Siege of Buda (1849)

After the relief of Komárom from the imperial siege, and the retreat of the Habsburg forces to the Hungarian border, the Hungarian army had two choices as to where to continue its advance.[2] One was to march on Pozsony and Vienna, in order to finally force the enemy to fight on his own ground; the other was to return eastwards and retake Buda Castle, which was held by a strong imperial garrison of 5,000 men under the command of Heinrich Hentzi.[2]

The first choice was supported mainly by the chief of the general staff, Lieutenant-Colonel József Bayer, and initially by Görgei; the second option's main proponent was General György Klapka, commanding I Corps.[3] The main reason for the first plan as supported initially by Görgei was the threat of Russian intervention. The Hungarian commander thought that his army had more chance of success if it could destroy the Austrian imperial army before the Tzar's troops arrived.[3]

Artúr Görgei

However, Görgei was quickly convinced by those who wanted to liberate the castle of Buda first. So he changed his mind and supported the second choice.[3] The reason was that although the first seemed very attractive, it would have been nearly impossible for it to succeed. While the Hungarian army gathered before Komárom had fewer than 27,000 men,[2] the imperial army awaiting them around Pozsony and Vienna had 75,633, of which its effective combat strength was 54,443 with 237 guns, so it was twice the size of Görgei's force.[4] Furthermore, the Hungarian army was short of ammunition. On the other hand, capturing the Buda castle seemed more achievable at that moment, Klapka arguing that it was not suited to withstand a siege, and could be taken quickly with a surprise attack,[5] and besides it was also very important in many other respects. It could be achieved with the available Hungarian forces; a strong imperial garrison in the middle of the country could represent a major threat if the main Hungarian army wanted to move towards Vienna, because attacks from the castle could cut the Hungarian lines of communication, so it would need to be blockaded by a significant force in order to prevent such sorties. Also the fact that the only permanent bridge on the Hungarian part of the Danube (temporary pontoon bridges existed in many places), the Chain Bridge, was under the control of the imperial garrison in Buda Castle made it impossible to transport supplies to the Hungarian armies fighting in the West. Thus this real strategical importance underlined the need to take the castle as soon as possible[6] Furthermore, the presence of Josip Jelačić's corps in Southern Hungary made the Hungarian commanders think that the Croatian ban could advance towards Buda at any moment to relieve it, cutting Hungary in two.[2] So the Hungarian staff understood that without taking the Buda Castle, the main army could not campaign towards Vienna without putting the country in grave danger, and that at that moment it was impossible to achieve victory against the numerically and technologically superior imperials gathered on the Western border of Hungary. This indicates that the arguments of those historians who wrote that Görgei made a mistake by not continuing the attack towards Vienna, because he had a great chance to take the Austrian capital and win the war before the Russian intervention[7][8] are wrong, and at that moment (before the arrival of the Hungarian reinforcements from the south) the only place which could bring a victory was the Castle of Buda.

Beside the military arguments in favor of the siege of Buda, there were political ones too. After the declaration of the independence of Hungary, the Hungarian parliament wanted to convince foreign states to acknowledge Hungary's independence, and knew that there was more chance of achieving this after the total liberation of their capital city Buda-Pest. And the capital city also included the Buda castle.[2] So the council of war held on 29 April 1849 decided to besiege and take Buda Castle, and then, after the arrival of reinforcements from southern Hungary, move to attack Vienna in order to force the empire to sue for peace and recognize the independence of Hungary.[2]

Plan of Buda Castle

The Turkish occupation of Buda ended on 2 September 1686, after a bloody siege by the Austrians. After that, the castle was the property of the Hungarian king (who was at the same time Holy Roman Emperor until 1804, and after that Austrian Emperor), and was defended by foreign (not Hungarian nationality) soldiers led by a foreign officer.[9] After the Hungarian revolution succeeded and the Batthyány Government was formed, the castle was still defended by foreign soldiers who had to recognize the Hungarian Government's authority. Because he did not want to do so, the commander of the garrison, Lieutenant General Karl Kress resigned and left on 11 May 1848.[9] So too did those foreign units stationed in the castle who were against the Hungarian revolution, like the Italian 23rd infantry regiment, who clashed with the newly conscripted Hungarian soldiers on 11 June 1848, resulting in many deaths. After this conflict, on the orders of the Hungarian War Ministry, the Italian 23rd infantry regiment was withdrawn from Hungary.[10]

