Battle of Pákozd The Battle of Pákozd ( or Battle of Sukoró ) was a battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 , fought on the 29 September 1848 in the Pákozd – Sukoró – Pátka triangle . It was one of the most important battles of the revolution , in which the Hungarian revolutionary army led by Lieutenant - General János Móga defeated the troops of the Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić . Pretext . Austrian Empire ' s Hungarian policy in the summer of 1848 . The European Revolutions of 1848 affected the Habsburg Empire as well . Nationalist and liberal sentiment across the Empire turned into protest and sometimes violent insurrection , both in non - German areas and in Vienna . Amidst this turmoil , Charles Albert of Sardinia intervened in Austria ' s Italian possessions , beginning the First Italian War of Independence . The multi - national Habsburg Empire was composed of many ethnic groups seeking independence . This threatened the existence of the empire . The most dangerous revolutions were the Revolutions in Italy and the Hungarian Revolution . The Empire didn ’ t have enough military power to overcome both of them . Their policy was to fight against the Italians and – to gain some time – to accept the Hungarian demands . This policy was effective : until the middle of summer the Empire stopped all other revolutionary attempts . Furthermore Joseph Radetzky won the battle against Charles Albert at Custoza on 25 July 1848 . The Habsburg Empire could then concentrate on the Hungarians . The Hungarian attempt to be independent of the Habsburg Empire started to become serious . The Emperor swore allegiance to the Constitution of Hungary : officially the Empire ' s army in Hungary was under the command of Lázár Mészáros and most of the Austrian soldiers , including the Emperor , swore allegiance to its Constitution . The Batthyány Government was very careful not to give an excuse to the Empire for attacking Hungary in this way . The Empire wanted to use the rebellions as an excuse to achieve their will . Ethnic groups who lived in Hungary made demands against the Hungarian government , but the Battyhány Government refused them . The Empire realised their chance so they started to send money , weapons and materiel for Serbian rebels and Jelačić ' s army , who was prepared to invade Hungary . Jelačić ’ s attack . Jelačić was violently opposed to the Hungarian revolution . This and his military experience helped him to get one of the main roles in Franz ' s military plans against Hungary . On 10 June the Batthyány Government sent a petition to the Emperor to relieve Jelačić of his post . Unfortunately it wasn ’ t successful as Jelačić started to prepare attacking Hungary and on 31 August Jelačić occupied Fiume . The Hungarian government tried everything to avoid the conflict . Prime minister Lajos Batthyány and Minister of Justice Ferenc Deák travelled to the Austrian capital Vienna at the end of August . They wanted to negotiate with the Emperor , but it was a failure as the Emperor refused to entertain them . Furthermore he confirmed Jelačić ’ s title as Ban . This was taken as an advance warning by both sides . Batthyány admitted his policy ' s failure and resigned on 11 September . On the same day Jelačić crossed the River Drava with approximately 30 , 000 men . After crossing the Drava , Jelačić made a proclamation to the Hungarians . In this proclamation he made clear that he arrived as the Habsburg - Lotharingia dynasty ' s soldier and his aim was to defeat the nascent revolution . Jelačić implied that his authority came from the Emperor , but when Hungarian officers arrived he could not prove it . Ádám Teleky became the new commander of the Drava legion . Their situation was delicate . Their oath to the Constitution of Hungary meant they should attack Jelačić , but the fact that they feared the Emperor ’ s army made them prefer not to fight . The Hungarian army instead retreated in the direction of Székesfehérvár . Hungary ' s leaders frowned on the retreat of their army . They relieved Teleki of his post and they followed Batthyány ’ s advice and asked Archduke Stephen , Palatine of Hungary to command the Hungarian army . That an Austrian Archduke commanded the Hungarian army fortified the Hungarian soldiers , who declared an attack on Jelačić . Archduke Stephen invited Jelačić to a meeting at Balatonszemes , but Jelačić didn ’ t attend . Archduke Stephen was superior in rank to Jelačić , so he interpreted Jelačić ' s failure to attend as a sign that he was acting as the Emperor ' s puppet . Later Stephen tried to contact Jelačić without success . On 22 September he left Hungary . The Hungarian Government tried to help and reinforce the Hungarian army as soon as they could . On 13 September Batthyány announced a rebellion in Transdanubia . On 22 September Kossuth made a proclamation to the Hungarian soldiers , who were abroad , to return to their country . On 24 September he went to the Great Plain to recruit . These efforts were successful : there were about 16 , 000 men who were prepared to fight near Lake Velence at the end of the September . On 28 September the Hungarian army had a court martial at Sukoró . At this council Móga promised that the Hungarian army would fight if Jelačić attacked them . It happened the next morning . Battle . The Hungarian order of battle was arranged thus : The Emperor ' s policy failed , and caused Jelačić ’ s defeat . The Emperor gave no direct orders , so the Austrian army split and went which way they chose . It caused the battle to be held between the two prongs of the divided Austrian army . Both sides expected to follow the Emperor ’ s orders . Jelačić ’ s plan was to destroy the right flank of the Hungarian army and then to move towards the central attack , and with a frontal attack he could then destroy the whole Hungarian army . Major general Kempen started to attack the Hungarians with about 8 , 000 men . After a short fight they made Guyon retreat from Pátka , but the right flank of the Hungarian army defended themselves . Because this attack wasn ' t successful , Kempen tried a pincer movement against the right flank , but the Hungarians won this attack . Jelačić started to attack the centre and the left flank of the Hungarian army , but every attack ended with Hungarian victory . Jelačić gave up , under Kempen ’ s advice . The artillery fought into the evening , but Jelačić started to retreat and asked for ceasefire . Aftermath . On the whole , the Hungarian army won the fight against Jelačić . But Móga didn ’ t turn the victory on his advantage . He retreated to Martonvásár and made a 3 - minute ceasefire with Jelačić . Jelačić was afraid of the rebellion behind him , and left Hungary towards Vienna . On 7 October the Hungarian army defeated Jelačić ’ s reserves , and took Generals Roth and Filipović prisoner . Although the Battle of Pákozd was one of the smaller of the Revolution , is consequences were very important for the other fights for independence . The battle became an icon for the Hungarian army because of it is influence on politics and morale . This battle was one of the reason for the Vienna Rebellion of 6 October . After the battle the blockaded Croatian armies were redirected towards Austria , where they were given new orders from the Austrian government , but no reinforcements as they were promised . The battle is a landmark of misplaced loyalty : the Ban of Croatia , Josip Jelačić , who led the Croatian army , was sent to deal with the rebellious Hungarians , which he promptly did , despite the fact that , had he sided with them , and against the Emperor , Croatia very well could have won its independence from the Habsburg monarchy within a new Hungarian state . The Ban ' s choice to obey the Empire by attacking Hungary is a pivotal moment in the history of the Habsburg monarchy ; the Empire owed a great debt to him . He fought against Hungary because in Hungary Croatia would have been given even less autonomy than it had in Austria , and because Hungarian independence would mean separation of Croatia from Dalmatia and Istria which would remain in Austria . His judgment was vindicated after 1867 when Croatia was made a part of the Hungarian half of the Austro - Hungarian Empire and Hungarians launched a state sponsored campaign of language assimilation . In Hungary its anniversary ( 29 September ) later became " National Defence Day " ( ) . In 1991 that day was changed to 21 May ( the date of the recapture of Buda at the Battle of Buda ( 1849 ) ) .