The Spring Campaign (Hungarian: tavaszi hadjárat), also called the Glorious Spring Campaign (Hungarian: dicsőséges tavaszi hadjárat) was the military campaign of the Hungarian Revolutionary Army against the forces of the Habsburg Empire in Middle and Western Hungary during the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849 between March and June 1849, which resulted in the capture of almost the whole territory of Hungary from the Habsburg forces.
The spring campaign's commander-in-chief was General Artúr Görgei, whose army (47 500 men, 198 cannons) defeated the numerically, technologically and tactically superior (55 000 soldiers and 214 cannons and rockets) imperial armies led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz and after his dismissal, Ludwig von Welden, in a series of victories. The Hungarians won the battles of Hatvan (2 April), Tápióbicske (4 April), Isaszeg (6 April), Vác (10 April), Nagysalló (19 April), on 26 April relieved the fortress of Komárom from a long Austrian siege, then on 21 May 1849 liberated the Castle of Buda, concluding the Spring Campaign.
On the other theaters of operations, the Hungarians also scored victories against the enemies of the revolution. In Transylvania, the Hungarian army led by Józef Bem, after the victory against the Austro-Russian forces in the Battle of Nagyszeben from 11 March, captured most of the provinces territory (excepting the fortresses of Gyulafehérvár, Déva, with imperial garrison and the Erdélyi-középhegység mountains, held by the Romanian insurgents). In southern Hungary the Hungarians led by Mór Perczel and Józef Bem defeated the Serb insurgents and Austrian troops, capturing the provinces of Bácska and Bánság, except the fortress of Temesvár and Titel. In southern Transdanubia, the popular uprising led by Gáspár Noszlopy also led to the capture of this region from imperial rule. During the Spring Campaign, the Hungarians captured much of Hungary from Habsburg rule. The Habsburg armies and their allies, besides the fortresses and mountains mentioned above, remained only in the westernmost territory strip of Hungary, Croatia and the fortress of Arad.
Additionally, the result of the Spring Campaign's victories was the Hungarian Declaration of Independence on 14 April 1849, which led to total Hungarian independence for several months before the Russian intervention brought about the defeat of the Hungarian revolution and war of independence in the Summer Campaign.
Background
In December 1848, the Habsburg camarilla decided to attack Hungary and force the Hungarian state back into complete subjugation, as it had been before the March 15 revolution. The forced abdication of King Ferdinand V preceded the outbreak of armed conflict between the Hungarian and the Austrian imperial forces. Since he had sworn allegiance to the Hungarian constitution, Ferdinand could not give the order to attack the country, and because of this, on 2 December 1848, his nephew, Franz Joseph I, ascended the throne without swearing loyalty to the Hungarian constitution. When the Hungarian Parliament heard about this event, it rejected his legitimacy, recognizing only Ferdinand as king and declaring Franz Joseph a usurper.
In autumn 1848, Western Hungary was defended by General Artúr Görgei’s 28,000 soldiers against Field Marshal Alfred zu Windisch-Grätz’s 55,000. In December, General Schlik invaded Upper Hungary, defeating the Hungarian minister of war, Lieutenant General Lázár Mészáros in the Battle of Kassa. Meanwhile, Windisch-Grätz broke from the West into Hungary through the River Leitha, forcing Görgei to retreat towards Győr, then towards the capital. After Perczel’s defeat in the Battle of Mór on December 30, Buda and Pest could no longer be defended, so the Parliament retreated to Debrecen. After entering the Hungarian capitals on 5 January 1849, the imperial commander demanded unconditional surrender from the Hungarian delegation that visited him and asked him to negotiate.
Because of the Austrian offensive in December and January, the Hungarian forces retreated from Western and much of Central Hungary and regrouped behind the Tisza River. On January 5, Görgei issued the Vác Proclamation, pledging loyalty to the Hungarian constitution while rejecting any other authority. The new Hungarian strategy was to concentrate György Klapka's, Perczel's, and Görgei’s armies along the Tisza. In Northern Hungary, Klapka, who took over the command from Mészáros, successfully repelled Schlik's Austrian army near Tarcal, Bodrogkeresztúr, and Tokaj, while Görgei’s breakthrough at the Branyiszkó Pass on February 5 opened the way for a counter-offensive.
