Battle of Jarkovác

The Battle of Jarkovác (now Jarkovac, in the Sečanj municipality, Central Banat District, Vojvodina Serbia) was a battle in the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849, fought in the night and early morning of 15 December 1848 between the Hungarian Army under the command of Colonel János Damjanich against the Serbian insurgents led by General Stevan Šupljikac and Colonel Stevan Knićanin. The Hungarian army led by General Ernő Kiss started an offensive against the Serbian insurgents in December 1848, achieving important successes (for example the capture of the Serb military camp from Alibunár) against them. When the tired soldiers of Damjanich's column arrived in Jarkovác and tried to rest in the night between 14 and 15 December, Šupljikac organized an ambush against them with the help of the Serbian inhabitants of the village. Damjanich sensed the trap and took precautions by refusing to quarter his soldiers in the houses of the inhabitants and installing the troops on the streets. Thanks to this, although with heavy losses, the combined night attack of the Serbian army and the inhabitants of Jarkovác was repulsed, and the attackers chased away. Because the commander of the Hungarian main forces, Ernő Kiss did not notice that the Serbs evacuated the bridgehead of Tomasevác, Šupljikac's and Knićanin's troops managed to escape with heavy losses.