The Battle of Zsigárd, fought on 16 June 1849, was one of the battles which took place in the Summer Campaign of the Hungarian War of Independence from 1848 to 1849, fought between the Hungarian Revolutionary Army and the Habsburg Empire. On 16. June 1849 the Hungarian II. corps under the leadership of Colonel Lajos Asbóth occupied Zsigárd, Királyrév, Negyed and Farkasd, but in the end, the counterattack of the Austrian Theissing and Pott brigades under the leadership of Major General Anton Freiherr von Herzinger forced it to retreat on its starting position. The only success of the Hungarians in this battle was that the II. corps built a bridge at Negyed, which they managed to hold, against the Austrian attacks.
Background After the victory in the Battle of Csorna the Hungarians continued their advance west on the right bank of the Danube. A detachment of General Ernő Poeltenberg chased out the Austrian units from Öttevény, then a detachment of the VII. corps captured Kóny.. With these successes the Hungarian commanders hoped that the Austrians will be forced to send reinforcements from the left bank of the Danube to the right, weakening their defenses on the region of the Vág river, increasing in this way the chances of success of the planned Hungarian offensive alongside this river.. The new commander of the Austrian troops, Field Marshal Julius Jacob von Haynau started indeed to send his troops on the right bank of the Danube, but not with the purpose of defense, but to start an offensive..
The positive start of the Summer Campaign was not followed by similar successes. This had both personal and strategic causes. On the other hand, in the leadership of the Hungarian army occurred some strategic and personal negative changes. In the last phase and after the Spring Campaign and the Siege of Buda many talented and successful corps commanders were changed by generals, who, despite being good division and brigade leaders, as corps commanders, later they fell short of expectations: the commander of the I. corps Major General György Klapka was replaced by Major General József Nagysándor, the commander of the III. corps, General János Damjanich was replaced by Major General Károly Knezić, the new commanders lacking tactical courage and initiative. In the leadership of the II. corps the good strategist and proactive General Lajos Aulich was replaced by the courageous, but not a very good tactician Colonel Lajos Asbóth, while in the leadership of the VII. corps General András Gáspár was replaced by Colonel Ernő Poeltenberg, who was the only good replacement among the corps commanders. The Hungarian main commander, General Artúr Görgei himself, because was appointed war minister, could not lead personally the military operations, and the Central Operational Bureau (Központi Hadműveleti Iroda), which had to assume the coordination of the Hungarian military units, could not effectively resolve the problems occurred during the campaign because of the too wide operational area. Meantime the Hungarian intelligence had no idea about the size, distribution, and centers of gravity of the enemy units. Besides the strategical intelligence, also the tactical intelligence of the corps was insufficient. Another problem was that the hope of creating local superiority, in certain points of the front, was lost because of the defeat in the Battle of Káty of General Mór Perczel, which prevented him to send in support Hungarian troops from southern Hungary, as the initial operational plan stated. Also the cholera epidemic, which broke out in the autumn of 1848, and other diseases too, decimated the troops.
Prelude Görgei and his chief of staff Lieutenant-Colonel József Bayer planned an offensive on the left bank of the Danube. Although in that region the terrain was rugged, which could make the advance slower, but also made it more difficult for the Austrians to implement their numerical superiority. And with this attack on the left bank of the Danube, they hoped to force the enemy to retreat from the right bank and reinforce their troops from the left bank.. This stratagem was quite complicated and necessitated very close cooperation between the corps and detachments of the Hungarian army.
The plan was to attack along the Vág river, on a terrain fragmented with hills, woods, rivers, and marshes, which did not make possible a quick advancement of the Hungarians, but prevented the enemy to use its numerical superiority, hoping also to force the Austrian troops south to the Danube, to stop their attack there towards Győr and Komárom. First the II. corps had to start the attack, crossing the Little Danube at Guta, and after leaving a small bridge guard unit, on 16 June in the morning, after crossing the Danube's Érsekújvár branch, to attack the right flank of the Austrian positions.Bánlaky József: A zsigárdi ütközet (1849. június 16-án). A magyar nemzet hadtörténete XXI. Arcanum Adatbázis Kft. 2001 They had to leave a brigade at Aszódpuszta, which, together with a part of the Kosztolányi division, had to protect the crossing point against the Austrian attacks. After the II. corps reached Vágfarkasd and Negyed, they had to build in both villages bridges across the Vág. Meanwhile, the III. corps, which after sending forward, at 6:00 a.m., its vanguard from Tardoskedd and Tótmegyer to Vágsellye, with the intention of diverting the attention of the Austrians, had to advance from Érsekújvár, through Szemő, to Vágfarkasd. Here, the III. and the II. corps had to obtain a victory against the Austrian troops, then cross the Vág together. Meanwhile, the I. corps had to concentrate at Mocsonok, sending its vanguards to Sempte and Vághosszúfalu, where they had to distract the Austrians' attention. After the two corps joined on the right bank of the Vág river, they had to advance, between the Vág and the Érsekújvár branch of the Danube, through Királyrév towards Diószeg, in order to enable the I. corps to cross the Vág at Szered, and to capture the entire line of the river. At the same time, the Kosztolányi division had to carry out a series of attacks in Csallóköz, to divert the Austrians' attention from the main Hungarian attack.
This plan had many problems. The officers from the Central Operational Bureau which elaborated it, were not aware of the fact that between the Vág and the Little Danube, the terrain is very marshy, and because of this only the ramparts could be used to go from one village to another. This made the task of the attacking army almost impossible to fulfill. The other problem of the plan was that it put all the responsibility for the success of the military actions on the II. corps "shoulders", because in the case of an unsuccessful attack of them against Királyrév and Zsigárd condemned the III. corps to inactivity. Another problem was that the commanders of the three corps which had to be involved in this offensive had to operate on their own, far from each other, and Görgei, who was supposed to coordinate them, could not be there, because he was in Pest, fulfilling his ministerial duties.
