I decided to collect the Hungarian soldiers’ military deeds in the 18th century here. We have plenty of heroes who fought on the European battlefields, usually serving the Habsburgs. They deserve to be recognized and honored.
6 May 1757, A Hungarian officer in the Battle of Prague
268 years ago, on 6 May 1757, the first major battle of the second year of the Seven Years’ War was fought under the walls of the Czech capital. The battle was won by Frederick II’s Prussians at great cost. The Prussian king’s narrow victory was short-lived, for a month and a half later, on 18 June, he suffered one of the greatest defeats of his life.
Captain Szent-Iványi György, who was born around 1720 in Székesfehérvár, joined the regiment at the age of 22, fought as an officer during the War of the Austrian Succession, and led a grenade regiment at the beginning of the Seven Years’ War. In the Battle of Leuthen, the year of the Battle of Prague, he was so badly wounded that he was unfit for further service in the field, and was promoted to major in 1767 before retiring from the army.
30 years later, in 1787, a fellow officer put his memories of the Battle of Prague on paper:
“When it came to rifle fire, we were no more than 30 paces from the Prussians. The fire was so fortunately delivered on our part that the enemy’s tight line did not last more than six shots, broke up, and fled, leaving their guns behind. The first to be encountered were enemy grenadiers. Our gunners then put the Prussian guns to use. The second line of the enemy then advanced, but they were also fortunately repulsed, and some guns were again captured, but this line was not so numerous as the first. The grenadiers of Bethlen’s regiment took two flags from the enemy, and captured a lieutenant-colonel, named Platen, who had a white lapel, but I do not remember his regiment.”
With these humble words, Major Szent Iványi recalled how his Hungarian grenadiers defeated the best infantry in the world, the Prussian grenadiers. This was not often the case with the world-famous infantry of Frederick II.
The Queen herself was extremely pleased with the performance of Szent Iványi and his grenadiers, rewarding them with 18 (!) months’ double pay.
16 April 1762 Founding of the Székely border guard (later 11th) Hussar regiment
By the middle of the 18th century, the task of the Székelys protecting the eastern borders of Transylvania had changed compared to the Middle Ages. During the Seven Years’ War, Maria Theresa decided to give the border guard a regular military form, setting up two Székely infantry regiments and a Hussar regiment in the eastern part of Transylvania.
On 13 October 1761, General Buccow of the Cavalry, commander-in-chief of the Transylvanian army, submitted his proposal for the establishment’s details. In the following months, General Daun, President of the Court Military Council, personally examined it and submitted it to Maria Theresa for approval at 11 p.m. on 14 April 1762. The Queen, the Princess of Transylvania, approved the draft on 16 April 1762, and the regiment was founded on that date.
In the case of the Hussars, the organisation, with the powerful support of Transylvanian and Székely aristocrats and nobles, quickly got started and was completed the following year. At its first muster, the regiment numbered 654 soldiers and the same number of horses.
The Székely Hussars soon became one of the best hussars in the army; their name was feared far and wide, from Jászvásár to Paris, and the regiment fought almost all over Europe in its 156-year history.
Source: HM Hadtörténeti Intézet és Múzeum and https://www.lovecpokladu.cz/de/
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