The Winter Campaign refers to the series of campaigns of the Austrian imperial army led by Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz in the winter of 1848 against the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849. As a result of this, the imperial troops occupied much of Hungary, but the Hungarian resistance did not cease; but managed to stop Windisch-Grätz's advance on the line of the Tisza River and at the same time, capture much of Transylvania.
Background Until the end of summer 1848, the Habsburgs reluctantly accepted the Batthyány government and the national achievements of the March 15 revolution in Pest. Their goal was to end Hungarian autonomy by portending friendliness toward the Hungarian government until were crushed the rebellions within the empire and the Italian unification movements.. By the end of the summer, however, these issues had been resolved.. King Ferdinand V refused to sign the Hungarian legislation, forcing the Batthyány government to resign.. He also supported the Croatian army, led by Lieutenant General Josip Jelačić, in its attack on Hungary on September 11.. Restoring full Habsburg rule over Hungary via accommodation was abandoned when Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg, a loyalist dispatched with the task of taking command of the Hungarian army, was on October 28 lynched by a crowd in Pest.. Meanwhile, the Hungarian army, led by János Móga, stopped the Croatian attack at the Battle of Pákozd on September 29.. On October 6, the Vienna Uprising broke out, and Jelačić left Hungary with his troops to help restore their the emperor's power.. For this reason, the Croatian troops stranded in Transdanubia surrendered to the Hungarians (the Surrender at Ozora)..
After the Batthyány government resigned, the National Defense Committee, led by Kossuth, took over in Hungary. Together with the Hungarian parliament, they continued the resistance and organized the Hungarian army.. Kossuth urged the Hungarian army to pursue Jelačić to Vienna and support the revolution in Vienna against the imperial army, which was led by Alfred I of Windisch-Grätz. However, several officers who had sworn allegiance to both the emperor and the Hungarian constitution opposed this plan, so the army remained on the Austrian border for nearly a month.. Finally, Kossuth appeared in the Hungarian camp to force an attack, which he achieved with the support of Colonel Artúr Görgei.. However, the Hungarian troops advancing toward Vienna were defeated by the Austrian army led by Jelačić in the Battle of Schwechat.. The next day, Windisch-Grätz forced Vienna to surrender..
On October 3, the emperor issued a manifesto ordering the imperial troops and their officers stationed in Hungary to renounce their allegiance to the Hungarian government. This incited an open rebellion. Most of the foreign officers did so and left the Hungarian army. Some joined Jelačić's advancing armies in September, while others began to revolt. The commanders of the Arad and Temesvár forts declared that they recognized only the emperor's authority.. Lieutenant General Anton Puchner, commander of the Transylvanian army, also revolted. He led his troops, supported by Romanian and Saxon rebels, and drove the Hungarian troops out of Transylvania by the end of November.. Here, the Székely people of Háromszék were the only ones who decided to remain loyal to the Hungarian government..
Change of ruler The accession of a new monarch preceded the attack of the main imperial army against Hungary. Emperor Ferdinand's unfitness for the throne (Ferdinand I. as Emperor of Austria and Ferdinand V. as King of Hungary) had long been evident, and the "military party" (those who were supporting a military solution for the conflict between Austria and Hungary) led by Prince Windisch-Grätz had already begun preparing for a change of throne in early September 1848.. After the suppression of the Viennese Revolution of 6 October and the formation of a new government on 21 November by Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, who advocated a united Austria, Ferdinand's resignation was only a matter of weeks away. One reason for the change of throne was that Ferdinand had sworn an oath to the Hungarian constitution, and therefore could no longer order the attack of the main Austrian army against Hungary to occupy it and end its constitutional order, and another was that the Emperor had repeatedly shown himself unfit to rule.. On 2 December, as a result of the intervention of the imperial court and the military party, which advocated for an authoritarian centralization, he abdicated the throne and was succeeded by his nephew, Franz Joseph I, by skipping the order of succession. Since the new emperor did not swear an oath to Hungarian law, his supporters believed he had greater freedom of action to abolish Hungarian constitutionalism.Tarján M. Tamás: V. Ferdinánd lemond trónjairól Ferenc József javára Rubicon online, 1848. december 2.
The news about the change of the throne arrived in Pest on 5 December. Kossuth briefly declared it a farce of abdication, and the parliamentary declaration he had proposed stated: The royal throne of Hungary cannot be vacated without the prior consent of the nation, [and] by the common law of mankind, only the death of the crowned king can make it empty. Until this happens, no one may unilaterally decide the possession of the Hungarian royal seat. Only those who swear an oath of allegiance to the laws and are legitimately crowned are considered kings of Hungary.. Anything else is considered a usurpation of the throne.
The Parliament's resolution therefore rejected the change of throne and continued to regard Ferdinand V as King of Hungary. However, it did not rule out the later recognition of Franz Joseph I, if he was willing to respect the constitutional rules and traditions of the coronation and duties of the Hungarian kings. However, Franz Joseph did not feel compelled to obey Hungarian law, as he had not crowned himself Hungarian king.