On 11 June Asbóth shipped the Szekulits division over the Vág, and occupied Aszódpuszta. From here the Kisfaludy brigade of the division crossed the Érsekújvár branch of the Danube, occupying Seregakol, in order to cover the bridge-building from Aszódpuszta.Kemény, Krisztián: „Tüntetés” a fővezér ellen? Görgei Artúr, Asbóth Lajos és a II. hadtest tisztikarának nyilatkozata. 1849. június 22. Aetas, 2018/3, pp. 42 On 13 June the Hungarian troops from Aszódpuszta and Seregakol were attacked by Austrian scouting units, but they easily repulsed them. On that evening the bridge from Aszódpuszta was finished. On 14 June Asbóth sent the Csúzy brigade reinforced, probably by cavalry, on reconnaissance by combat towards Vásárút, which was occupied from the Derschatta detachment of the Austrian II. corps Reischach brigade, but when the Austrians received reinforcements, and the Hungarians retreated to Aszódpuszta. On 15 June in the late afternoon, Asbóth concentrated his troops at Aszódpuszta. He planned a bidirectional attack. For this, that night, a detachment crossed to the northern shore of the Danube at Gúta, in order to advance on the causeway, occupy Negyed and Vágfarkasd, and start to build a bridge for the III. corps, then to support the attack, towards Zsigárd, of the main column of the II. corps, led by Asbóth. Asbóth himself intended to advance from Aszódpuszta through Királyrév, sending a strong detachment on the right bank of the Dudvág towards Királyrév, to cover his left wing. For the protection of the bridge from Aszódpuszta he left behind the Csúzy brigade, reinforced with mainly artillery pieces, but also with some cavalry units.
From the Austrian side, the region from Pozsonyeperjes, through the confluence of Danube and Vág, until Királyfalva was defended by the Pott brigade.Kemény, Krisztián: „Tüntetés” a fővezér ellen? Görgei Artúr, Asbóth Lajos és a II. hadtest tisztikarának nyilatkozata. 1849. június 22. Aetas, 2018/3, pp. 44 According to the Hungarian scouting from 14 June, the Austrian brigade was not enough for the large area that it had to defend, and a Hungarian attack could achieve success in that direction. Meanwhile, the Austrians too observed the Hungarian movements in that direction and started to reinforce the Pott brigade. On 15 June the 1. battalion of the 10. (Mazzuchelli) infantry regiment and half of the 3. infantry battery arrived from Csallóköz, and on the same day the 3. battalion of the 40. (Koudelka) infantry regiment departed towards Zsigárd. On 14. June Pott asked for help from the IV. (Reserve) corps, and its commander Lieutenant General Ludwig von Wohlgemuth, sent a part of the Theissing brigadeKemény, Krisztián: „Tüntetés” a fővezér ellen? Görgei Artúr, Asbóth Lajos és a II. hadtest tisztikarának nyilatkozata. 1849. június 22. Aetas, 2018/3, pp. 44-45 (2 grenadier battalions, 3 companies of the Auersperg cuirassier regiment, and 2 batteries) from Nagyszombat, under Major General Anton von Herzinger, towards Zsigárd.
Opposing forces
II. corps; Commander Colonel Lajos Asbóth.
4. (Mándy) division; - 1. (Szabó) brigade: 48. Honvéd battalion (6 companies: 645 soldiers, 6 horses), Bocskai (2.52) Honvéd battalion (3 companies: 461 soldiers, 5 horses), Bereg volunteer company (1 company: 136 soldiers, 1 horse), Pozsony jäger company (1 company: 108 soldiers), 3. sapper battalion (12. and 17. Bánság companies: 229 soldiers, 1 horse), Colonel division (?) of the 6. (Württemberg) Hussar regiment (2 companies: 226 soldiers, 243 horses), 1. three-pounder infantry battery (142 soldiers, 95 horses, 7 cannons), 2. cavalry battery (108 soldiers, 93 horses, 5 cannons). 2,055 soldiers, 443 horses, 12 cannons;
- 2. (Collig) brigade: 25. Honvéd battalion (6 companies: 595 soldiers, 7 horses), 1. battalion of the 39. (Dom Miguel) infantry regiment (6 companies: 404 soldiers, 3 horses), 54. Honvéd battalion (6 companies: 683 soldiers, 2 horses), Lieutenant colonel and 2. Major division (?) of the 6. (Württemberg) Hussar regiment (4 companies: 454 soldiers, 487 horses), 1. six-pounder infantry battery (164 soldiers, 118 horses, 8 cannons), 2. twelve-pounder battery (92 soldiers, 72 horses, 8 cannons), 2,392 soldiers, 689 horses, 16 cannons;
5. (Szekulits) division; - 1. (Csúzy) brigade: 61. Honvéd battalion (6 companies: 722 soldiers, 24 horses), 63. Honvéd battalion (6 companies: 536 soldiers, 17 horses), 49. Honvéd battalion (4 companies: 526 soldiers, 19 horses), 2. three-pounder infantry battery (139 soldiers, 94 horses, 7 cannons), 6. six-pounder infantry battery (144 soldiers, 116 horses, 8 cannons), 2,067 soldiers, 270 horses, 15 cannons;
- 2. (Kisfaludy) brigade: 56. Honvéd battalion (6 companies: 793 soldiers, 31 horses), 60. Honvéd battalion (6 companies: 761 soldiers, 13 horses),