Scenes of the civil war in Hungary, in 1848 and 1849; with the personal adventures of an Austrian officer in the army of the Ban of Croatia

UC-NRLF

$B 320 7Sfi

mmmBi'^

W-m

mMmm ? / 1

!te:r5.!rari»f{f/, '; /.

'WmK-Ti ,

I

4

^m^^^e^tC€^ y^^ '^a^^^r^ii^a/

l^Uvt^j*'-^^^ ^a/tJortu'a-

^"-^

y%

SCENES

OF THE

CIVIL WAR IN HUNGARY,

"■ SCENES

OF THE

CIVIL WAR IN HUNGARY,

IN 1848 AND 1849;

WITH

THE PERSONAL ADVENTURES
AN AUSTEIAN OFFICER I

IN

THE ARMY OF THE BAN OF CROATIA.
iTourtf) etiitian.

LONDON;

WILLIAM SHOBERL, PUBLISHER,

20, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.

[entered at stationers' hall.]

]850.

1)5 955

F. shoberl. Jun., Printerlo H.R H Priiice Albeit, Ruiieit St., Ha)iiiarkef.

HCNRY MORSE STEPHBNS -

OjC.

PREFACE.

BY THE TRANSLATOR.

The late Civil War in Hungary will
assuredly form a prominent subject in the
history of the world for the last two years.

Whether it originated in a spark commu-
nicated by the revolutionary explosion in
France; whether it arose from discontent
excited by ambitious demagogues in the
inflammable minds of a portion of the
population of Hungary ; or whether the
inhabitants of that country had any real
grievances, any oppressive acts of their
government, to complain of, appears to me
to be a question which yet remains to be

9>

11175

VI PREFACE.

solved. So much, however, is certain, that
this insurrection furnishes additional evi-
dence, if any were needed, of the invariably
sanguinary spirit of mob-rule, as manifested
in the great prototype of succeeding revolu-
tions— the first French Kevolution ; in the
rising of the Spaniards against a foreign
usurper: and in recent events at Frankfurt
and Vienna.

The people of Hungary are composed of
descendants from a greater number of races
than any other nation of Europe, and each
of these races keeps itself remarkably dis-
tinct. Of these, the descendants of the
Magyar and of the Slavonian, or Slowack,
races are by far the most numerous. The
latter occupy almost exclusively the moun-
tainous tracts; the former the extensive
plains, which are more favourable to their
peculiar pursuits — agriculture and the
breeding of cattle, particularly of horses.

According to the earliest accounts, the

^ PREFACE. VU

Magyars were settled, for several centuries
after the Christian era, in the countries to
the northward of the Caspian Sea. Some
authors derive their origin from the Par-
thians ; but, according to Fessler, the histo-
rian of Hungary, they belong to the great
Turkish clan.

About the end of the seventh century,
they removed into Europe, and took posses-
sion of the countries between the Dnieper
and the Don, where they remained for two
hundred years ; till, thrust out by the migra-
tion of another Asiatic horde, they pushed
on into Dacia and Pannonia ; and there
founded, in the latter half of the ninth cen-
tury, a kingdom since called Hungary. To
this tribe the late outbreak — let us call it
at once by its proper name, rebellion —
seems to have been exclusively confined.

Of the general character and sentiments
of the Magyars, the Letters contained in
the following sheets present abundant illus-

Vlll PREFACE.

trations; and the enthusiastic patriotism of
them all, from the highest to the lowest,
would be entitled to warm admiration, had
it been exerted in a better cause. This
feeling, indeed, had the effect of thinning
considerably the ranks of the Austrian
army, and of proportionably strengthening
those of the insurgent force with its best
troops.

It would appear that the insurgents them-
selves knew not for what object they were
hazardmg their lives, and making large
sacrifices of property in voluntary contribu-
tions. We find in these Letters that, on
one occasion, when the Writer reproached
some of the soldiers who had formerly been
under his command with having deserted
their sovereign, they replied that they still
acknowledged the Emperor Ferdinand to
be their King, and had no desire to change
him ; but that they could not tamely suffer
the Austrian Generals to come into Hun-

PREFACE. IX

gary, and to divide the land among whom-
soever they pleased. Kossuth, they argued,
said that this was the case; and whatever
Kossuth said was true.

