At the end of the 19th century one of the biggest fortresses in the Russian Empire was constructed in Kaunas. In 1913 a second ring of the forts was added. Lithuanians constructing the forts were called up for military service in the Russian army. Together with other conscripts from Kaunas prov- ince they made up the majority of the garrison of the fortress. In July 1915, when the German army attacked the Kaunas fortress, military labour units were reformed into new units of the regular army. In the newly formed 124th infantry division there were two Lithuanian regiments, i.e. Kaunas 495th regiment and Vilkmergė 496th regiment. The article describes Vilkmergė 496th infantry regiment that participated in the battles at Kaunas fortress. This is a brief overview of the history of one of many Lithuanian infantry regiments that foughrin the battles of World War I.

The fortress of Kaunas was one of the strongest land fortresses of the Russian Empire at the end of the XIXth - the beginning of the XXth century. At the beginning of World War I, Kaunas passenger and merchant ships were passed over to the staff of the Kaunas fortress. The army coated two steamboats - the "Jaroslavna" and the "Venera" [Venus] - with armourplates and armed them. On the 13th of May, 1915, the steamboat "Jaroslavna" took part in the battle with the German army, and the "Venera" steamboat joined the battle soon after. With respect to individual missions, the participation of such steamboats in the defence of Kaunas fortress in 1915 often yielded positive results. In the Lithuanian military history this was the only case when armed steamboats took part in the battles on the Nemunas River.