Kuruc heroes in Bihar County

A defeat…

In 1703, 10 infantry and 5 cavalry companies led by Colonel Jármy Ferenc camped in the entrenchments of the ancient earth castle of Bihar as part of the Kuruc siege barrier surrounding the town of Nagyvárad (Oradea). The Imperial troops, moving from Arad and Szeged, broke the siege of Várad and supplied it with food. The Kuruc captains of Bihar were informed of the Imperial movements and Jarmy had the old entrenchments of the castle reinforced.

The ancient earth castle of Bihar

On 7/8 January 1704, the Imperial Guard of Nagyvárad dealt a heavy blow to the Kuruc siege camp in Bihar, and during the battle, three Kuruc colonels died heroically. Against the Kuruc troops securing the siege around Várad, the people of Várad sallied several times and inflicted heavy casualties on the besiegers.

The COA of Bihar County

After the Kuruc had been defeated once at Püspöki on 10 November 1703, they set up camp again a little further away, near the market town of Bihar. Here they were ambushed by the Imperial Guard, reinforced from Arad, on the night of 7 to 8 January, armed with cannons and grenades. During the battle, the commander of the blockade, Jármy Ferenc, was killed along with two other officers, Colonels Torday Ferenc and Székely Mózes (also known as Mossik Gergely).

A Kuruc officer

According to one account, Torday’s body was mutilated with brutal cruelty: “A strap was pulled down the back to the feet, his stomach was split open, his entrails were removed”. The widows and orphans of all three were later supported by the prince, who in his work as an army organizer also placed great emphasis on the care of war widows and orphans (widows received three months’ pay and a year’s tax exemption, but in justified cases, they also received donations of property and aid in kind, and sometimes Rákóczi also provided for the education of orphaned children).

A plaque from 1908 (Photo: retired Ref. pastor Csernák Béla)

In honor of the heroes who fell at Bihar, a commemorative plaque was erected first in 1908 and again after the Second Vienna Decision (the latter by the officers of the marching Hungarian troops, “the 120th Royal Engineers and 203/3rd and the officers of the 4th Companies of the Hungarian Army”). Both plaques have survived the changes of the 20th century.

A plaque from 1940 (Photo: retired Ref. pastor Csernák Béla)

A victory…

On 14 January 1704, the Kuruc army won a brilliant victory over the Imperial troops at Belényes. Shortly after the heavy defeat in the Bihar entrenchment, Bóné András managed to repair the damage. General Löffelholz, who had relieved Várad, returned to Arad by a detour: he had the intention of recapturing the Belényes castle from the Kuruc. On 13 January, the German and Serbian troops reached Belényes, and the town was taken with some light fighting, but the castle could not be taken because of the stubborn defense of its Kuruc guards.

In the meantime, both sides had received news that the relief army of Kuruc Colonel Bóné András was on its way. On the 14th, the Imperial troops nevertheless prepared for another attack, but Bóné’s regiment arrived in time and crossed the Fekete-Körös ice from a different direction than expected.

The attack of the Kuruc cavalry first forced the Serbs to flee, and then the regular imperial forces began an orderly retreat, leaving behind their baggage and artillery, together with the huge booty they had previously gained from the devastated villages of Bihar. Bóné sent 10 flags, two howitzers, and a mortar as a sign of triumph to Rákóczi.

The Bread Plate was donated to the Reformed parish of Tepe by the widow of Torday Ferenc, a Kuruc colonel who died at Bihar (Photo: retired Ref. pastor Oláh Attila)

Kuruc victory at the Vecse entrenchment

On January 15th, 1704, the Kuruc Hussar Colonel Deák Ferenc won a victory at Dunavecse over the troops of the Imperial commander of Eszék (Osiek), General Wolfgang Josaphat Kreutz. By the turn of 1703/1704, the Kuruc troops had already threatened the Csepel Island manor of the President of the Court Military Council, Eugene of Savoy, and even drove away the Prince’s stud farm. Kreutz’s troops were ordered from Pétervárad to defend the Danube area.

During the Reconquest War, Kreutz and his troops entered the Danube supply line at the Dunavecse entrenchment, which had been built as a base camp and were ambushed by the Kuruc troops when he tried to march south from there. (His exact purpose is unknown, but he may have been trying to escape the Kuruc troops from the north.) Along with the cavalry of Deák Ferenc, the rebels of Nógrád led by Tolvay Ferenc formed the bulk of the Kuruc infantry, which lined up in a crescent against the Imperial troops, and when they opened fire with their cannons taken from chariots, Kreutz’s troops surrendered. The general and his officers were taken prisoner, and most of the privates were conscripted into Kuruc service.

Reconstruction drawing of the Dunavecse entrenchment (and later warehouse) from the study by Pánya István Early modern fortified dwellings in Bács-Kiskun county.

Source: http://HM Hadtörténeti Intézet és Múzeum

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