If it was upon representations so utterly
groundless that a large portion of the Hun-
garian population could be induced to rise
in arms against the legitimate government,
it must be admitted that much sympathy
has been thrown away in this country upon
an unworthy cause.

There is, however, in Hungary an object
that prefers irresistible claims to the inter-
position of the British Government and of
this generous nation — I allude to the state
of our unfortunate fellow-Protestants in that
kingdom. The doctrines of the Reforma-
tion, promulgated by the disciples of Huss,
who was burned as a heretic by the decree
of the Popish council of Constance, in 1415,
found such extensive acceptance in Hun-
gary, that, on the foundation of the Pro-

a5

PREFACE.

testant Church there, in 1525, it compre-
hended almost all the magnates and two-
thirds of the population.

Deprived successively of their equal po-
litical and civil rights, robbed of their
churches, and subjected to a series of most
oppressive regulations — not for rebellion,
not even for imputed discontent — but by
means of concessions to the Romish clergy,
wrung from the weak consciences of succes-
sive priest-ridden sovereigns, by confessors
and Jesuits, animated by the spirit of perse-
cution inherent in Popery to labour with zeal
for the extermination of heresy — the mem-
bers of the Protestant Church have by such
means been greatly reduced in number and
prosperity.

The English reader will scarcely believe
that, even now, in the middle of this nine-
teenth century, the institution of Bible So-
cieties is forbidden; that the Bible in the
Hungarian language is liable to confisca-

PREFACE. XI

tion ; and that literary intercourse in general
with foreign countries is clogged with all
sorts of prohibitory obstructions. Here,
then, I repeat it, is a subject which claims,
with irresistible force, the warmest sym-
pathies of this Protestant nation, and the
most energetic interposition of the British
government.

If this volume is rendered highly inte-
resting by the political and military views
which it opens, I must confess that I con-
sider it still more valuable for the light
which it throws on the manners, customs,
and way of thinking of the people of Hun-
gary, with which the Writer of these Letters
had the best opportunities to make himself
acquainted. I am greatly mistaken, how-
ever, if readers in general will not regard
the claims of the work on these accounts
as far surpassed by the intense interest at-
tached to the narrative of the Writer's Per-
sonal Adventures, which fully verifies the

XU PREFACE.

remark that truth is often more romantic
than fiction.

For my own part, I cannot help thinking
that it possesses a still superior merit, which
ought to make it a manual for all, but for
the young in particular, whose pursuits ex-
pose them to hardships, perils, and rapid
changes of fortune ; inasmuch as it teaches
by example, especially to the Soldier and
the Sailor, under all the circumstances of
their frequently chequered lives, that em-
phatic precept, which well deserves to be
adopted for their motto,

NIL DESPERANDUM !

These Letters have been published in
Germany, without date, and without the
name of the Writer, who is everywhere
represented in them as a German Officer
in the service of the Emperor of Austria,
in the army of the Ban of Croatia, and
called in one place Baron W.

Ban, or Banus, a title derived from the

PREFACE. XIU

Slavonian word Ban-— Lord — is a high
official dignitary, possessing powers nearly
similar to those that appertain to our Lord-
Lieutenant — the military and civil govern-
ment of his Province, called Banat. Be-
fore the conquest of a great part of Hun-
gary by the Ottomans in the sixteenth
century, there were several Banats along
the Turkish frontier. The only one now
existing is that of Croatia, Slavonia, and
Dalmatia ; the Ban of which is Baron
Jellachich, whose eminent services largely
contributed to the quelling of the late in-
surrection.

The German Editor, it will be seen,
apologizes for having frequently omitted or
given only the initials of the names of
persons and places; because these, owing
to the Letters being written in pencil,
could not be deciphered with any cer-
tainty. This deficiency, of course, it has
not been in my power to supply. All,

XIV PREFACE.

therefore, that could be done was to render
the Translation in every respect confor-
mable to the Original.

F. Shoberl.

Brompton,
December 15, 1849.

CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

A glance at the character of the Italians — Siege of Pes-
chiera — March through Italy, and behaviour of the Italians
— The Writer joins the Army of Baron Jellachich, Ban of
Croatia — His person, character, anecdotes . . .1

LETTER II.

Military Frontier of Hungary ; its extent and Situation
— Frontier troops — The Seressans ; their personal appear-
ance, costume — Dress of the other Border Troops ; their
character ; military spirit of their Women ; their personal
beauty; their costume — Villages of the Borderers — Family
Houses — Patriarchal manners — Service required of the
Border- Soldier — Guard-posts . . . .12

LETTER III.

