The Battle of Romhány ''(Battle of Szátok or Battle of Érsekvadkert)'' is one of the last battles of the Rákóczi War of Independence, which was fought on 22 January

1710 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin ...

between

Romhány Romhány is a village in Nógrád County, Northern Hungary Region, Hungary. It is located in the western part of the county, between the hills of Cserhát. The nearest town is Rétság , which is 10 kilometers away, while the county seat (Salgót ...

and Szátok or

Érsekvadkert Érsekvadkert is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania t ...

Nógrád Nógrád (; ) is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to ...

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

The Battle

After the decisive defeat suffered in the

Battle of Trenčín The Battle of Trenčín or Battle of Trencsén (, , ) was fought between the Hungarian Kuruc forces of Francis II Rákóczi and the Imperial Army of the Habsburgs. It was part of Rákóczi's eight-year-long War of Independence. The battle c ...

, the Kurucs were continuously pushed out of the western part of the country. At the turn of 1709-10, the Austrian armies continued their gradual advance in the territory of

Nógrád County Nógrád (, ; ) is a counties of Hungary, county () of Hungary. It sits on the northern edge of Hungary and borders Slovakia. Description Nógrád county lies in northern Hungary. It shares borders with Slovakia and the Hungarian counties Pest ( ...

under the command of Count Johann von Sickingen.

Rákóczi The House of Rákóczi (older spelling Rákóczy) was a Hungarian nobility, Hungarian noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary between the 13th century and 18th century. Their name is also spelled ''Rákoci'' (in Slovakia), ''Rakoczi'' and ''Rako ...

's army, reinforced with Swedish and Polish troops was marching towards Érsekújvár,when they were intercepted by a 1,500-man cavalry unit led by von Sickingen, who underestimated the number of Hungarian troops. The Kurucs, with an 8-to-1 advantage, overwhelmed the Imperials and were close to victory, when their undisciplined units began to plunder and disintegrated. This allowed the Imperial troops to regroup and turn the tide of the

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

until both sides retreated.

Consequences

The remaining Hungarian, Polish and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

units gathered on the south side of the stream, and the imperial ones gathered near

. The Swedes and Poles wanted to persuade

to launch a new attack, but he, seeing the poor performance of his troops, decided against it. von Sickingen had suffered heavy losses (half of his army) and was also unable to attack with his exhausted troops, so the battle ended. Both sides regarded the battle as their own victory. Today, it can be considered a draw. Despite their initial success, the

Kuruc Kuruc (, plural ''kurucok''), also spelled kurutz, refers to a group of armed anti- Habsburg insurgents in the Kingdom of Hungary between 1671 and 1711. Over time, the term kuruc has come to designate Hungarians who advocate strict national inde ...

troops, who outnumbered the enemy eight (8!) times, could not defeat the well-trained Imperials due to their lack of discipline.
According to György Ottlyk, head master of Rákóczi: ''Last Wednesday, we beat Habsburg gloriously, but we ignominiously ran away from the battlefield.'' Although the losses of the Imperials were greater in number and proportion, at the end of the battle they still dominated the battlefield. However, Rákóczi's army did not break up, so the Austrians could not make good use of their situation. In fact, the prince also achieved his original goal: he managed to bring supplies to Érsekújvár.

Commemoration

The

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

to the battle stands next to the road leading from

to Szátok, on the edge of the village. The 8-meter high

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

was inaugurated in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and was built by Dezső Magos based on the plans of János Istók. On the top, there is a

turul The Turul is a mythological bird of prey, mostly depicted as a falcon, in Hungarian tradition and Turkic tradition, and a national symbol of Hungarians. Origin The Turul is probably based on a large falcon. The Hungarian word ''turul'' meant ...

bird, on the side there are reliefs of Rákóczi and Károlyi, as well as Hungarian, Polish and Swedish commemorations. Another monument to the battle stands next to the road leading Romhány to

Kétbodony Kétbodony is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary, with 438 inhabitants as of 2014. It is located in the southwestern part of the county, in a valley of the Cserhát River. Its distance from the capital Budapest is 70 kilometers, from Balassagy ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Romhany Rákóczi's War of Independence 18th-century rebellions 18th century in Hungary 1700s in the Habsburg monarchy Rebellions against the Austrian Empire Rebellions against the Habsburg monarchy Wars involving the Holy Roman Empire