Battle of Vác (1849)

First Battle of Vác
Part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Date 10 April 1849 Location around and in Vác, Kingdom of Hungary Result Hungarian victory
Belligerents
Hungarian Revolutionary Army Polish Legion	Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
János Damjanich	Christian Götz †
Strength
Total:11,592 men 36 cannons Did not participate: Detached troops from I. corps: 2973 men 20 cannons	8,250 men 26 cannons
Casualties and losses
Total 150 men	Total 422 men - 60 dead - 147 wounded - 215 missing or captured 1 battery

The Battle of Vác, fought on 10 April 1849, was one of the two important battles which took place in Vác in the Spring Campaign of the Hungarian War of Independence from 1848–1849, fought between the Habsburg Empire and the Hungarian Revolutionary Army. This battle was the starting point of the second phase of the Spring Campaign, which had the purpose of relieving the fortress of Komárom from the imperial siege, and with this to encircle the Habsburg imperial forces headquartered in the Hungarian capitals of Buda and Pest. The Hungarians won the battle, in which the Austrian commander Major General Christian Götz was fatally wounded, dying after the battle. His body was buried by the Hungarian high commander Artúr Görgei with military honors, this being one of the examples of gallantry and high respect for the fallen enemy hero in the Hungarian War for Independence.

With the Battle of Isaszeg the Hungarian Revolutionary Army led by Artúr Görgei managed to force the Habsburg imperial army led by Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz to retreat towards the Hungarian capitals (Pest and Buda), liberating the Hungarian territories between the Tisza and the Danube rivers. The imperial troops retreated to Pest, forming a defensive line before it, which was difficult to conquer. This was understood also by the Hungarian commanders, after the Hungarian army encircled Pest up to the Danube, and stood in this position until 9 April, and were ready for battle. The imperial army did not accept the battle but retreated to the capital city. On 7 April a new campaign plan was made. According to this plan the Hungarian army was to split; General Lajos Aulich with the II Hungarian Army Corps, and the division of Colonel Lajos Asbóth remained in front of Pest, maneuvering to make the imperials believe that the whole Hungarian army was there. This diverted their attention from the north, where the real Hungarian attack was to start with the I, III and the VII corps going westwards on the northern bank of the Danube via Komárom, to relieve it from the imperial siege. The Kmety division of the VII corps was to cover the three corps's march, and after the I and the III corps occupied Vác, the division was to secure the town, while the rest of the troops together with the two remaining divisions of the VII corps, were to advance to the Garam river, then heading for the south to relieve the northern section of the Austrian siege of the fortress of Komárom. After this, they were to cross the Danube and relieve the southern section of the siege. If all this could be finished successfully, the imperials would have only two choices: to retreat from Middle Hungary towards Vienna, or be encircled by the Hungarian troops in the Hungarian capitals. This plan was very risky (as was the first plan of the Spring Campaign too) because if Windisch-Grätz had discovered that only a Hungarian corps remained in front of Pest, he could have destroyed Aulich's troops, and with this he could easily cut the support lines of the main Hungarian army, and even occupy Debrecen, the seat of the Hungarian Revolutionary Parliament and the National Defense Committee (interim government of Hungary), or he could encircle the three corps advancing to relieve Komárom. Although the president of the National Defense Committee (interim government of Hungary), Lajos Kossuth, who after the battle of Isaszeg, went to Gödöllő, the Hungarian headquarters, and wanted a direct attack on Pest, he was finally convinced by Görgey that his and the other generals' plan was better. To secure the success of the Hungarian army, the National Defense Committee sent 100 wagons with munitions from Debrecen.

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