page_title: Artúr Görgei
section_title: Görgei's qualities, skills as military commander, and military methods
hierarchical_section_title: Artúr Görgei / Görgei's qualities, skills as military commander, and military methods
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: Görgei Artúr 1848–49-es honvédtábornok, hadügyminiszter, fővezér Barabás Miklós metszetén
context_page_description: Artúr Görgei de Görgő et Toporc was a Hungarian military leader renowned for being one of the greatest generals of the Hungarian Revolutionary Army.
  In his youth Görgei was a talented chemist, with his work in the field of chemistry being recognized by many renowned Hungarian and European chemists; however, he is more widely known for his role in the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849, as the most successful general and greatest military genius of the Hungarian army, the leader of the victorious Spring Campaign, which liberated almost all Western Hungary from the Austrian occupation. As a recognition of his military successes, he was decorated by the Hungarian Government, and given him also political positions: he became Minister of War, and in the last few days of the revolution, he was appointed the dictator of Hungary, which meant that he gathered in his hands all military and political powers of Hungary. Seeing that he could not withstand the numerically and technologically 4–5 times superior Austrian and Russian armies, on 13 August 1849 he surrendered his troops to the Russians at Világos, thus ending the Hungarian revolution.
context_section_description: Görgei once discussed the cause of his military successes:
  I didn't have any military genius in me. That is nothing else than a fairytale, a Hungarian legend, like so many other things. I just kept orderliness among my soldiers, that's all, and the fellows on some occasions behaved bravely. Everything else is fiddlesticks.
  Of course these very modest words are not completely true, but he pointed out one of his most important principles in war: the discipline. But for Görgei, to achieve the military successes which he obtained, he had to possess much more specific qualities, which were required for a general of his time. To analyse and evaluate Görgei's military and strategical qualities, we have find out which were accepted as the best qualities for a successful commander of the historical period in which he activated? We cannot take him out from his time, and compare with the military commanders of our times, the medieval era or the antiquity. One of the greatest military theorists of the 19th century, Carl von Clausewitz pointed that a good commander must have the following qualities:
  he has to be courageous, determined but not stubborn, he had to have presence of mind in dangerous situations to take quick but correct decisions, the straight eye of a military commander, thoughtfulness, ability of orientation, imagination, to take quickly, from the many contradictory informations, the correct decision, and finally an intellect which can synthesize all these qualities and abilities.
  During the Winter Campaign, when he was the commander of the army of the Upper Danube, was remarkably firm and independent. His consistent, harsh, peremptory leading method was accepted by his subordinates and soldiers. They respected, loved him and feared him in the same time. One of his artillerymen wrote: I was afraid of him more than from a whole Austrian army, when he rode towards me, looking at me through his glasses. In his youth, when he was a simple soldier, Görgei wrote that he wants to be an officer, whose simple glance will be enough to force even the most unruly [soldiers] to obedience and respect. Once, when a major of the hussars started to curse and insult Damjanich and the supply service of the army in front of Kossuth, Görgei appeared, looked severely at his officer, who instantly became quiet and peaceful, than a guard came and took him to arrest. This rigorousness and consistency made possible for him to organize from newly conscripted, inexperienced soldiers with low quality, outdated weapons after the defeat of Schwechat, a disciplined, combat-worthy army. He was against any improvisations made hastily in the moment of the battle, being in favor of carefully preparing every step of it long before it happened. He organised an army in which the spheres of action of every officer and soldier were exactly determined, the training, the leading, the armies supplies were well organized, like in every professional army of Europe of that period. Like Leiningen, one of his most talented generals, wrote: the revolutionary army needed a Görgey too, in order to dominate over the passions.
  
  He regarded the discipline as one of the most important requirements for a successful army. He demanded order in the army and unconditioned obedience from his soldiers and officers. And he tried to show example for them. Very often he wore his old major uniform coat, sojourned among his officers and soldiers even in harsh cold, heat, rain or snow. For this he prepared himself from his young age spent in the sapper school. When, after the capture of the Buda castle, the Hungarian Government wanted to award him with the First Class Military Order of Merit and the rank of Lieutenant General, he refused both, saying that he do not deserve these and he do not agree with the rank and order hunger of many of the soldiers and officers. He punished very severely those who were not following his orders: he punished those who forgot or defaulted to fulfill their smallest duty, or were undisciplined, with degradation, but many times also with execution. He req
caption: Artúr Görgei lithography by Miklós Barabás
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