Battle of Ács
Pákozd - Schwechat - Košice - Mór - Piski - Mediasch - Kápolna - Hatvan - Tápió Bicske - Isaszeg - Waitzen I - Nagy-Salló - Komorn I - Mocsa - Kács - Pered - Raab - Ács (Komorn II) - Komorn III - Hegyes - Waitzen II - Tura - Sighișoara - Debreczin - Szöreg - Temesvár
Arad - Deva - Esseg - Karlsburg - Komorn - Leopoldov - Oven - Peterwardein - Temesvár
The Second Battle of Komorn , also known as the Battle of Ács , was a battle of the Hungarian War of Independence and was fought south of the Danube on July 2nd . The imperial commander Haynau and General Schlick attacked that day, together with the Russian Division Panyutin against Ács on. At 5 o'clock in the morning the Austrian attack began, the right wing of the Hungarian wing and the center were commanded by General Görgey . The left wing was led by General Klapka . Across from Mocsa, the cavalry of the corps under Leiningen-Westerburg took up the fight, but the hussars had to withdraw after initial successes at Puszta Harkaly. After Görgey was wounded and the commander Klapka could not withstand the superiority, he withdrew his troops from O-Szőny to the starting position.
prehistory
On June 29, a conference on the military situation led by Lajos Kossuth was held in Pest . The loss of the Raab fortress , which the 7th Corps under General Pöltenberg had to surrender to the main Austrian powers the day before , as well as the Russian invasion of Transylvania and northeastern Hungary brought the mood to a low point. Kossuth wanted to unite all army groups still scattered in the country in the Szegedin area into a single strong army, which would be strong enough to oppose the main imperial army under FZM Haynau. This plan failed because of the behavior of the Danube Army. General Görgey, who was in conflict with Kossuth, had already declared that he no longer had any confidence in the government. In the interests of Hungary's freedom, Kossuth urged Görgey to withdraw his Danube army from the Komorn fortress to Debreczin and to establish a union with the army of General Bem . Instead of a written order, he sent a deputation under Csanyi, General Aulich and FML Kiss to Komorn, where on June 30th they received Görgey's promise to fulfill the government's request. The following day, July 1st, turned out to be a dull rainy day, Görgey's mood turned sullen, he hesitated whether to break away from the government, or whether he should be deposed by it. On the same day, Kossuth had already decided that General Lázár Mészáros should take over the command of the Danube Army. Without being noticed by the Hungarians in time, the imperial army closed the Komorn fortress on three sides, so that the Danube Army had blocked the direct route to Pest.
March
From June 30th, Görgey gathered his entire army with 51,000 men (including 10,200 horsemen) and 196 guns in and in front of the Komorn fortress. In the southern apron, ten forts formed the so-called "entrenched camp". Four battalions of the 8th Corps (General Klapka ) defended three plants on Sandberg, the 7th Corps (11,500 men under General Pöltenberg ) and the 3rd Corps (9,200 men under General Leiningen-Westerburg) occupied seven other forts and the bridge . The 2nd Corps (9750 men under General Kaszonyi) was ready as a reserve in the city of Komorn, while the 1st Corps (General Nagy-Sandor ) arrived at the fortress from Neuhäusel on July 1st .
The Austrians under Haynau gathered about 64,000 men (9600 of them horsemen) and 288 cannons around Komorn. The II Corps (12,900 men and 42 cannons under Csorich ) advanced from the Grosse Schütt, the Colloredo division with the Liebler and Barco Brigades formed a defensive position between Aranyos and Köszegfalva, leaning on the Waag on the left and the Danube on the right. On the morning of July 2, the IV Corps (14,800 men with 54 cannons under Wohlgemuth ) advanced against Puszta Harkaly in the middle . At the first meeting, the Lobkowitz division, followed by the Herzinger division . The right flank as far as Csép was covered by Major General Bechtold's cavalry division (4,800 men and 12 cannons). Advancing behind to the southern front on Igmand, the Russian Panjutin Division (13,100 men and 48 cannons) initially followed as reserve. On the left wing, the I. Corps (19,200 men and 54 cannons under Schlick ) advanced from Ács to Lovad against the Hungarian positions on Sandberg. In the south the III. Corps (12,800 men and 48 cannons under FML Moltke ) expected at Igmand, but did not enter the fight on July 2nd.
The battle
On July 2, Haynau decided to attack the opposing positions of Komorn against his original intention and to deal a decisive blow to the Hungarians, which should cut off the lines of communication from Komorn to Buda. The Austrian I. Corps (General Schlick) started the attack on the left wing along the Danube early in the morning, contrary to Haynau's orders: On the right, the Sartori vanguard brigade crossed the Acser forest and cleared the Megyfa forest of light Hungarian skirmishers . The brigade on the left under Major General Reischach opened the fight, which soon grew into a real battle.
