Siege of Buda (1849)

Siege of Buda
Part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Painting by Mór Than
Date 4 May 1849 (1849-05-04) – 21 May 1849 (1849-05-21) Location Buda, Kingdom of Hungary Result Hungarian victory
Belligerents
Hungarian Revolutionary Army	Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Artúr Görgei  József Nagysándor  Károly Knezić  Lajos Aulich  György Kmety	Heinrich Hentzi (DOW)
Strength
Total: 34,277 men – I. corps: 9,465 – II. corps: 7,799 – III. corps: 9,419 – VII. corps –– 15. division: 4,883 –– 12. division: 2,711 142 cannons	4,890 men 85 cannons
Casualties and losses
368–427 dead 700–691 wounded	710 dead 4,204 captured[1] 248 cannons

The siege of Buda took place at Buda castle (called Festung Ofen in German), part of the twin capital cities of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian revolutionary army was led by General Artúr Görgei during the Hungarian War of Independence. Part of the Spring Campaign, the siege began on 4 May 1849, ending with the Hungarian capture of the castle by assault on 21 May.

Buda Castle was the only fortress throughout the entire war to be taken by storm by the besiegers on either side. All other fortresses capitulated following agreements between besiegers and besieged. The siege of Buda was also the shortest siege of the war (18 days). The senseless bombardment of Pest by Austrian commander Major General Heinrich Hentzi caused destruction of classic buildings on the shores of the Danube. Other regions of the capitals also suffered heavy damage due to the artillery duels between the two sides.

The capture of Buda Castle completed the liberation of the Hungarian capital cities (Buda and Pest). Thanks to this, the second Hungarian revolutionary Government, led by Bertalan Szemere together with Governor-President Lajos Kossuth, returned from Debrecen, the interim capital of the Hungarian revolution, to the capital of Hungary.

On 21 May 1849, the same day as the capture of Buda, the two emperors Franz Joseph I of Austria and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia signed the final treaty in Warsaw, which agreed on the intervention in Hungary of 200,000 Russian soldiers (and an 80,000-strong reserve force, if necessary), in order to help the Austrian Empire crush the Hungarian revolution.^[2]