Artúr Görgey

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Artúr Görgey painted by Miklós Barabás
Artúr Görgey painted by Miklós Barabás
Equestrian statue of Artúr Görgey
Equestrian statue of Artúr Görgey

Artúr Görgey (January 30, 1818 – May 21, 1916), was a Hungarian military leader.

He was born at Toporcz (present-day Toporec, Slovakia), in Upper Hungary; of a Saxon noble family who were converts to Protestantism. In 1837 he entered the Bodyguard of Hungarian Nobles at Vienna, where he combined military service with a course of study at the university. In 1845, on his father's death, he left the army to study chemistry at the University of Prague, after which he retired to the family estates in Hungary.

On the outbreak of the revolutionary War of 1848, Görgey fought on the side of the Hungarian government. Entering the Honvéd Army with the rank of captain, he was employed in the purchase of arms, and soon became major and commandant of the national guards north of the Tisza. Whilst he was engaged in preventing the Croatian army from crossing the Danube, at the Csepel-sziget, below Pest, a wealthy Hungarian, Count Jenő Zichy fell into his hands, and Görgey caused him to be arraigned before a court-martial on a charge of treason and immediately hanged.

After various successes over the Croatian forces, of which the most remarkable was that at Ozora, where 10,000 prisoners were taken, Görgey was appointed commander of the army of the Upper Danube, but, on the advance of Prince Alfred I. zu Windisch-Graetz across the Lajta, he resolved to fall back, and in spite of the remonstrances of his political superior, Lajos Kossuth, he held to his resolution and retreated upon Vác. Here, irritated by what he considered undue interference with his plans, he issued (January 5, 1849) a proclamation throwing the blame for the recent want of success upon the government, thus virtually revolting against their authority. Görgey retired to the Hungarian Erzgebirge and conducted operations on his own initiative.

The supreme command was conferred upon Henryk Dembiński, but when he lost the Battle of Kápolna (where Görgey's corps arrived too late to take an effective part) the command was again conferred upon Görgey. He conducted the spring 1849 campaign brilliantly and defeated Windischgrätz in a series of engagements. In April, Görgey won at Gödöllő, Isaszeg and Nagysalló, relieved Komárom, and again won at Ács or Vác. He failed to follow up his successes by taking the offensive against the Austrian frontier, contenting himself with besieging Buda, the Hungarian capital, in which he desired to re-establish the Diet. After affecting this capture, Görgey remained inactive for some weeks.

Meanwhile, at a Diet held at Debrecen, Kossuth had formally proposed the dethronement of the Habsburg dynasty. Görgey had refused the Kossuth's offer of the field-marshal's baton, and was not in sympathy with the new regime. However, he accepted the portfolio of minister of war, while retaining the command of the troops in the field. The Russians had now intervened in the struggle and made common cause with the Austrians; the allies were advancing into Hungary on all sides. Kossuth saw the impossibility of continuing the struggle and resigned his position as regent-president. Görgey, who had been fighting hard against the enemy, succeeded him as military dictator with emergency powers. Convinced that he could not break through the enemy's lines, Görgey surrendered, with his army of 20,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, to the Russian general Rudiger at Világos.

Görgey was not court-martialed, as were his generals, but kept in confinement at Klagenfurt, where he lived, chiefly employed in chemical work, until 1867, when he was pardoned and returned to Hungary. The surrender, and particularly the fact that his life was spared while his generals and many of his officers and men were hanged or shot, led to his being accused of treason by public opinion. After his release he played no further part in public life.

In 1885, an attempt by a large number of his old comrades to rehabilitate him was not favorably received in Hungary. After some years work as a railway engineer he retired to Visegrád, where he lived in retreat. For decades he had been considered a traitor, often humiliated in public places, but in the last years of his life, his very important role during the War and unique military talent became widely acknowledged by his compatriots.

General Görgey wrote a justification of his operations (Mein Leben und Wirken in Ungarn 1848-1849, Leipzig, 1852), an anonymous paper under the title Was verdanken wir der Revolution? (1875), and a reply to Kossuth's charges (signed Joh. Demar) in Budapesti Szemle, 1881, 25-26. Amongst those who wrote in his favor were Captain Stephan Görgey (1848-1849 bol, Budapest, 1885), and Colonel Aschermann (Ein offenes Wort in der Sache des Honved-Generals Arthur Görgey, Klausenburg, 1867).

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