After 8 o'clock in the morning the IV Corps was also brought into battle east of Puszta Harkaly on the north-eastern edge of the Acser and Megyfa forests. The cavalry was advanced on the right wing between the Acser forest and the plain. To his right was the Bechtold cavalry division, while the Russian Panjutin division was assigned to the highlands as a reserve. Hussars of the Hungarian 3rd Corps advanced from Ó-Szőny. General Leiningen-Westerburg , commander of the Hungarian 3rd Corps on the left wing, ordered the cavalry under Colonel Pikéthy to attack. As soon as the troops of the Imperial IV Corps and the vanguard of the cavalry division had reached Bechtold before Puszta Herkály, they had to return the line between Ács and Uj-Szőny to the counterattack of the Hungarian cavalry. While the Schneider Brigade of the I. Corps remained standing on the heights of Acs as a reserve, the Hussars were thrown back in front of Ó-Szőny by the Simbschen Equestrian Brigade, which was subordinate to Bechtold . With the exception of the Gerstner Brigade, which was left behind in Kis-Bér, further reinforcements were brought forward. With these, Colonel Pikéthy renewed his attack against the imperial cavalry under Colonel Mensdorff (Kaiser Regiment and Liechtenstein Chevaulegers). The second attack of the hussars ended even worse than the first, while their attacks were repulsed, riders who had advanced too far fell into the hands of the enemy. The Benedek Brigade , as the vanguard of IV Corps, was able to end its advance on the hill east of Harkaly. More Hungarian hussars that Pöltenberg had sent to Harkaly were repulsed by the Lederer heavy cavalry brigade and the Panjutin division. The hussars of the Hungarian 7th Corps withdrew into the woods, meanwhile Benedek's troops stormed the village of O-Szöny, while the Simbschen brigade advanced west of the vineyards.
Ernö Pöltenberg then launched a counterattack against the isolated avant-garde von Schlick, whereby the Janik brigade near Megyfa Forest was also attacked. The Panjutin division was still securing the heights around Puszta Csém , while General Schlick's I. Corps was ordered to occupy the forest and the town of Ács. The Hungarian counterattack came to a halt, especially along the Danube, where Major General Reischach led the defense with determination. The imperial troops advancing again took Fort Monostori without resistance. Taking advantage of the success of Reischach, the Sartori and Bianchi brigades were brought forward again at the same level.
While Haynau was already convinced that the fighting would largely end, Görgey's arrival in the front line of battle caused a counterattack by the Hungarians. At 4 p.m. Görgey decided to launch a new cavalry attack and personally headed the 7th Corps cavalry. Görgey rode to the focal point of the battle, on the way he met Klapka and sent him to lead the attack on the left wing, while he himself was to lead the right wing. When Görgey's riders reached Monostori, Reischach was in the process of securing his positions. The crew of the Hungarian Janik Brigade had holed up behind the steep slope of the Danube near Monostori. The Hungarian 48th Battalion under Major Rakovszky and a battalion of the Don Miguel Regiment are supposed to recapture the lost forts on Sandberg, which led to new heavy fighting. Schlick immediately ordered the Sartori brigade and a battalion from the Bianchi brigade to reinforce Reischach's troops. The Sartori brigade could not hold its own against the strong attack by the Hungarians, Schlick ordered him to return to Ács across the Czoncza brook together with the Bianchi brigade. In the meantime, Pöltenberg's infantry also advanced along the road from Puszta Harkály to Ács. On Schlick's right flank, the Schneider brigade at Ácser-Wald and the Ludwig brigade could not withstand in their previous position. In the afternoon at 5 p.m. both the southeastern tip of the Ácser forest and Puszta-Harkály are taken by the Hungarians.
Schlick's corps was pushed almost entirely back behind the Czoncza brook when the next turn of the battle came. Schlick had sent for help to Lieutenant General Panjutin, who had his troops advance to Puszta Csem in order to flank the Hungarians. Pöltenberg led eight squadrons ahead via Harkály to Ács. The IV. Corps, which was on the way to Mócsa with the Lederer Reiter Brigade, became aware of Schlick's tense situation and also turned to Harkaly. With a cavalry brigade, General Simbschen von Mócsa, riding up, threatened the Hungarians behind. Panjutin's troops opened fire against the Hungarian hussars, forcing them to break off the fight with the enemy cavalry and withdraw. The Russian division developed on the right wing of the Simbschen cavalry. Görgey's attacks now mainly consisted of relieving Klapka's ongoing attack on Ó-Szőny by attracting the attention of the opponent at Harkály.
