But the commander in chief was caught off guard when Gen. Francis Favrat joined Denisov with a Prussian army of 17,500 to finish off the Polish army before it could reach Warsaw.57 The enemy had fooled the Poles by hiding their tents and sleeping under the open sky so that spies would not see them. Kosciuszko, who had received assurances that Prussia would stay neutral for the time being, was in complete denial that the Prussians would attack him.
