The Battle of Kassa was a battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, fought on 4 January 1849 between Austria and Hungarian Revolutionary Army during the Winter Campaign of the Hungarian War of independence of 1848-1849. The Austrians were led by Lieutenant General Franz Schlik, while the Hungarians were led by General Lázár Mészáros. While the Austrian main army led by Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz was attacking Hungary from the West, Schlik's corps invaded Northern Hungary. The Hungarian Upper Tisza corps led by the Minister of War Lázár Mészáros tried to stop Schlik's corps, but he was defeated at Kassa. After this battle Colonel György Klapka, who will be more successful than Mészáros. On 9 January Kossuth appointed Colonel György Klapka to replace Mészáros.
Background.
At the beginning of December 1848, a K.u.K. army corps from the Habsburg province of Galicia invaded Northern Hungary. Its commander, Lieutenant General Count Franz Schlik, who was in his 60th year, was one of the most experienced and successful generals of the imperial army. One of his eyes was supposedly gouged out by a drunken Cossacks in the Napoleonic Wars, but contemporaries say he could see more with his remaining half-eye than many other generals could with two. In November 1848 he was entrusted with the organization of the invasion of northern Hungary. The unrest in Galicia made it impossible to mobilize all the Habsburg forces, so Schlik crossed the Dukla Pass on 6 December 1848 with a little less than 8,000 men and 27 guns.
The task of the corps was to capture Kassa, after which it had to advance either through Miskolc or Rozsnyó towards Pest, in accordance with the war plan of the main Imperial Army led by Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, which expected the decisive confrontation with the Hungarian army in the vicinity of Buda or Pest. Later, Windisch-Grätz, having been informed of the capture of Bártfa, modified this so that Schlik would march towards Vác via the Eger road or via Rozsnyó and Losonc. The prince recommended the latter, saying that the road to Eger was better, but it led through the countryside inhabited mostly by Hungarians (which for an Austrian army would be dangerous), while the route through Rozsnyó - Losonc - Vác would take him through Slovakian -inhabited countryside; moreover, this route would allow him to easily come into contact with the columns of the K.u.K. Army advancing towards Nyitra and the mining towns.
Schlik captured Eperjes on 9 December, and on 11 December he clashed with the Hungarian corps assembled in haste under the command of Colonel Sándor Pulszky between Budamér and Kassa. Pulszky had a total of three newly formed Honvéd battalions, thousands of mobilised National Guards and 15 cannons. The first shots of the Hungarian artillery hit in the immediate vicinity of Schlik. The Imperial Artillery returned fire, which made the untrained National Guardsmen flee. The 19th Honvéd Battalion, taking up position on the right bank of the Hernád river, fired with 3 cannons at the Imperial troops, covering the retreat of the rest of the troops which evacuated Kassa and retreated towards Miskolc.
Schlik sent his light cavalry after them, led by Major Concorreggio and Captain Scudier, his chief of staff. The pursuit was initially successful, and the Imperial troops almost caught up with the Hungarian artillery.
But then a handful of the infantry uhlans of the Polish Legion and the 20th Honvéd Battalion took a stance in their way at the tavern from Bárca. Major Wladyslaw Tchorznicki, the leader of the group, was a true veteran, having fought in the Polish uprising of 1830-31. He took up a position behind the stone wall of the tavern with his soldiers, let the Imperial Cavalry close in, and then poured such a volley of fire on them that Major Concorreggio and several of the officers were killed, Scudier was wounded and taken prisoner, and the others fled struck by panic. Thanks to them the rest of the Hungarian army could retreat to Miskolc unharmed.
Prelude.
The defeat in Budamér had caused serious concern in the National Defence Commission (the de facto governing body of Hungary during the war with Austria), and all reinforcements were directed towards there. These were also mostly newly formed, untrained honvéd battalions and cavalry units. The command of the corps was taken over by the Minister of War himself, General Lázár Mészáros, while Bertalan Szemere, a prominent member of the National Defence Commission, was appointed as the plenipotentiary national commissioner of the area. By the end of December the corps had reached 10,000 men and 25 guns.
Mészáros planned a combined attack to retake Kassa. A total of 1,400 troops of the Hungarian Army and National Guards in the counties of Szepes, Ung, and Bereg were to attack Eperjes from two directions on 1 January, and after its capture, to attack Kassa from the north. In the meantime, Mészáros would have pushed towards the city from the south.
Meanwhile, Schlik received orders from Windisch-Grätz to set off for Pest. But Schlik decided to reconnoiter the Miskolc area before carrying out the order, to avoid being flanked by the Hungarians. He departed on 26 December, by which time Mészáros had deployed his corps at Szikszó.
The outposts of both corps met on 27 December, and on 28 December the main forces of Mészáros and Schlik faced each other in the Battle of Szikszó. Schlik advanced and Mészáros, fearing an outflanking, retreated towards Miskolc. Schlik, however, did not follow him but during the evening retreated towards Kassa. Schlik feared that his troops would be attacked by the fanaticized Hungarian population if he continued to advance. He also received news of an imminent Hungarian attack on Eperjes, and decided to concentrate his troops in Kassa.