Pöltenberg's infantry pushed on in three columns on the right wing. During the advance a gap arose between the two attacking columns led by Görgey and General Pöltenberg. As Görgey got closer to the enemy, he noticed that enemy cavalry commands gathered around the Acser forest and threatened the right flank of the 7th Corps. To draw the latter's attention to this fact, he waved his hat when a finger-wide furrow was made on the back of his head. Perhaps unintentionally by a sword blow from his own hussars who accompanied him.
General Klapka had to take over the command. Before night fell, every Honved knew that General Görgey had left the battlefield covered in blood. The location was used by Simbschen's heavy cavalry, but the Liechtenstein Chevaulegers were stopped by the onslaught of the hussars. Pöltenberg ordered his infantry to renew the attack, but the enemy cavalry had meanwhile also withdrawn.
In the meantime the divisions of the IV Corps had arrived in Puszta Harkály, the fate of the battle had already been largely decided by the cavalry battles. Pöltenberg's infantry pushed their way into the Acser forest, to the right along the Danube, the troops under Rakovszki pushed the Sartori brigade back on the Danube.
Klapka ordered the intervention of the 3rd Corps under Leiningen in order to set up a decisive attack to recapture the village Ó-Szőny, where Benedek's troops had set up defense. Leiningen's battalions were formed in two columns for the attack, with the front consisting of the 3rd battalion of the 19th regiment and the 2nd of the 52nd regiment, as well as the 42nd and 65th battalions. In front of Ó-Szőny there was an extremely persistent battle that ended with the withdrawal of Leiningen's troops. Leiningen moved his second meeting forward, but this attempt was also in vain, as Benedek had meanwhile been reinforced. Only the third attack succeeded, supported by a few cannons, the unprotected cavalry had to withdraw from Simbschen and Benedek's infantry had to leave the village early in the evening and retreat to Mócsa.
FML Wohlgemuth found out about the attack on Benedek when the fresh Jablonowski Brigade broke out against Ó-Szöny and also rekindled the fighting at Harkaly. Wohlgemuth then sent the order to Major General Jablonowski to break off the battle and to retreat to Mocsa. The falling darkness ended the undecided battles, which neither party could win. The Hungarians also receded the southern forts of Komorn, Haynau's troops holed up on the new line at the Ács forest - Puszta Harkaly - Puszta Csem to Mocsa.
consequences
The losses of the 12-hour battle were high among the Austrians: 5 officers and 131 men were among the dead, 28 officers and 546 men were among the wounded, 2 officers and 160 men were missing; a total of 35 officers, 837 men and 168 horses. The Russians had 4 dead, 3 wounded and 11 missing; thus a total of 3 officers and 15 men were lost. The Hungarians lost around 1,500 men, of which the 7th Corps, which was in the main battle, had the largest share: 20 officers and 286 men were killed, 3 officers and 248 men were missing, the wounded amounted to 23 officers and 534 men.
Soon Görgey's supporters Kossuth's decree of July 1, which relieved the general from army command, caused a great offense, and a serious ferment took hold. General Klapka convened a council of war for July 4th, during which he distinguished himself as a mediator with the government. Kossuth also agreed to respect the will of the army. On July 5th, Klapka traveled back to Komorn and had Görgey submit his resignation as Minister of War on July 6th and to remain at the head of the army. After the Third Battle of Komorn was lost on July 11th, Görgey withdrew with most of his army to Waitzen, while two corps under Klapka's command remained in the fortress, which was completely enclosed by the imperial forces.
literature
- Rudolph Kiszling: The Revolution in the Austrian Empire 1848 to 1849 , Volume 2, Vienna 1949.
- József Bánlaky : A magyar nemzet hadtörténelme , 3 volumes, (Budapest 1928–1942), Book XXI. Magyarország 1848/49.
- Csikány Tamás: Csata Komáromnál 1849 július 2-án avagy a szabadságharc harcászata , Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-210-783-7
- Anatole Wacquant: The Hungarian Danube Army 1848–49 Silesian Book Printing, Art and Art. Publishing house v. S. Schottlaender, Breslau 1900
- Artur Görgei: My life and work in Hungary in the years 1848 and 1849 , FA Brockhaus Verlag, Leipzig 1852
- Alois Carl Wiesner: The campaign of the Hungarians against the Austrians and Russians 1848/49 , Leonhard Hitz, Chur 1853
- Wilhelm Rüstow : History of the Hungarian War of Insurrection 1848 and 1849 , Friedrich Schultheß Verlag, Zurich 1861