Opposing forces The K.u.K. army and its allies The Austrian army was under the command of Field Marshal Windisch-Grätz and had the following troops at his disposal. The main grouping was in the Vienna area, consisting of the 1st (Jelačić) Corps, the II (Wrbna) Corps, and the reserve Serbelloni Corps, with 45,000 men and 216 guns in total.. Other troops were waiting for the order of attack in Moravia, where Lieutenant-General Balthasar Simunich's division of 4,500 men and 12 guns awaited orders, in Galicia where Franz Schlik’s corps was ready to attack with 8,400 men and 27 guns, in Transylvania where Lieutenant-General Anton Puchner's army of 16-17,000 men with 24 guns wanted to head towards the Tisza, and in Styria where Major-General Laval Nugent von Westmeath was preparing with 6,000 soldiers. In addition to these major troops, there were other columns of troops assigned to various tasks. The large force of approximately 30,000 Serb insurgents from Bácska and Banat, was ready to chase out the Hungarian troops from there.
From the major important castles in the country, Arad, Temesvár, and Gyulafehervár were in Austrian hands. The garrison of Temesvár consisted of 6000 soldiersBánlaky József: A trónváltozás és annak következményei. Seregszervezési munkálatok; erőviszony és hadműveleti tervek. A magyar nemzet hadtörténete XXI. Arcanum Adatbázis Kft. 2001 and 213 cannons.. The garrison of Arad consisted of 2000 soldiers and 66 cannons.. The garrison of Gyulafehérvár consisted of 1557 soldiers with 50 heavy and 50 field guns..
The total size of the force was close to 150,000 with about 350 guns.
Romanian, Saxon, and Slovak irregular forces were also part of this.. The total number of Transylvanian Romanian and Saxon national guards and militias was probably around 100 000. The number of Slovaks fighting the Hungarians was low. The Slovak legion, formed of Czech-Moravian volunteers and Slovaks, numbered only around 200 at the beginning of December, but by February this had increased to 1,800..
The aim of the campaign was the capture of the Hungarian capitals, Pest and Buda, the main direction of the attack being Vienna-Győr-Komárom-Buda. The imperial troops waiting for the order from the west, north, east and south, had to attack the center of the country at the same time.
The Hungarian army After Móga's resignation, the main grouping of the Hungarian troops was led by General Artur Görgei, who had 23,000 men and 103 guns at his disposal in the area around Bratislava. A group of 3,000 National Guardsmen mobilized near the Moravian border. At Kassa, Lieutenant Colonel Sándor Pulszky commanded 9,000 men and 21 cannons. At the Csucsa Pass, Major János Czetz with about 10 000 men, and 21 cannons. In Bácska and in Banat there were 24 000 soldiers and 36 cannons. Around Arad 6000 Hungarian soldiers and 13 cannons were camped. In Muraköz, under the command of General Mór Perczel there were 9000 men, and 20 guns.
Indirectly, the Hungarian leadership could count on the support of the Székelys from the Seat of Háromszék.. The number of armed men involved in the Székely resistance in Háromszék was around 10 000,Csikány Tamás: A háromszéki kisháború 1848 decemberében Hadtörténelmi Közlemények, 120. évf. 3. sz. (2007.), pp. 848 and by the end of December, the number of their home-made cannons was 9.Süli Attila: Vaságyúk, rézágyúk: 200 éve született Gábor Áron Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár
The most important fortresses in Hungarian hands were Komárom, Pétervárad, Lipótvár and Eszék. Komárom had 3,000 defenders, 6 field, and about 120 fortress guns.Bona Gábor: 1848 december közepén, a téli hadjárat kezdetén. Az 1848/49-es szabadságharc tisztikara. Tábornokok és törzstisztek az 1848/49. évi szabadságharcban 2018, Arcanum Adatbázis Kft. The guard of the Pétervárad Castle consisted of 3500 soldiers, 6 field guns, and 100 fortress cannons. At Eszék there were 4,400 soldiers and 60 fortress cannons. And the castle of Lipótvár was defended by 1,000 soldiers and 24 cannons.
The total number of the Hungarian army, without the national guards and the troops in formation was 100,000 soldiers and 300 cannons.
The goal of the Hungarian troops was to prevent the enemy from crossing the border and to preserve the political autonomy of the country starting from March 1848. There was no joint commander-in-chief to coordinate the troops' activities, and the commanders were given political guidance at most. Thus there was no central command.
Imperial campaign
Schlik campaign in Upper Hungary Rumors about an enemy invasion had been coming in steadily since November 1848.. After all proved to be fake news, the Hungarian political and military leadership started hoping that the attack of the imperial army would be canceled since a winter campaign can also cause serious problems also for the attackers. Despite these hopes, the attack did take place
At the beginning of December, the attack of the K.u.K. troops began. Lieutenant General Franz Schlik, who had invaded Upper Hungary from Galicia, captured Eperjes and Kassa, and on 11 December he dispersed the newly assembled army of Colonel Sándor Pulszky in the Battle of Budamér.. At the end of the month, the Minister of War himself, General Lázár Mészáros, rushed against Schlik, but his attack in the Battle of Kassa on 4 January 1849 also ended in a disastrous failure. After the defeat, the Hungarian troops retreated south as far as Miskolc.Hajagos József (szerk.): Az 1848–49-es I. magyar hadtest iratai I. Megalakulástól az 1849. január 4-i kassai vereségig A Heves Megyei Levéltár forráskiadványai 9. (Eger, 2002), pp. 30-33
The attack of the main imperial army Advance on the capitals In mid-December, the attack also began on the main battlefront. On 14 December, Lieutenant-General Simunich's troops broke into the Nádas Pass, and on 16 December, they defeated Colonel Richard Guyon's troops in the Battle of Nagyszombat..