On 30 December, Mészáros informed of Schlik's withdrawal, set off for Kassa. Mészáros then sent his detachments forward, as it follows: Lieutenant Colonel Arisztid Dessewffy was pushed forward to Szikszó, Major Miklós Perczel to Edelény, and Major Henryk Rembowsky to Felsőzsolca; Colonel Sándor Pulszky's brigade remained for the time being at Miskolc. On 31 December, Dessewffy's troops spent the night at Forró, Pulszky's at Szikszó, Rembowszky's at Nagykinizs, Perczel's at Perkupa; the latter kept the connection with Dessewffy's troops by the 17th Honvéd battalion of Captain Schulz Bódog sent to Késmárk, and reinforced by a platoon of mounted national guards from Heves county. On 1 January 1849, Dessewffy reached Garadna, Pulszky Forró, Rembowszky Vizsoly, and Perczel Torna; Schulz's detachment pushed forward to Gagy. On 2 January, Dessewffy marched to Hidasnémeti, Pulszky to Szurdok, Rembowszky to Gönc, Perczel to Nagyida and Schulz to Perény. Meanwhile, the Zemplén detachment under Lieutenant Colonel Thworzniczky, having reached Gálszécs on 1 January, set out the next day to occupy the Dargó Pass, which was held by Austrian Captain Matischek with 1 squadron (2 companies) of the Parma-landwehr battalion and 1 cavalry platoon. Lieutenant Colonel Thworzniczky's raiding party consisted of 1 company of Polish legionnaires (80 men), 1 company of Abaúj volunteers (60 men), 3 companies of Zemplén volunteers (300 men), 1/2 company of Ferdinand hussars (40 horsemen) and 2 guns; in all 440 infantry, 40 hussars and 2 guns. On 2 January, Thworzniczky attacked Matischek and pushed him back through Petőszinye. On 3 January, Mészáros's brigade reached Enyicke, Pulszky's brigade, which was joined by Schulz's detachment, Szakály, Rembowszky's brigade reached Zsadány and Perczel's brigade reached Buzinka.
So the troops launched by Mészáros at the beginning were making promising progress to catch Schlik's troops between two fires. However, by 3 January, when he reached Kassa, he was informed that the planned combined attack failed. On 1 January, Hungarian detachments from Bereg and Szepes attacked Eperes, with its small garrison, but failed. Also contributed to the failure that, contrary to the plan, the attacks were carried out separately rather than simultaneously. At the appointed time, only the Szepes detachment arrived at Eperjes, only to be met by the imperials, who had been informed of the action and struck them with a surprise attack. Their failure was compounded by the fact that the artillerymen did not intervene due to lack of cavalry cover. The Bereg detachment arrived 3–4 hours late and was also forced to retreat. The Imperial troops not only repulsed the attacks, but a small detachment broke into Spiš, towards Béla. But also, the fate of the Hungarian detachment occupying the Dargo Pass ended with disaster. Schlik, having received news of the occupation of the pass and fearing an attack from several directions, sent troops (4 squadrons of infantry, 2 platoons of cavalry, 2 cannons) to recapture it, which found the detachment already in the night from 2 to 3 January in Petőszinye. After the Zemplén Volunteer National Guards failed to perform their security duties properly, they were caught by surprise and abandoned Szinye and the Dargó Pass, and fled through Gálszécs to Terebes, leaving behind a considerable amount of equipment, weapons, and 20 prisoners.
Having defeated the encircling troops, Schlik was thus able to turn almost all his strength against the Hungarian corps. On 4 January, Mészáros could only rely on the main forces advancing from Miskolc (about 8,400 men, 25 guns), but he still outnumbered Schlik's forces concentrated at Kassa (about 6,000–7,000 men, 22 guns).
Schlik deployed his troops on both sides of the main road, the key to his position being the hill west of the main road called "Akasztófahegy" (Gallow mountain). Its approach was made more difficult by the steep-banked Miszlóka stream flowing in front of it. Schlik, having been informed of Mészáros' approach only late, at noon on 4 January, positioned his corps south of Kassa as follows: on the left flank, under Major General Deym, between the road to Pest and the Hernád, the two companies of the Archduke Wilhelm Regiment's the 3rd battalion in the front line, 4 companies of the same infantry regiment's 1st battalion, with 2 companies of the Sunstenau Cuirassiers in reserve behind the first line; 2 guns of the 11th twelve-pounder battery on the road, while the other 4 cannons of the battery were deployed on the right side of the road. On the Akasztófahegy hill 2 Company of Archduke Wilhelm's Regiment was deployed with a Congreve rocket battery, and to the right of it, as far as the road to Szepes, 2 companies of the 2nd Hartmann Battalion, 3 platoons of chevau-légers and 4 guns were in position. The task of the other four companies of the 2nd Hartmann Battalion with two guns, under the command of the Chief of Staff of the Corps, Major Baron Gablenz, was to advance towards Miszlóka, to attack the left flank and rear of the enemy advancing on the Szepes road, and to capture the bridge of the Miszlóka stream. General Pergen, with 1 battalion of the Koudelka Infantry Regiment and 1 company of the Imperial Chevau-légers, was deployed on the Kálváriahegy (Calvary Hill) to support, if necessary, Major Gablenz, and possibly to attack the enemy from the flank in case of a successful Hungarian advance on the road to Pest. As a general reserve, General Fiedler took position along the main road to Pest at the southern exit of the city with the 3rd Mazzuchelli Battalion and the outposts which retreated there at the start of the battle.
At first, Mészáros was under the impression that Schlik had advanced to confront him up to Enyicke, so therefore the War Minister performed his advance slowly and with great caution. When he found out that his information was incorrect and the Austrians remained at Kassa, Mészáros ordered a further advance at 8 o'clock in the morning of 4 January. Dessewffy's brigade, together with Rembowszky's half brigade, had to Demonstration (military)demonstrate along the Pest main road, Pulszky's brigade was to cross the Miszlóka stream between Bárca and the road to Buzinka and, together with Perczel's half brigade advancing along the same road, was to lead the decisive attack, outflanking at the same time the enemy's right wing, with the aim of pushing the Austrians into the Hernád. As mentioned above, the strengths of the demonstration force and the units which had to perform the decisive attack were almost equal.
Information was also obtained about Schlik's army, which restored the earlier optimism. Such news was that 6/8 of the imperial soldiers were recruits. This was true for several