Franz Joseph Sandman Buda and Pest in the 1840s. Seen from the Gellért Hill

Following the Imperial campaign against Hungary led by Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz that began in mid-December 1848, the ensuing retreat of the Hungarian armies, and the Hungarian defeat in the Battle of Mór, the Habsburg troops entered the Hungarian capitals on 5 January 1849.[11] The free Hungarian parliament, the National Defense Committee (interim government of Hungary), and a long convoy of civilians with all their possessions fled through the cold and snowy winter east to the Tisza river, installing the interim capital at Debrecen.[12] The first thing Windisch-Grätz ordered after entering Buda was the occupation of the castle and the Gellért Hill.[11] Windisch-Grätz named Lieutenant General Ladislas Wrbna as the commander of the Buda Military District, in other words the military commander of the imperial troops in the capitals. But at the end of February, when the commander-in-chief prepared to attack the Hungarian army, he took Wrbna with him on the campaign, leaving Major General Heinrich Hentzi, commander of the imperial garrison of the Castle of Buda, to take over command of the troops in Buda and Pest.[13]

Castle of Buda on a Guild letter 1816

The people of Pest welcoming the first Hungarian Hussars who entered in Pest on 24th April 1849

During April 1849 the main imperial force led by Field Marshal Windisch-Grätz suffered one defeat after another and retreated towards the western border of Hungary. The Hungarian victory of Nagysalló on 19 April had decisive results for the imperial occupation forces stationed in Hungary.[14] It opened the way towards Komárom, bringing its relief to within just a couple of days’ march.[14] At the same time it put the imperials in the situation of being incapable of stretching their troops across the very large front which this Hungarian victory created, so instead of concentrating their troops around Pest and Buda as they had planned, Feldzeugmeister Ludwig von Welden, Windisch-Grätz's replacement as the Imperial commander-in-chief in Hungary, had to order the retreat from Pest to avoid being caught by the Hungarian pincers.[14] When he learned about the defeat at Nagysalló on the morning of 20 April, he wrote to Lieutenant General Balthasar Simunich, the commander of the force besieging Komárom, and to Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, the Minister-President of the Austrian Empire, that in order to secure Vienna and Pozsony, from Hungarian attack he was forced to retreat from Pest and even from Komárom.[15] He also wrote that the morale of the imperial troops was very low, and because of this they could not fight another battle for a while without suffering another defeat.[16] So the next day he ordered the evacuation of Pest, leaving an important garrison in the fortress of Buda to defend it against Hungarian attack. He ordered Jelačić to remain in Pest for a while, and then to retreat towards Eszék in Bácska where the Serbian insurgents allied with the Austrians were in a grave situation after the victories of the Hungarian armies led by Mór Perczel and Józef Bem.[17]

On 24 April the last imperial soldiers left Pest. That same morning at 7 o'clock seven hussars, from the Hungarian II Corps entered the city, welcomed by the cheers of happy crowds of citizens who had been waiting so long to be liberated.[18] In Buda next day, Hentzi convened two meetings with his officers and declared that he would defend the Castle of Buda until his last breath.[19]

The Castle of Buda, or as it is also known, the Upper Town of Buda (budai felsőváros) lies on a hill 167 meters above sea level, and 70 meters above the Danube which flows beneath it.[20] This so-called Castle Hill (Várhegy) has an oblong irregular shape of a sharp triangle with its tip towards the south and its base towards the north. Its length is 660 meters, and concerning its two edges, it is as it follows: on its northern, wider side with the Royal Palace is 156 meters high, while in its southern edge is 163 m high and 150 m wide.[20] The castle hill is surrounded by suburbs, with the Danube to the east 260-meter-wide (850 ft), Gellért Hill to the south 235-meter-high (771 ft) Naphegy 158-meter-high (518 ft) and Little Gellért Hill (Kis-Gellérthegy) 168-meter-high (551 ft) to the southwest, Kissváb Hill (Kissvábhegy) 249-meter-high (817 ft) to the west, and Rókus Hill (Rókushegy or Rézmál) 249-meter-high (817 ft) to the northwest; also to the northwest are Ferenc Hill (Ferenchegy or Vérhalom) 265-meter-high (869 ft) and Kálvária Hill (Kálvária-hegy) 161-meter-high (528 ft), and József Hill (Józsefhegy or Szemlőhegy) 232-meter-high (761 ft) and Rózsa Hill (Rózsadomb) 195-meter-high (640 ft) to the north.[20] Across the Danube to the east there are no heights near the castle. The height of the walls surrounding the castle was not uniform. They were punctuated by old circular bastions, called rondellas, and newer, polygonal bastions, close enough together to enable them to bring fire to bear on enemy attacking the walls between them.[21] The fact that there were no moats, beneath the walls, and that the hill was surrounded by houses and gardens except for around the four castle gates, made the besiegers’ job easier.[21] The castle's defenses were of 16th century standard, because the fortification modernization of later periods had almost no effect on this castle without exterior walls and defenses and consisting only of a "core fort".[21] The most important defenses of the castle were its walls surrounding the edges of the Castle Hill. This wall was built in different periods, and was repaired in various ways in the 163 years between the sieges of 1686 and 1849. Because of this it was of different widths, without embrasures, protective structures, etc., and lacking the most elementary elements of modern siege technology.[21] The gates were mostly vestiges of the past rather than real castle gates, lacking trenches or drawbridges.[21] Comparing it with Hungarian castles like Arad, Temesvár, Komárom, Gyulafehérvár, Pétervárad or Eszék, it can be said that it was centuries behind these, and because of this the intention to defend it came as a surprise to many. But the imperials understood the importance of holding the Castle of Buda as long as they could, both for political and symbolic reasons as well because of having accumulated a huge store of military equipment there, and they did not want to give all of these up so easily.[21]

