Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GORGEI, ARTHUR (1818- )

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 256 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

GORGEI, See also:ARTHUR (1818- ) , Hungarian soldier, was See also:born at Toporcz, in Upper See also:Hungary, on the 3oth of See also:January 1818. He came of a Saxon See also:noble See also:family who were converts to Protestantism. In 1837 he entered the Bodyguard of Hungarian Nobles at See also:Vienna, where he combined military service with a course of study at the university. In 1845, on-the See also:death of his See also:father, he retired from the See also:army and devoted himself to the study of See also:chemistry at See also:Prague, after which he retired to the family estates in Hungary. On the outbreak of the revolutionary See also:war of 1848, Gorgei offered his See also:sword to the Hungarian See also:government. Entering the Honved army with the See also:rank of See also:captain, he was employed in the See also:purchase of arms, and soon became See also:major and commandant of the See also:national See also:guards See also:north of the See also:Theiss. Whilst he was engaged in preventing the Croatian army from See also:crossing the See also:Danube, at the See also:island of Csepel, below Pest, the wealthy Hungarian See also:magnate See also:Count See also:Eugene Zichy See also:fell into his hands, and Gorgei caused him to be arraigned before a See also:court-See also:martial on a See also:charge of See also:treason and immediately hanged. After various successes over the Croatian forces, of which the most remarkable was that at Ozora, where 1o,000 prisoners fell into his hands, Gorgei was appointed See also:commander of the army of the Upper Danube, but, on the advance of See also:Prince See also:Windischgratz across the Leitha, he resolved to fall back, and in spite of the remonstrances of See also:Kossuth he held to his See also:resolution and retreated upon Waitzen. Here, irritated by what he considered undue interference with his plans, he issued (January 5th, 1849) a See also:proclamation throwing the blame for the See also:recent want of success upon the government, thus virtually revolting against their authority. Gorgei retired to the Hungarian See also:Erzgebirge and conducted operations on his own initiative. Meanwhile the supreme command had been conferred upon the See also:Pole Dembinski, but the latter fought without success the See also:battle of Kapolna, at which See also:action Gorgei's See also:corps arrived too See also:late to take an effective See also:part, and some See also:time after this the command was again conferred upon Gorgei. The See also:campaign in the See also:spring of 1849 was brilliantly conducted by him, and in a See also:series of engagements, he defeated Windischgratz.

In See also:

April he won the victories of See also:Godollo Izaszeg and Nagy Sarlo, relieved Komorn, and again won a battle at Acs or Waitzen. Had he followed up his successes by taking the offensive against the See also:Austrian frontier, he might perhaps have dictated terms in the Austrian See also:capital itself. As it was, he contented himself with reducing Ofen, the Hungarian capital, in which he desired to re-establish the See also:diet, and after effecting this See also:capture he remained inactive for some See also:weeks. Meanwhile, at a diet held at Debreczin, Kossuth had formally proposed the dethronement of the See also:Habsburg See also:dynasty and Hungary had been proclaimed a See also:republic. Gorgei had refused the See also:field-See also:marshal's See also:baton offered him by Kossuth and was by no means in sympathy with the new regime. However, he accepted the See also:portfolio of See also:minister of war, while retaining the command of 'the troops in the field. The Russians had now intervened in the struggle and made See also:common cause with the Austrians; the See also:allies were advancing into Hungary on all sides, and Gorgei was defeated by See also:Hay= at Pered (20th–21st of See also:June). Kcrasuth, perceiving See also:GORGES the impossibility of continuing the struggle and being unwilling himself to make terms, resigned his position as See also:dictator, and was succeeded by Gorgei, who meanwhile had been fighting hard against the various columns of the enemy. Gorgei, convinced that he could not break through the enemy's lines, surrendered, with his army of 20,000 See also:infantry and 2000 See also:cavalry, to the See also:Russian See also:general Rudiger at Vilagos. Gorgei was not court-martialled, as were his generals, but kept in confinement at See also:Klagenfurt, where he lived, chiefly employed in chemical See also:work, until 1867, when he was pardoned and returned to Hungary. The surrender, and particularly the fact that his See also:life was spared while his generals and many of his See also:officers and men were hanged or shot, led, perhaps naturally, to his being accused of treason by public See also:opinion of his countrymen. After his See also:release he played no further part in public life.

Even in 1885 an See also:

attempt which was made by a large number of his old comrades to re-habilitate him was not favourably received in Hungary. After some years' work as a railway engineer he retired to Visegrad, where he lived thenceforward in See also:retreat. (See also HUNGARY: See also:History.) General Gorgei wrote a See also:justification of his operations (Mein Leben and Wirken in Ungarn 1848-1859, See also:Leipzig, 1852), an See also:anonymous See also:paper under the See also:title Was verdanken wir der Revolution? (1875), and a reply to Kossuth's charges (signed " Joh. Demar ") in Budapesti Szemle, 1881, 25-26. Amongst those who wrote in his favour were Captain See also:Stephan Gorgei (1848 es 1849 bol, See also:Budapest, 1885), and See also:Colonel Aschermann (Ein offenes Wort in der Sache desHonved-Generals Arthur Gorgei, Klausenburg, i8 See also A. G. See also:Horn, Gorgei, Oberkommandant d. ung. Armee (Leipzig, 185o) ; Kinety, Gorgei's Life and Work in Hungary (See also:London, 1853) ; Szinyei, in Magyar Irok (iii. 1378), Hentaller, Gorgei as a Statesman (Hungarian) ; Elemar, Gorgei in 1848–1849 (Hungarian, Budapest, 1886).

End of Article: GORGEI, ARTHUR (1818- )

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GORGE 		[next]
GORGES, SIR FERDINANDO (c. 1566-1647)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries