Battle of Szőreg The Battle of Szőreg was a battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 , fought on 5 August 1849 at Szőreg , Hungary . The Hungarian troops , led by Henryk Dembiński , lost the battle against the Emperor ’ s troops , led by Haynau . Even though the Hungarian losses were relatively small in number , the defeat deeply affected the Hungarians ' organisation and morale . From Budapest to Szeged . On 22 July , Haynau started to move his troops towards Szeged from Budapest and on 24 July he followed them . He prepared for a hard and serious fight . Haynau precisely planned this battle : he divided his army of 46 , 000 people and 284 cannon into three parts . His plan was that he would take the Hungarian troops in a pincer movement at Szeged . Haynau sent his 3rd legion to Szabadka under the command of Georg Heinrich Ramberg . Haynau led his strongest legion ( the Russia n legion and his cavalry joining forces ) and reached Kiskunfélegyháza without resistance . On 29 July Mór Perczel and his legion ( 26 , 438 people and 49 cannon ) arrived at Szeged . Before the battle . 20 , 000 soldiers occupied the front at Szeged , which partly bordered the River Tisza . Most of the 4th Hungarian legion ( 10 , 500 legionnaires , 50 cannon ) also went there from Bácska under Richard Guyon ’ s command , with Alessandro Monti ’ s legion ( 3 , 500 legionnaires , 8 cannon ) . The Emperor ’ s 1st legion occupied the Cegléd - Nagykőrös - Szolnok area under Franz Schlik ’ s command . They reached the River Tisza . Haynau gave orders to Ramberg and Schlik : Ramberg to move from Törökkanizsa and Schlik from Makó towards the Hungarian troops . Haynau wanted to start a frontal attack in the hope that the three legions jointly would destroy the Hungarian troops . Dembiński thought that he lacked the power to defend Szeged and he retreated from the city on 1 August . He acted against other generals ’ advice . Haynau was surprised when his legion occupied Szeged without a fight on 2 August . He ordered General Franz Liechtenstein to cross the River Tisza . Schlik had already crossed the river at Alpár on 1 August and was moving towards Makó . On 4 August came the first fight between Lenkey and the Emperor ’ s troops . Lenkey ’ s legion was only 7 , 000 strong , and most of them were inexperienced new recruits . Lenkey ’ s main task was to stop Schlik , who wanted to close off an escape route towards Arad ( now in Romania ) . Dembiński thought that if necessary he could escape towards to Turkey so he tried to cover his legion in the south . After he received news that the Austrian legions were battle - ready at Magyarkanizsa , he sent Guyon to Törökkanizsa ( in Romanian : " Noul Cnezat " , now in Serbia ) on 2 August . The next day Dembiński also sent Monti ’ s legion there . But Dembiński gave this order a little too late to be of use , and all he could do was debilitate the enemy on the Szentiván – Szőreg – Deszk front line , because Ramberg had crossed the River Tisza on 5 August . Dembiński also failed to stop Ludwig von Benedek , who had crossed the river on 3 August . Dembiński decided to attack , but his decision came too late , because the area had already been reinforced by the enemy . After this he redeployed his troops to Szőreg . He planned this as a defensive fight and dug his cannon into the embankment . The battle . On 4 August Haynau ' s troops crossed the river and the next day advanced towards Dembiński . After Dembiński received the news that Ramberg had broken through and crossed the river , and was very close to the Hungarians , he prepared to retreat . Haynau ' s legion was approximately 25 , 000 strong with 160 cannon , Dembiński ' s was 34 , 000 strong with 108 cannon . Dembiński didn ' t intend to use all of his cannon and he sent most of their surplus munitions en route for the planned retreat . Haynau bypassed the Hungarian troops and Dembiński deployed his cavalry too late , even though Fülöp Bechtold was only advancing very slowly . Haynau started his attack at the front line and after an hour and a half ' s battle he displaced the Hungarians . The Hungarians tried to attack . After Bechtold arrived and started to fight Dembiński ' s troops , Dembiński had to retreat . Polish and Italian legions , and Arisztid Dessewffy ' s , covered Dembiński and his troops during the retreat . Summary . The battle finished in the evening and even though the Hungarian losses were relatively small in number ( 500 dead and injured , 400 prisoners ) , the defeat deeply affected the Hungarians ' organisation and morale . The situation was more different at Szőreg than the battle at Kápolna , where the Hungarians waited for the enemy ' s cavalry and had their revenge . Whereas at Káplona the Hungarians engaged with the enemy ’ s cavalry , at Szőreg they deserted . The refugee troops got help from the legions at Beba , Dudeștii Vechi and Lenauheim ( now Cetad ) , all of the cities are now part of Romania .