The Hungarian capitals Pest and Buda in 1850 (in German language).
Districts of Buda (in German Ofen):
– Festung (The Buda Castle),
– Wasser-Stadt = Vízváros (Watertown),
– Christina-Stadt = Krisztinaváros (Christinatown),
– Land-Strasse = Országút (Main Road),
– Raitzen-Stadt = Rácváros (Serbian Town).
Hills:
– St. Gerhards Block = Gellérthegy (Gellért Hill),
– Sonnen Spiess = Naphegy (Sun Hill).
The Gates of the Buda Castle: – Wasser Tor = Vízikapu (Water Gate),
– Burg Tor = Várkapu (Castle Gate),
– Weissbrg Tor = Fehérvári kapu (Székesfehérvár Gate),
– Wiener Tor = Bécsi kapu (Vienna Gate),
Other important locations during the siege:
– Kettenbrücke = Lánchíd (Chain Bridge),
– Köngl. Schloss = Budavári palota (Kings castle),
– Georgi Platz = Szent György tér (St. George Square),
– Fischer B. = Halászbástya (Fishermans Bastion),
– Zeughaus = Fegyvertár (Arsenal),
– Margarethen Insel = Margitsziget (Margaret Island)

The strengthening of the castle of Buda in post-revolution Hungary started after Lieutenant Field Marshal Josip Jelačić 's Croatian army entered Hungary to overthrow Lajos Batthyány's national Hungarian government and was advancing on the Hungarian capitals. But the first plans for this were drawn up after Jelačić had been defeated at Pákozd on 29 September 1848 and retreated from Hungary.[22] Although the enemy retreated, the fear he had caused made the Hungarians think about strengthening Buda and Pest. They carved out arms stores in the rock of the Gellért Hill.[23] At the beginning of October 1848, Artillery Lieutenant József Mack published a detailed plan to defend the capitals in the newspaper Kossuth Hírlapja (Kossuth's Gazette).[24] In this work Mack wrote that it was not true that the castle could not be defended, saying that with the 50 cannon in the castle any enemy could easily be kept at a distance. He claimed that enemy artillery could only threaten the castle from Gellért Hill, and that with just six 24-pdr cannon he could prevent anyone from installing their batteries there.[25] He also said that the cannon could prevent enemy rocket batteries from burning down the city. As for the forces necessary to hold the castle, Mack stated that 2,500 soldiers and 300 artillerymen would be enough.[25] In the autumn of 1848 the Hungarian patriotic militiamen formed an artillery corps, and received a battery of 6-pdr guns.[25] He also wrote that the cannons can prevent also the enemy rocket batteries to burn down the city. About the necessary forces to hold the castle Mack wrote that 2500 soldiers and 300 artillerymen are enough.[25] In the Autumn of 1848 the Hungarian patriotic militiamen formed an artillery corp, and received a battery made of guns of 6 pounds.[26] In December 9 cannon and 2 howitzers arrived which, according to an inscription on one of them, were made in 1559. Some of these cannon would be actually used in the defense of the castle in May 1849.[26]

The Chain Bridge in Buda 1847 with the castle in the background, by Sámuel Lehnhardt

When the victorious Hungarian Spring Campaign began, especially after their defeat in the Battle of Isaszeg, the imperial commanders started to be more and more concerned about the defense of the capitals and of Buda Castle. Hentzi prepared a plan for the defence of the capitals, and after this was criticized because it did not include Buda Castle, he quickly made another one.[27] But this plan was also criticized by Colonel Trattnern, the director of imperial military engineering, criticisms which were later proved to be justified.[28] Hentzi thought that the cannon in the 1st to 4th rondellas (the circular bastions) needed almost no protective entrenchments; that the gates were well protected by the artillery which could easily prevent enemy artillery positioning itself before them; that the curtain wall of the castle was so strong that 12-pdr cannon could not damage it, so it was unnecessary to make earth revetments around it; that an enemy attack on the Chain Bridge could easily be stopped with gunfire; that there was no need for shell-proof shelters because the Hungarians had no mortars; that Svábhegy was too far from the castle to be dangerous, contrary to the side of the Royal Palace, which is close to the Little Gellért Hill.[29]

In mid-April, there were some indications that the imperials would retreat from Pest, such as the return of cotton sandbags to the inhabitants which had previously been commandeered in order to build defenses around the town.[30] On the other hand, Welden wrote a letter to Hentzi in which he ordered him to defend the Danube line, or at least Buda castle for as long as "the condition of the defensive features of the castle [walls, bastions] and of your food supply makes it possible".[31] The commander-in-chief noted that Hentzi should respond to attacks and gun fire coming from the direction of Pest with bullets and grapeshot only, so as to spare the splendid buildings of the city, giving him permission to use roundshot and shell only if the population of Pest behaved in an unacceptable manner towards the imperials.[31] But Hentzi did not respect this order, and bombarded Pest, destroying the Classicist styled buildings on the shores of the Danube, and others in Pest, despite the fact that the inhabitants did nothing to provoke him, and despite a personal request from Görgei in this regard.[32] Welden's letter informs Hentzi that the food supply of the castle is enough for 6 weeks and there is enough ammunition for the defense. It also states that any cannon to be found in Buda and Pest must be brought into the castle, the waterworks which enabled the defenders to be supplied with water from the Danube must be strengthened with firing platforms for cannon, and the palisades on the left bank of the Danube must be removed because they could be advantageous for the enemy.[33]

Heinrich Hentzi, captain of the castle's defending army

Major General Heinrich Hentzi (1785–1849) was an experienced officer with deep knowledge of engineering, so he was qualified to lead the technical and logistical preparations for the defense of the castle.[34] He actually started these preparations in January 1849, after he was appointed to lead the repair of its fortifications, having presented himself to Field Marshal Windisch-Grätz when he occupied the capitals.[34] In the winter of 1849 Hentzi carried out the construction of the works protecting the ends of the Chain Bridge and the palisade from the left end of the Chain Bridge and the Újépület (New Building).[34] But after finishing those, the work stopped because the money ran out.[34]

On 24 April, when Jelačić's corps left the capitals for southern Hungary, Hentzi burned the pontoon bridge across the Danube. He then ordered the people who lived in the castle to store enough food and water for two months; those who could not do so had to leave.[34] Over the next few days, until 3 May, Hentzi gathered beef cattle and other food for his soldiers, made enough ammunition for the infantry and artillery, and strengthened the fortifications of the castle.[34] Under his command the engineering captains Pollini and Gorini supervised the work of 200 soldiers and of many laborers from the capitals and from the Swabian villages around them to strengthen the weak points of the fortifications, paying them a salary. They also made parapets and overhead cover for the cannon. Hentzi also ordered the manufacture of ammunition.[34]

Hentzi decreed that the Waterworks of Buda which supplied the castle with water from Danube should be fortified with palisades both north and south, to be defended by his soldiers, and a defensive work in what is now Clark Ádám Place, in which they could take cover.[35] He named a chevau-léger captain to be the leader of the firemen, and in order so far as possible to prevent fire breaking out during the siege, he ordered residents of the castle to remove all flammable material from their attics.[35] He designated a detachment of pioneers to be ready to remove any grenade or bombs that might land on houses, to prevent greater damage.[35]

The northern fortification of the waterworks was around the pumping station allowing observation of the Chain Bridge to prevent an attack from there. Hentzi ordered that the planks which enabled crossing the unfinished bridges should be removed.[36] He also ordered that 4 so-called Rambart boxes, filled with 400 kg of gunpowder, should be put on the iron beams which led to the piers of the bridge. These 4 boxes were linked by wooden tubes in which was put tinder. In order to make the explosion of the chests more destructive, big stones were put in them.[36] The southern fortification of the waterworks ensured the defense of the aqueduct which supplied the Royal Palace with water.[36]

Hentzi positioned his troops in the castle and outside, around the Waterworks and the end of the Chain Bridge, in the following way:

– 3rd Battalion, 5th Border Guard Infantry Regiment: the defense line linking the barricade covering Víziváros (Water City), the Waterworks Fortress, and the promenade known as Ellipszis.
– 3rd Battalion, 12th (Archduke Wilhelm) Infantry Regiment: the defensive work at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge, the barricade at the Vízikapu (Watergate), the houses numbered 80–85 used in the defense of the Waterworks Fortress, the Royal Palace, the stairs leading to the Castle from the lower barricade, and the lower part of the Palace Garden.
– 3rd Battalion, 10th (Ban's) Infantry Regiment: Bécsi kapu (Vienna Gate); Bastions I, II., V. and VII; circular bastion I. with a grenade thrower sentry post, and the sentry post below the Royal Palace, on the curtain wall, looking towards Krisztinaváros.
– 1st Battalion, 23rd (Ceccopieri) Infantry Regiment: the Palace Gate, before the barricade at the gate at Vízikapu, by the grenade throwing sentry post between circular bastions I. and II., and also small detachments at the Nádor-barrack, at the so-called Country House (országház), at the military depot, at the town hall and at the meat factory.
– 1st (Lieutenant-Colonel's) Squadron, 1st (Archduke John) dragoon regiment: one troop stationed in a shed down to the left of the Palace gate, the other in the Gróf Sándor house.[37]

The two battalions from the Waterworks Fortress, together with one of the troops of dragoons, were used as pickets outside Buda, towards Óbuda and the vineyards of the Buda hills.[38]

Before the siege, Hentzi had 85 guns altogether: the 57 he received from Welden, and another 28 which he retrieved and repaired.[38] He placed these strategically as follow:

– Rondella I: two 6-pdr, two 12-pdr, and one 19-pdr cannon; one 10-pdr howitzer,
– Rondella II: three 12-pdr cannon,
– Rondella III: one 3-pdr, two 12-pdr cannon,
– Rondella IV: one 3-pdr, three 12-pdr cannon,
– Bastion V:one 10-pdr howitzer,
– Rondella VI: one 6-pdr, one 12-pdr, and one 18-pdr cannon,
– Vienna Gate: one 6-pdr cannon,
– Bastion VII: one 18-pdr and two 24-pdr cannon; three 10-pdr mortars,
– Bastion VIII: two 12-pdr, one 18-pdr cannon; two 10-pdr howitzers,
– Bastion IX, or Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya): four 60-pdr mortars,
– Watergate: one 3-pdr cannon
– Bastion X: two 12-pdr cannon; three 60-pdr mortars,
– front facade of the Military Depot (Hadiszertár): three 30-pdr, three 60-pdr mortars,
– Bastion XI: two 12-pdr cannon,
– Upper terrace: two 24-pdr cannon; two 10-pdr howitzers; two 10-pdr mortars, four 60-pdr mortars,
– Middle terrace: one 10-pdr howitzer,
– Lower terrace: three 12-pdr, two 18-pdr cannon,
– Main guardroom: two 3-pdr cannon,
– Northern Waterworks Fortress: three 6-pdr cannon; one 7-pdr howitzer,
– Southern Waterworks Fortress: four 6-pdr cannon; one 7-pdr howitzer,
– Ellipsz: twelve wall guns.[39]

Four 3-pdr, three 12-pdr and one 18-pdr cannon and a destroyer battery were kept in reserve.[40]

After the relief of Komárom on 26 April, and the Hungarian commanders’ council of war's decision of 29 April to besiege Buda, I. Corps departed from Komárom towards Buda next day. Formerly led by General János Damjanich, it was now commanded by General József Nagysándor, who took his excellent predecessor's place, because of an accident to the latter which rendered him unable to serve.[41] This departure was in accordance with the orders issued the same day by the High Command of the Hungarian army, requiring all the designated troops to do so.[42] Over the next few days, of the Hungarian forces stationed at Komárom, III. Corps also marched to Buda, while VII. Corps moved west to Győr, to observe the movements of the imperial armies on the western border of Hungary.[43] General Lajos Aulich ’s II. Corps, whose troops were mainly on the eastern banks of the Danube, also received the order to cross to the other bank to participate in the encirclement of Buda castle, as did György Kmety's division at Esztergom.[43] Although the main Hungarian force moved towards Buda, they brought no heavy siege artillery with them, only field artillery, which unfortunately was not very effective in sieges. It seems that Görgei and the other Hungarian commanders thought Hentzi had not yet finished fortifying the castle for the siege, and that it could easily be occupied with a surprise attack if they arrived there quickly.[3]So the Hungarian army corps hurried to Buda, not wanting to be slowed down by the heavy artillery. This mistake by Görgei prolonged the siege for many days, which could have been used for preparations for the offensive on the western front,[44] because Hentzi strengthened the castle in time which made it impossible to take it without heavy siege artillery[This doesn't make sense. If Gorgei was already hurrying, how could he ever have got there before Hentzi finished fortifying it? Could he have got the siege artillery there any quicker? What preparations could he have made if he had not hurried?]. The Hungarian main body reached Buda on 4 May and gathered on the western bank of the river, surrounding the castle. Only Szekulits's division of II. Corps remained on the eastern side.[43] The Hungarian units deployed as follows:

– Kmety's division northeast of the castle, next to the Danube in the Víziváros quarter of Buda,
– On Kmety's right, northwest of the castle was General Károly Knezić’s III. Corps, in the sector between Kálvária Hill and Kissváb Hill,
– General József Nagysándor's I. Corps was deployed between Kissváb Hill and Little Gellért Hill,
– The sector between Little Gellért Hill and the Danube was occupied by II. Corps under General Lajos Aulich,[45]

The Hungarians started to deploy their field artillery on the heights surrounding the castle: the Gellért Hill (one 6/12 pounds battery of 7 cannons[Your map shows “six 6-pdr cannon, one 7-pdr howitzer”]), on Naphegy (half a rocket battery: 4 rocket stands), Kissváb Hill (one 12 pounds battery of 7 cannons[Your map shows “two 7-pdr and two 10-pdr howitzers, three 12-pdr cannon”]), Kálvária Hill and Kis-Rókus Hill (one battery of eleven 7-pdr howitzers spread across the two).[4][46] The battery closest to the castle was the one on Naphegy, 600–700 meters away.[47] Altogether 5 batteries of artillery were deployed on the hills near the castle (25 cannons and 4 rocket stands).[47][4]

On 4 May Görgei sent a captured Austrian officer as a messenger to ask Hentzi to surrender, proposing him a fair captivity.[47] He argued that the castle was not suited to withstand a siege.[48] Görgei also promised not to attack the castle from the side facing Pest, but that if Hentzi fired his artillery at Pest he would show no mercy and would have all prisoners executed after capturing the castle.[49] Additionally, Görgei appealed to Hentzi's supposed Magyar sympathies (Hentzi having been born in Debrecen), but Hentzi replied that his loyalty was to the Kaiser.[50] In the same reply, Hentzi also argued that the castle could be defended,[49] and threatened Görgei, demanding that Görgei not attack the castle with artillery from any direction, or else Hentzi would destroy the city of Pest with a huge bombardment.[47]

After the castle was taken, the Hungarian Lieutenant János Rónay found the wounded Hentzi in the hospital to which he had been taken and made the Austrian commander prisoner.[71] Chief medical officer Moritz Bartl told the Hungarian officer that Hentzi was mortally wounded and could not be saved. Rónay treated him gently, but when Hentzi asked to shake hands, he refused, saying he respected him as an excellent general but would not shake his hand because of the bombardment of Pest.

Görgei, in reality Lieutenant János Rónay, defending Hentzi from the angered mob

Hentzi replied that his guns could have totally destroyed but did not, and that he only fired on those buildings which he had orders to do.[71] As we showed above, Feldzeugmeister Ludwig von Welden's orders to Hentzi contained nothing about destroying Pest; he gave permission only to bombard the city on the eastern bank of the Danube in exceptional situations, if the civilians behaved towards the castle in an unacceptable manner, which they did not.

The damages caused by the bombardment of Pest by the imperials: The German Theater

