Wilhelm Groener
Under Hindenburg's command, "Ober Ost" desperately shored up weak points with soldiers stripped from less threatened positions. Ludendorff was so distraught on the phone to "OHL" that General Wilhelm Groener (who directed the army's railroads and had been a competitor with Ludendorff on the General Staff) was sent to evaluate his nerves, which were judged satisfactory. For a week the Russians kept attacking: they lost 80,000 men; the defenders 16,000. On 16 July the Russians attacked the German lines west of Riga, where again they were thwarted by a stout defense.