Agram, the capital of Croatia, and residence of the Ban;
preparations there for the campaign in Hungary — The
Writer appointed to command the advanced guard of Jella-
chich's army — Nature and vicissitudes of that duty — The

XVI CONTENTS.

Magyar Population almost exclusively confined to the great
plains, and the Slavonian race to the mountains of Hungary
— Military character of the Magyars — Composition of the
Insurgent force — ^Unexpected meeting — Mansion of Count

St Cavalry action with the Pesth National Guard

— Bivouac scenes 27

LETTER IV.
March to Vienna — Sentiments of the Peasantry in Lower
Austria — Diversity of feelings awakened by the sight of the
Capital — Encampment at Modling — Visit to Count Auers-
perg's camp — Efforts of the Insurgents to seduce the Soldiers
— Visits of Vienna citizens and coxcombs to Jellachich's
Army — External appearance of the Writer and his men —
Unskilful defence of Vienna by the Insurgents — Singular
interview with an Insurgent leader — Aspect of the Im-
perial camp — Bohemian cuirassiers ; Nassau infantry ; the
Kress regiment of chevaux-legers ; artillery ; Border soldiers ;
cadets, &c. — Storming of the city — Dexterity displayed in
the attack by the Border soldiers — Conduct of the Insur-
gents— The capitulation violated by them — Action with the
Hungarians near Schwechat — Description of a Scene in
that action ....... 46

LETTER V.
March from Vienna to Pesth — Presburg and Raab aban-
doned to the Imperial Army — Devastations and cruelties of
the Insurgents — Intense cold and night march — A battle
scene —Remarkable incident during the pursuit of the enemy
— Tragic scene enacted by the Magyars on New Year's

CONTENTS. XVll

Day, 1849 — General character and cruelty of the Honvod
troops — Despotic conduct of Kossuth and his retinue —
Character of his officers ..... 72

LETTER VI.

Capture of a Convoy by the Writer's party — Merry-
making in Bivouac — Scene described — Kossuth, after con-
structing extensive works near Buda, retreats precipitately
without resistance — Entry of the Imperial army into Pesth
— ^Wretched roads in Hungary in spring . . 92

LETTER VII.
Hardships of advanced post service — The Writer's picture
of himself— Frequent actions with the Magyars — Sharp com-
bat at Gyongios — Excellence of the Hungarian cavalry —
Quality of the Austrian army — Cruel necessity of having
to fight against former friends and comrades exemplified —
Remarkable meeting of the Writer with hussars of his old
regiment — Brief occasional suspension of hostilities between
the advanced posts of the two armies — Extreme animosity
of both parties in fight — Diminished importance of cavalry
in war ........ 101

LETTER VIII.
Action with a Honvod corps — A military field hospital
— Painful meeting of the Writer with an old friend —

Affecting death-scene of St Serious affair with

a body of the enemy's infantry — Singular fate of the

Countess Helene, sister of Count St A halt, and

military workshop . . . . . .119

XVm CONTENTS.

LETTER IX.
Action with the Magyars — The Writer, having received
two wounds, is left for dead on the field — Survey of the
field of battle on recovering his senses — Examination of his
wounds — Awful situation in the night — Found by a patrole
of his hussars, and conveyed to the watch-fire of the cavalry
— Bivouacking on the field of the battle in the morning —
Orders to fall back, and painful night-journey — Insen-
sibility— Another hospital scene — Extracting of the ball
— Another awful night-journey with wounded men — Halt
at a solitary Pusta 138

LETTER X.
Quarters of the invalid at the Pusta — The landlady, a
genuine Magyar, and her family — Their reserve — ^Extraor-
dinary discovery of the portrait of an hussar painted long ago
by the Writer — Favourable influence of that portrait on the
family of the inn — Orders arrive to fall back by forced
marches — The Writer prevails on the landlady to keep him
at her house — Mutual promise of secrecy — Preparations for
his assuming a new character — Circumstances of the family
at the inn — Armed troops of horse-herds — Visit of some
of their number to the Writer — Their persons, dress, and
accoutrements — Extraordinary whips — Wilma, the land-
lady's eldest daughter — Uncle Imne — Gradual convalescence
— PestiHirlap (Pesth newspaper), formerly edited by Kos-
suth— Stock of cattle belonging to the family — Mode of
forwarding Insurgents' despatches — Provisions sent from
the Pusta to the army of the Magyars— With the recovery