Lieutenant Rónay then transported Hentzi to the Hungarian headquarters, but on the way there, in Dísz Square, the people recognized Hentzi and wanted to hurt him because of what he had done to Pest. Only Lieutenant Rónay's forceful intervention saved the wounded general from being lynched.[73] Around this event the legend was born of Artúr Görgei defending Hentzi's dead body from the enraged mob, which was depicted in many contemporary illustrations. When Hentzi reached the Hungarian HQ, many Hungarian officers (Gen. József Nagysándor, Col. Lajos Asbóth, and finally Görgei himself) visited Hentzi and behaved kindly towards him, but when they asked what his wishes were, he replied that he wanted to die. When asked why he wanted this, he replied that he knew that if he recovered, Görgei would hang him, remembering that in his letter demanding the surrender of the castle the Hungarian general had threatened to do so if Hentzi bombarded Pest or blew up the Chain Bridge. Görgei indeed had not forgotten his promise of 4 May, and declared to Lieutenant-Colonel Bódog Bátori Sulcz that he would hang Hentzi the next day if he recovered, saying that the Austrian general did not deserve to be called a hero.[73] In the evening Hentzi's condition became critical, and Rónay sent for a priest, but apparently none could be found, perhaps because no priest wanted to give him the extreme unction. Hentzi died at 1 o'clock in the morning on 22 May.[73] His and Col. Alnoch's bodies were put in two unpainted coffins and sent to the graveyard escorted by a squad of Huszárs to protect the bodies from the people's anger. In 1852 Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria ordered a monument dedicated to Heinrich Hentzi, who did not deserve this because of the senseless damage he caused to the capital cities, and in October 1918 it was finally dismantled.[74]

Hentzi Monument Buda

The chivalry of the Hungarian officers was not shared by all of their soldiers. Görgei wrote in his order of the day nr. 755/v that after the capture of Buda Castle, some Hungarian soldiers had robbed castle residents’ houses, stealing valuable objects from them as well as from the state properties and archives. He therefore ordered all stolen items to be returned within 24 hours, and that those who did not obey this order would be court-martialled.[75]

The damages caused by the bombardment of Pest by the imperials: Lloyd-building

Although General Mór Perczel accused Artúr Görgei of intentionally delaying the occupation of the Buda Castle to give the Austrian troops from around Vienna and Pozsony time to recover, because Perczel wanted to persuade the Hungarian government in Debrecen to bring Görgei before a court-martial, the liberation of the castle created huge satisfaction among the Hungarians which convinced Prime Minister Bertalan Szemere to award Görgei the First Class Military Order of Merit and the rank of lieutenant general.[76] But when he was visited by a Government delegation to invest him with the order and his promotion, Görgei refused. He said that he did not deserve these and did not approve of the greed of many soldiers and officers for rank and decorations, which was not compatible with Prime Minister Szemere's Republican political program, and that by refusing these distinctions he wanted to set an example for his subordinates. The leaders of the delegation, Senator Zsigmond Bernáth and Deputy Gábor Kazinczy saluted Görgei's decision.[77] In his meeting with the two politicians, Görgei told them that after the capture of Buda he was planning to stage a coup d'état, to use his army to force the retraction of the Declaration of the Hungarian Independence, as he thought that this political act by the Hungarian Parliament made any kind of compromise with the emperor and the imperial Government in Vienna impossible, and because he thought that as the threat of Russian intervention became more and more clear, the only hope for Hungary to save at least part of its autonomy and the achievements of the Hungarian revolution of 15 March 1848 was an agreement with the emperor. But when Bernáth and Kazinczy told him they shared his views and that there was a party in the Hungarian parliament called the Peace Party (Békepárt) which wanted to reach an agreement with Emperor Franz Joseph I., he renounced his planned coup, and declared that he hoped for a political, "constitutional" solution to the problem.[78]

Kossuth and his family being welcomed by the population in the liberated Buda and Pest

After receiving the news of the capture of Buda, on 22 May, Governor Lajos Kossuth and Prime Minister Bertalan Szemere published Görgei's report of the victory with a postscript, in which they wrote: "You have crowned the campaign you have conducted so far with the capture of the ancient Castle of Buda. You have given the Motherland its capital back, and the National Assembly and the Government their seat. Furthermore, through this victory, you have urged or rather made possible, that our national independence be recognized by Europe"[4] On 23 May Kázmér Batthyány, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, wrote a letter to Ferenc Pulszky, the Szemere government's emissary to London, that after the liberation of Buda he was sure that the European nations, who hitherto had been reluctant to accept Hungary's declaration of independence as a "fait accompli", would open diplomatic relations with Hungary.[4] Thus the Hungarian politicians believed that the conquest of Buda would prevent Russia from intervening in the conflict between Hungary and the Austrian Empire, because the European powers would accept Hungary as an independent state. But later events showed that these hopes were groundless, and the European nations looked away when 200,000 Russian soldiers crossed the Hungarian border in June to crush Hungarian independence.

