Artúr Görgey Artúr Görgey de Görgő et Toporcz ( , ; 30 January 1818 – 21 May 1916 ) was a Hungarian military leader . He was born at Toporz ( today Toporec ) in Upper Hungary of a Hungarian noble family of originally Zipser German descent who immigrated to Upper Hungary during the reign of king Géza II ( 1131 – 1161 ) . During the reformation they were converted to Protestantism . The family name refers to their origin from Görgő village ( < " " of Görgő " " ) In 1837 he entered the Bodyguard of Hungarian Nobles at Vienna , where he combined military service with a course of study at the university . In 1845 , on his father ' s death , he left the army to study chemistry at the University of Prague , after which he retired to the family estates in Hungary . When the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 broke out against the Austrian Empire , Görgey joined the rebels . He entered the Honvéd Army with the rank of captain , was employed in the purchase of arms , and soon became major and commandant of the national guards north of the Tisza . While resisting the Croatian army ' s crossing of the Danube at Csepel - sziget , Görgey captured and arrested the wealthy Hungarian Count Ödön ( Edmund ) Zichy . Count Zichy was charged with treason for his pro - Austrian activities , court - martial ed , and hanged . After various successes over the Croatian forces , of which the most remarkable was at Ozora , where 10 , 000 prisoners were taken , Görgey was appointed commander of the army of the Upper Danube . But when Austrian troops under Windisch - Grätz advanced across the Lajta , he resolved to fall back . In spite of the remonstrances of his political superior , Lajos Kossuth , he held to his resolution and retreated upon Vác . Here , irritated by what he considered undue interference with his plans , he issued ( 5 January 1849 ) a proclamation throwing the blame for the recent want of success upon the government , thus virtually revolting against their authority . Görgey retired to the Slovak Ore Mountains and conducted operations on his own initiative . The supreme command was conferred upon Henryk Dembiński , but when he lost the Battle of Kápolna ( where Görgey ' s corps arrived too late to take an effective part ) the command was again conferred upon Görgey . He conducted the spring 1849 campaign brilliantly and defeated Windisch - Grätz in a series of engagements . In April , Görgey won at Gödöllő , Isaszeg , and Nagysalló ( now Tekovské Lužany ) , relieved Komárom ( now Komárno ) , and again won at Vác . He failed to follow up his successes by taking the offensive against the Austrian frontier , contenting himself with besieging Buda , the Hungarian capital , in which he desired to re - establish the Diet . After taking Buda , Görgey remained inactive for some weeks . Meanwhile , at a Diet held at Debrecen , Kossuth had formally proposed the dethronement of the Habsburg dynasty . Görgey had refused Kossuth ' s offer of the field - marshal ' s baton , and was not in sympathy with the new regime . However , he accepted the portfolio of minister of war , while retaining the command of the troops in the field . The Russians had now intervened in the struggle and made common cause with the Austrians ; the allies were advancing into Hungary on all sides . Kossuth saw the impossibility of continuing the struggle and resigned his position as regent - president . Görgey , who had been fighting hard against the enemy , succeeded him as military dictator with emergency powers . Convinced that he could not break through the enemy ' s lines , Görgey surrendered his army of 20 , 000 infantry and 2 , 000 cavalry to the Russian general Rüdiger in the Surrender at Világos . Görgey was not court - martialed , as his generals were , but kept in confinement at Klagenfurt . He lived there , chiefly employed in chemical work , until 1867 , when he was pardoned and returned to Hungary . The surrender , and particularly the fact that his life was spared while his generals and many of his officers and men were hanged or shot , led to his being accused of treason by public opinion . After his release he played no further part in public life . In 1885 , an attempt by a large number of his old comrades to rehabilitate him was not favorably received in Hungary . After some years work as a railway engineer he retired to Visegrád , where he lived in retirement . For decades he had been considered a traitor , often humiliated in public places , but in the last years of his life , his very important role during the War and unique military talent became widely acknowledged by his compatriots . General Görgey wrote a justification of his operations ( , Leipzig , 1852 ) , an anonymous paper under the title ( 1875 ) , and a reply to Kossuth ' s charges ( signed Joh . Demar ) in , 1881 , pp . 25 – 26 . Amongst those who wrote in his favor were Captain Stephan Görgey ( , Budapest , 1885 ) , and Colonel Aschermann ( , Klausenburg , 1867 ) .