The cavalry division, which had meanwhile been transferred to the Eastern Front, launched a diversionary attack from Tilsit on 26 April 1915 in the direction of Šiauliai and Liepāja.

They advanced to the Vilnius-Šiauliai railway line without flank protection, blew up the tracks and, as ordered, returned to the Dubysa near Kelmė on 11 May 1915.

There they stood for the following two months in fierce defensive battles against Russian patrol units and created the conditions for General von Hindenburg's planned large-scale attack on Kaunas and Vilnius.

In August, it made a bold move towards Ukmergė, inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking Russian forces.

At Stochod near Toboly, the division had to resist heavy attacks by Russian troops during the Brusilov offensive in August and September 1916.

After Generalleutnant Hellingrath took over the War Ministry, Major General Moritz von und zu Egloffstein was entrusted with the leadership of the division on 14 December 1916.

In June the staff with the 5th Cavalry Brigade was transferred to western Volhynia and remained there until the withdrawal in early 1919.