György Klapka

György (Móric) Klapka (german: Georg Klapka;
/ref> 7 April 182017 May 1892) was a Hungarian general. He was one of the most important Hungarian generals of the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849, politician, member of the Hungarian Parliament, and deputy War Minister.

Early life

Klapka was born at Temesvár, Kingdom of Hungary on 7 April 1820 in a German-speaking Roman-Catholic family of Moravian origin. His ancestors migrated there from Moravia during the reign of Joseph II (1780-1790) his grandfather founding military pharmacies during the Austro-Turkish War of 1787–1791.Zsolt Vesztrócz
125 éve hunyt el Klapka György, Komárom hős védője
(2017) In the following decades the families prestige grew, and György Klapka's father, József Klapka, became the mayor of Temesvár for nearly 15 years, being elected for two times deputy in the Hungarian Diet, being later ennobled by the king. His mother was Júlia Kehrer.Szinnyei József: Magyar írók élete és munkái VI
Klapka György (Móricz)
Budapest, 1899

He had five brothers and sisters. He lost his mother at an early age. As a child, he recalls, ''I had the greatest pleasure of watching military ceremonies, where I admired the uniforms of the Hungarian generals'', as well as spending much time on the ramparts of the fortress of Temesvár.
Despite his Moravian origin Klapka considered himself a Hungarian.Bona Gábo
Tábornokok és törzstisztek az 1848/49. évi szabadságharcban
(2015) He made his early education at the Roman Catholic secondary schools from Kecskemét and Szeged. His mother tongue was German, he learned Latin in the school, then Hungarian in Kecskemét. His parents wanted to make him a priest, but he was attracted to a career as a military officer. After graduating from the military school in Karánsebes, he joined the Imperial-Royal Army in 1837.

''No sooner had I put on the uniform than the oath I was to take was read out in front of me. As soon as I said the words, my bosom tightened, for I felt that from now on I was no longer a free man, but a slave: that I was no longer ruled by my own will, but by the will of others. But these shackles were of my free will, and such shackles must be worn, and so I endured them with patience. Very soon I got used to the strict iron discipline of my position, saw the necessity of it, and adapted to it'' he wrote in his memoirs about the beginning of his military career. He served as a cadet in the 2nd Artillery Regiment in Vienna, then in the Bombardier Corps.

In the spring of 1842, after his family's Hungarian nobility had been confirmed, he was commissioned, at the proposal of Sebő Vukovics, to the Hungarian Nobiliary Royal Bodyguards (Magyar királyi nemesi testőrség), as a delegate of the Temes County, continuing his career in the Guards of Vienna, where he became friend with Artúr Görgei.Tarján M. Tamá
/ 1820. április 7. Klapka György születése Temesváron
Rubicon. (2010 VII/11) He was transferred from Vienna to Pancsova, to the 12th Border Guard Infantry Regiment of the German-Banat border guards. He was here when he retired from the army in 1847 with the rank of artillery Lieutenant. Here he was sent as lieutenant to the Border Region Division, but soon he disarmed. In 1847 he thought to go to north India, in Lahore and to become an officer in the army of one of the Indian princes, but hearing the news about the revolution from Paris from February 1848 he decided to remain in Hungary.

His military career in the Hungarian War of Independence

Before becoming a general

After the victory, on 15 March, of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Klapka volunteered in the Hungarian army, and he was conscripted as Captain.
In May 1848 he was appointed by Batthyány Government with two Hungarian officers to go to Kolozsvár and in the Székely Land to find out if Transylvania wanted to reunite with Hungary, and to measure how many from the Székely border guard units could be sent to Hungary. On 13 June he was appointed as a Captain to the 16 Hungarian Battalion in Veszprém. Starting with August he joined the Hungarian military operations in Bácska (Southern Hungary) against the Serbian insurgents.

On 25 September he was sent to be the temporary director of the Komárom fortress, called the ''Gibraltar of the Danube''. During that time he prevented Wilhelm Mertz, the constable of the fortress, from delivering it in the hands of the Habsburgs, and played a role in forcing Mertz and the officers loyal to the Habsburgs, to leave Komárom, securing this very important stronghold for Hungary. From 16 October Klapka supervised also the fortification works from Pozsony. During that time, as the commander of the concentrated Hungarian national guards concentrated at Nagyszombat, he participated in the military operations against the Austrian troops led by Balthasar von Simunich which broke into Hungary from Moravia.

On 13 November he was appointed chief of general staff of the Bánság army corps, and together with general Antal Vetter, he elaborated a plan to crush the Serbian insurgency, but this plan failed because of its weak execution by the main commander of the military operations: general Ernő Kiss. In the end of December 1848 he worked in the general staff section of the Hungarian Ministry of Defence.

When in December 1848 the main Austrian imperial troops led by Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz attacked Hungary, he was appointed as Major in the Hungarian army, by 9 January 1849 he was already a Colonel. Together with his chief Antal Vetter he elaborated the plan of retreating the main Hungarian troops behind the Tisza river, and became commander of the Upper Tisza Corps (Felső-tiszai hadtest).


Before this the Upper Tisza Corps was led by the Minister of War General Lázár Mészáros, who was defeated by the Austrian troops led by Lieutenant-General Franz Schlik in the Battle of Kassa. Klapka took over these beaten troops in January 1849, reorganized them, and beat Schlik in three consecutive battles at Tarcal (20 January), Bodrogkeresztúr (23 January), and Tokaj (31 January). Thanks to these victories Klapka held the Hungarian defensive line along the Tisza river, and won precious time for the Hungarian commandment to organize the counter-attack against Windisch-Grätz imperial troops. From 29 January 1849 he was under the command of Lieutenant-General Henryk Dembiński the main commander of the Hungarian armies.
After their victory at 5 February 1849 in the Battle of Branyiszkó, the Upper Danube Corps led by Artúr Görgei approached to the Tisza river from North-West, menacing, together with Klapka's corps, to encircle and destroy Schlik's army. Understanding the importance of this chance, Klapka tried to convince Dembiński, to attack from the South Schlik's corps, but the latter refused, ordering Klapka to retreat. This wrong decision of the main commander enabled Schlik to escape the danger, and to retreat. Klapka defeated him again on 8 February at Hidasnémeti

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