Battle of Vízakna

The Battle of Vízakna was a battle in the Hungarian war of Independence of 1848-1849 fought on 4 February 1849 between the Hungarian army led by the Polish General Józef Bem and the Austrian army of the Habsburg Commander-in-Chief of Transylvania, Lieutenant General Anton Puchner. The Hungarian national poet Sándor Petőfi participated in the battle in the Hungarian army, then wrote a poem entitled Négy nap dörgött az ágyú (Four days the cannons roared...) in which he described the battle. The Austrian forces, who had a significant numerical superiority, were victorious, almost entirely destroying the Hungarian army. Unfortunately after the battle many Hungarian soldiers who could not retreat with the troops, or remained wounded on the battlefield, were killed by the Austrians and their Romanian militia allies, as an act of war crime. With this defeat, all of Bem's previously gained achievements were put in jeopardy, but Bem's skillful operations in the following weeks turned the struggle for Transylvania back in his favour.