144 soldiers under command of Tadeusz Kasprzycki. The formation departed for combat on August 6, the day Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Russian Empire. It took Miechów and Michałowice, and a major town of Kielce (on 12 August), but failed to break through the Russians lines and liberate the pre-partition Polish capital of Warsaw. By the end of August it joined main Austrian forces, and became the foundation of the Polish Legions in World War I.