After Bem's death Kmety moved to London, where his first work was published. At the beginning of the Crimean War Kmety went back to the Ottoman Empire where he was defeated by the Russians at the Siege of Kars on 29 September 1855. When General William Fenwick Williams wanted to give up the castle, Kmety decided to engage combat with the enemy's troops. Because of that Kmety received an award from the Ottoman government.