Kosciuszko left about two thousand soldiers and peasants to guard Krakow and marched his army along the left bank of the Wisla River toward Warsaw. On the right bank of the river was former Polish territory annexed by Austria. He had to be careful not to incur the wrath of three great powers at once, so Kosciuszko sent a message to Francis II, emperor of Austria, explaining that his fight was not with Austria. And as Austria was at war with France, Kosciuszko also had to assure the emperor that the Polish revolution did not have a Jacobin nature.
