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Born on February 1 in [[Inflanty]], then [[partitions of Poland|partitioned Poland]] in the [[Russian Empire]], his family soon moved to the provinces surrounding the [[Black Sea]], possibly as part of the repercussions facing Poles in the aftermath of the failed [[January Uprising]].
He joined the [[Russian Army]], becoming an officer in 1882 with a specialization in [[engineering]]. In 1898 he was promoted to the rank of captain. He fought in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1905 and served in [[Siberia]], where he took part in the construction of many roads and bridges. In 1914, soon after the [[First World War]] began, he was found guilty of violating the [[censorship]] laws, and was sent to the [[Eastern Front (WWI)|Russian-German front]]. There he took part in the negotiations for prisoner exchanges with [[Austro-Hungary]], after which he served in units tasked with [[logistics]] and [[fortification]]s. In 1915 he was promoted to [[lieutenant general]], but did not receive an independent command
In 1917, during the Russian [[February Revolution]], he found himself in [[St. Petersburg]] where he became one of the leaders of the [[Polish War Commission]], and then one of the commanders of the [[Polish 1st Corps in the East]]. In 1918 he organized the [[Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence]] force and the [[1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division]]. On 8 December, he was officially accepted into the newly forming [[Polish Army]] by the order of [[Józef Piłsudski]] at the rank of [[major general]]. In 1919 he was sent for training in [[France]], and in spring 1920 he became the Chief Inspector of Technical Forces (''Generalny Inspektor Wojsk Technicznych''). During the [[Polish-Soviet War]], he worked with the [[French Military Mission to Poland]] and took part in the [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)|Battle of Warsaw]], where he helped prepare Polish fortifications and defensive lines.
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