[6] On 12 March 1794, General Antoni Madaliński, the commander of 1st Greater Polish National Cavalry Brigade (1,500 men) decided to disobey the order to demobilize, advancing his troops from Ostrołęka to Kraków.

[7] This led to the announcement on 24 March 1794 by Tadeusz Kościuszko, a speech in the Kraków town square where he assumed the powers of the Commander in Chief of all of the Polish forces.

[1] Székely was afraid that the Poles, who had a decisive numerical advantage, could not only inflict a defeat on him, but also make it completely impossible to retreat.

He took a position near Przedmieście Gdańsk, entrusting defense of the left bank of Bydgoszcz to three townspeople's companies, weakly trained and not eager to fight the Poles.

Székely and his corps tried to intimidate Dąbrowski by marching along the left bank fording and pretending to want to cross near Siersk, although this was unsuccessful.

When Székely saw that the Poles were not worried about his march, he returned to the Gdańsk Bridge, wanting to help Prussian troops fighting on the right bank of the river.