At the start of December, no Hungarian troops were present in Transylvania, excepting the Székely resistance in the Háromszék Seat in the southeast. Meanwhile, the Hungarian troops who had retreated to the Western border of Transylvania were taken over by General Józef Bem, a very talented Polish commander, who routed the Austrian troops, and by Christmas, he had retaken Kolozsvár and northern Transylvania. But at the end of January, he suffered some setbacks (First Battle of Nagyszeben, Battle of Vízakna) against the Austrian Lieutenant General Anton Puchner, supported by Romanian insurgents and a 7000-strong Russian troop. But on February 9, he won an important victory at the Battle of Piski, and then he pushed back the Austrian troops, who had broken into northern Transylvania.
In the south, after a successful December for the Hungarians (ex., Battle of Jarkovác), the imperial and Serb forces achieved an important victory in the Battle of Pancsova on 2 January. Matters worsened for the Hungarians when the Hungarian military command ordered all troops fighting in the south to retreat behind the Maros River, leaving the entire southern part of the country in enemy hands. They gave this order because they were preparing to launch a counterattack against the Austrian main army, which was led by Windisch-Grätz and reinforced by these troops.
By February, however, Hungarian forces had consolidated behind the Tisza and were preparing for a new campaign. Henryk Dembiński was appointed commander-in-chief by Lajos Kossuth in opposition to Görgei, whom Kossuth did not trust. Dembiński prepared to attack the main Austrian army but made several mistakes, resulting in his defeat at the Battle of Kápolna on February 26–27. This forced the Hungarian troops to retreat behind the Tisza River.
Opposing forces
Hungarians
In the last days of March, four Hungarian corps (I, II, III, VII) massed in Tiszántúl (the region east of Tisza) to launch the campaign against the Imperial main army. The four corps had in total 52,300 men and 184 guns.
At the start of March, in Transylvania, together with the Székely troops, Lieutenant General Józef Bem had 17 000 soldiers and 42 guns. In southern Hungary, around Szeged, the IV. (Bácska) corps led by General Mór Perczel prepared to attack the Serbs with 8,500 soldiers and 30 guns. The Austrian fortresses in Banat (Temesvár and Arad) were surrounded by the V. (Banat) Corps led by General Károly Vécsey with 6000 soldiers, 24 field cannons and an unknown number of siege guns. In northeastern Hungary, troops of the 19th Division were stationed with 3,500 soldiers and 8 guns.
In addition, the following forces defended the Hungarian-controlled fortresses and strongholds. The garrison of Komárom (VIII Corps) consisted of 9,000 soldiers, 6 field pieces, and 200 fortress cannons. The garrison of Pétervárad consisted of 5,000 men and 116 cannons. And two companies of soldiers and 26 guns were defending the Munkács Castle.
The number of reserve troops in formation at the time was 7,000 and 12 guns.
Thus, in total, the Hungarian troops were around 110,000 soldiers and 700 guns.
K.u.K. army and its allies
Opposing the Hungarian main army on the other bank of the Tisza was the Austrian army led by Field Marshal Alfred Windisch-Grätz, consisting of three corps (I, II, III) and one division (Ramberg - later Götz - division), with a total of 50 500 soldiers and 222 cannons. The Komárom siege corps consisted of 14,133 soldiers and 42 guns.
In Transylvania, Lieutenant General Anton Puchner commanded 8676 soldiers and 36 guns. In addition, since February there had been 7,000 Russian soldiers and 14 artillery pieces in Transylvania, which Puchner could only rely on for defensive fighting. Besides these, there were some 70,000 Romanian national guards and militias in southern and western Transylvania.
