The badly outnumbered Crown army avoided defeat and retreated in an orderly fashion from their initial positions at the southeastern borderlands to the Bug River. On June 18, Prince Poniatowski led his soldiers to a victory at Zieleńce, which prompted the King to establish the Virtuti Militari decoration for valor. In mid-July, an attempt was made to stabilize defenses at the Bug River line, fiercely defended by Tadeusz Kościuszko at the Battle of Dubienka. Afterwards the army continued its retreat toward the Vistula.