The damages caused by the bombardment of Pest by the imperials: the Vigadó

On the other hand, after the mood of April and May 1849 during the Hungarian Revolutionary Army's victorious Spring Campaign, the imperial commanders and politicians had a constant fear of a Hungarian attack against Vienna, feeling that they could not repulse such an attack if the Russian intervention did not begin in time. The imperial intelligence had no clear information about Görgei's plans, but the political and military leaders’ correspondence shows they thought that if the Hungarian army were to cross the Austrian border, they would have no chance of repelling it without Russian help.[79] The imperial reports show a constant concern, lasting several weeks, about a Hungarian attack against Austria which would be helped by revolutionary forces in Vienna and the Austrian provinces.

The damages caused by the bombardment of Pest by the imperials: the House of Representatives

For example, a letter from Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, Minister-President of the Austrian Empire, shows that the people of Vienna were again in revolutionary mood. When Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, the former high commander of the imperial forces in Hungary returned to Prague, after being dismissed because of his defeats on the Hungarian front, the people gathered in front of him and shouted: "Long live Kossuth!"[80] This constant fear on the part the imperial commanders and politicians also show the talent of General Ernő Poeltenberg commanding the 12,000 men of Hungarian VII. Corps, whose demonstration maneuvers not only kept at bay far more imperial troops (over 50,000, in fact), but also made them believe his force was capable of a successful advance into the Austrian Hereditary Provinces.[81] Feldzeugmeister Ludwig von Welden, high commander of the imperial forces in Hungary, wrote to Schwarzenberg urging Russian intervention, saying the revolutions in Italy and Germany could reignite if Hungarian military successes continued, and that the Hungarian Revolution would not be suppressed quickly.[82] On 1 May Schwarzenberg wrote that the first 85,000 Russian troops had already entered the Austrian province of Galicia and taken position near the Hungarian border, awaiting further orders.[83] But in any case, as shown above (Towards Vienna or to Buda?), before and during the Siege of Buda the Hungarian army was so numerically inferior towards the imperial forces gathered around Pozsony and Vienna that the Habsburg commanders’ fears were groundless.

The storming of Buda castle was the zenith of the Honvéd army's glory.[70] It was not a simple victory, but one of the greatest Hungarian victories in the Independence War of 1848–1849, causing the loss of 5,000 elite soldiers of the Austrian Empire, and huge booty in artillery, muskets, ammunition, horses, etc., which were used in the following months in the struggle against the combined forces of two empires: The Habsburg and the Russian.[4] In terms of the number of the prisoners and spoils, this victory was surpassed only by the Victory of Ozora, on 7 October 1848, in which 7,553 enemy soldiers were forced to capitulate to the same general, Artúr Görgei,[84] but those troops were among the units with the lowest fighting value in the Habsburg army, while those commanded by Hentzi were among its best.[4] It also yielded a substantial quantity of arms and materiel, providing a solid foundation for the subsequent military operations. They were indeed soon to be necessary, because Welden was preparing for another attack when he heard of the fall of Buda, whereupon he abandoned his plans.[70] It was now clear that Austria alone would be unable to put down the Hungarian struggle for independence. It is telling that the very day Buda was captured, Francis Joseph I finalised an agreement by which Tsar Michael I of Russia would send 200,000 soldiers to crush the Hungarian Revolution. The Emperor marked his gratitude for this friendly assistance by kissing the hand of the Tsar.[70]

The Capture of Buda is regarded as the conclusion of the victorious Spring Campaign of the Hungarian army, which resulted in the liberation of almost all Hungary from the Habsburg troops and their Russian, Serbian, Croatian and Romanian allies.[85] After this, the Summer Campaign saw the intervention in June of a quarter of the troops of the Russian Empire,[86] together with the reorganized numerically superior Habsburg army. In the face of these, the numerically and technologically desperately inferior Hungarian army, despite its admirable bearing which earned the respect of the enemy commanders, could only put up a heroic but hopeless resistance before it was defeated and forced to lay down its arms at Nagyszőlős on 13 August 1849 and in Komárom on 2 October 1849.[87]

The famous Hungarian Romantic novelist Mór Jókai made the Hungarian Revolution and Independence War the subject of his popular novel A kőszívű ember fiai (literally: The Sons of the Man with a Stone Heart, translated into English under the title: The Baron's sons). In chapter XXIII., the Siege of Buda is vividly presented as one of the main plot events of the novel, in which several of his main characters appear fighting in the ranks of both the Hungarian and the Austrian army.[88] In 1965 this novel was also adapted as a movie of the same title (A kőszívű ember fiai), including the Siege of Buda as one of its most important scenes.[89]

Since 1992, the Hungarian Government is celebrating the day of the capture of the Castle of Buda, 21 May, as National Defence Day (Hungarian: a honvédség napja).[90]