In the Banat and Bácska regions, the mobile Serb-Austrian forces (those who were not stationed as garrisons in fortresses) on 14 February consisted of 29 402 soldiers and 92 guns. However, at the beginning of March, the Serbian volunteers, called Servians (6-7000 men) returned to the Principality of Serbia because the Austrian command had forbidden them to plunder. At the same time, not all parts of the Olmütz constitution were in concordance with the Serb national aspirations, and this too contributed to the return of the Serbian volunteers. To make up for the shortfall caused by their departure, the Styrian-Croatian corps was sent to support the Serb troops in the area of Pétervárad. It consisted of 7568 soldiers and 36 guns. This increased the number of Imperial troops in the south, consisting of Serbs, Austrians, and Croats, to about 30,000 soldiers and 128 guns.
In addition to these, the following troops were in the castles controlled by the Imperials. In Transylvania: Gyulafehervar's garrison consisted of 2,523 soldiers and 71 guns, and the small hilltop castle of Déva with 80 soldiers and 3 cannons.
In the South three castles were in imperial hands: Temesvár, Arad, and Eszék. Temesvár had a garrison of 8851 men and 213 guns, Arad had 1453 defenders and 66 guns, while in Eszék there were 3,000 soldiers and an unknown number of guns.
In addition to these troops, new imperial troops were sent to stop the Hungarian army, which had won a series of victories in April. In mid-April, 10,000 troops and 18 guns under the command of Lieutenant-General Ludwig von Wohlgemuth, gathered in Austria, Styria, Moravia, and Bohemia, arrived in western Hungary. At the same time, the Vogel Corps, consisting of 11,000 soldiers and 24 guns, was sent to Northern Hungary from Galicia.
Thus, in total, the K.u.K. troops (including also the Serbs from Banat and Bácska) and their nationality and Russian allies were around 119,216 soldiers and 781 guns. The Russian troops from Transylvania were 7000 soldiers and 14 cannons. Around 70,000 Romanian militias also helped the Austrians in Transylvania. So we can say that before the start of the Spring Campaign, the counter-revolutionary camp was much more numerous than the Hungarians. And to these in April added another 21 000 K.u.K. soldiers and 42 guns during April 1849.
Campaign attempt of Antal Vetter
After Dembiński's replacement, on 8 March 1849, Kossuth appointed Major General Antal Vetter as commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army. Vetter's operational plan was to send Görgei's VII Corps towards Miskolc, while he with the other three corps wanted to cross the Tisza at Cibakháza and try to attack the enemy's flank. The Hungarian main army crossed the Tisza on the Cibakháza bridge on 16–17 March. In the meantime Windisch-Grätz also moved his troops towards Cibakháza. On the 18th Vetter received the news that 40,000 Imperial soldiers were stationed in Nagykőrös. As a result, the Hungarian military council decided to retreat Tisza through Cibakháza. On 18–19 March, the Hungarian main forces returned to the left bank of the Tisza and marched northwards.
Meanwhile, Görgei crossed the Tisza at Tokaj, and headed west. In the meantime, Vetter fell ill, and another commander-in-chief had to be appointed. At first, Kossuth thought that he would be the commander-in-chief, but the generals dissuaded him. The majority of the army wanted Görgei to be appointed commander-in-chief, and therefore Kossuth was forced to put him as temporary main commander on 30 March. The appointment was not officialized, but after Görgei took over the Ministry of War in May 1849, he remained de facto the commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army until 1 July 1849.
Capture of Transylvania
At the beginning of March, Bem again turned against Nagyszeben, the headquarters of the imperial army led by Puchner. On 2–3 March, Bem was defeated by Puchner in the Battle of Medgyes, and retreated to Segesvár. Puchner thought that finally, the opportunity to deliver a definitive blow to Bem had come, and he sent his troops on several routes towards Segesvár trying to cut all the escape routes and close Bem's army in the town. Only the road from Segesvár to Nagyszeben was left unsecured, for a short time.
Bem immediately recognized his big chance, and on 9 March, he left Segesvár and went in a forced march with his troops on that route to Nagyszeben. On 11 March, in the Second Battle of Nagyszeben, he defeated the Russian-Austrian garrison led by the Tsarist Colonel Grigory Skariatin, who came out from the city to face him and then started to besiege Nagyszeben, taking it by nightfall.