Battle of Temesvár

The Battle of Temesvár (now Timișoara, Romania) was a key battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, fought on 9 August 1849 between the Austrian Empire, led by Field Marshal Julius Jacob von Haynau, and the Hungarian Revolutionary Army (supplemented by Polish volunteers), led by Lieutenant General Józef Bem. Hungarian forces under Bem, together with siege corps led by Major General Károly Vécsey, totalled 55,000 soldiers. Austrian forces under Haynau totalled 38,000 soldiers, although their numerical disadvantage was mitigated by superior artillery. The battle resulted in an Austrian victory and was the decisive engagement of the war, which ended in defeat for the Hungarians.

After the Hungarian defeat at the Battle of Szőreg, Lieutenant General Henryk Dembiński led his Hungarian troops to Temesvár and was about to give the order to retreat toward Lugos when Lieutenant General Józef Bem arrived at the camp with an order from Governor Lajos Kossuth to replace Dembiński. Bem wanted to march toward Arad, but changed his mind on hearing that the Austrian army led by Haynau was nearby. He gave an order to attack, hoping to boost the morale of his demoralized army with a victory.

The battle started well for the Hungarians, with Bem repulsing Haynau's initial attack. However, Vécsey's siege corps ran out of artillery ammunition early on, as Dembiński had previously sent it ahead to Lugos and failed to inform Bem. The Polish general still hoped to win the battle and rode with the first line of his troops, but suffered a serious injury when he fell from his horse, resulting in his removal from the battlefield and further demoralization of the Hungarian troops. During a retreat, panic broke out among the Hungarian rookies and spread to the whole army, causing a rout. The Austrians took 6,000–7,000 prisoners and only about 20,000–30,000 men from the Hungarian army could be regathered at Lugos.

The defeat prevented the Hungarian main army from joining together with the Army of the Upper Danube (under General Artúr Görgei), which had been the last hope of Kossuth and Görgei for continuing the resistance. When he heard about the defeat, Kossuth resigned. In order to avoid further bloodshed, the Hungarian council of war decided on 11 August to surrender to Russian troops (which had entered the conflict on the side of the Austrians). On 13 August, Görgei signed official terms of surrender at Világos (now Șiria, Romania), ending the revolution.