CONTENTS. XIX

of strength, the Writer resolves to leave the Pusta — He
buys of the landlady a light cart and a pair of horses —
Magyar patriotism . . . . . .162

LETTER XI.
The Writer travels disguised as an Hungarian peasant —
Meets with a body of Insurgents — Is forced to accompany
a detachment of the Polish Legion, as carrier — Escapes
from it — Directs his course for Styria — Reaches Lake
Platten — State of his wounds — He falls in with Insur-
gents, by whom he is again detained — Appointed super-
intendent of the cart-drivers — Incidents while acting in
this capacity — Passage through Pesth, where he sees the
Countess St Action with the Russians — Despon-
dence of the Writer — Another encounter with Russian
troops — Precipitate retreat of the Magyars — The Writer,
purposely upsetting his cart, contrives to be left behind, and
surrenders to the Russians— Their kind reception of him —
He joins a convoy, and travels to Moravia, to await there
his complete recovery . . . . . .188

SCENES

OF THE

CIVIL WAR IN HUNGARY.

LETTEK I.

A glance at the Character of the Italians — Siege of Pes-
chiera — March through Italy, and behaviour of the Italians
— The Writer joins the Army of Baron Jellachich, Ban of
Croatia — His person, character, anecdotes.

When I took leave of you last autumn, in the
splendid Hotel de I'Europe at Hamburg, to
return to my regiment, little did I anticipate
the changeful fortunes that I was so soon to
experience. Let me tell you some other time
of the scandalous treachery of the Milanese ;
and also of the perilous retreat, in a dark night,
amidst the insurgent country-people, who fired
at us incessantly from safe ambuscades. I
have not my diary at hand just now.

B

2 THE CIVIL WAR

Never while I live shall I forget that Milan-
night; but signally have our brave fellows
revenged this retreat; and they are again
stationed as conquerors in a city, which fondly
feasted itself with the vain notion that never
would its walls again encompass an Austrian
soldier. Indeed, the Italians must learn to
fight in a different fashion, if they expect to
cope with our squadrons and battalions : that
is not to be accomplished by all their swag-
gering phrases and furious execrations, or
by the thousand times repeated Morte ai
Tedeschil (Death to the Germans !) with which
they loaded us on every occasion.

The brave and well disciplined Sardinian
army alone gave a sanguinary colouring to
this Italian campaign ; while the Crociati, and
all the other volunteer corps, by whatever
names they call themselves, were, for the most
part, a downright cowardly rabble. About
the time passed in Peschiera, whither an un-
toward accident carried me, and where I was
afterwards detained while my comrades were
ranging over the open country, I shall write
to you hereafter more circumstantially.

IN HUNGARY. 3

Those were trying, very trying days, which
we were doomed to spend in that old den of
stone. At last, our provisions were entirely
consumed : we were then obliged to fall foul of
dogs, cats, rats, mice, frogs — in short, every-
thing that was eatable. The table d'hote at
Hamburg was rather better. For table-music
we had the whizzing, the dashing, and the
bursting of bombs, which often produced no
slight disturbance. It was nevertheless a fine
sight when the huge bombs, like fiery meteors,
came flying towards us amid the darkness of
night. But for the confounded bursting,
which cost us many a brave fellow, we should
have enjoyed the beautiful fireworks, to which
we were not rarely treated. Our soldiers be-
haved admirably. It was gratifying to observe
their calm courage, and the fortitude with
which they endured dangers, as well as hunger
and the most harassing service, without a mur-
mur, or even a complaint.

While the House of Austria has such sol-
diers, it cannot be ruined, let its foes come
from what quarter they will.

Not till we had fired our last cartridge, and

B 2

4 THE CIVIL WAR

the Piedmontese were unable to reply — which
we had hitherto done with all our energy —
did we surrender the shattered fortress upon
the most honourable terms. We were not to
fight against Italy in this campaign ; and were
shipped at Ancona for Trieste. Well; the
Emperor had still plenty of soldiers to send
against the Italians, and we were quite as ser-
viceable to him in another quarter. But grief
and rage filled our hearts, when we saw our
colours hauled down, and those of Piedmont
hoisted in their stead ; and, thousands of times
as we had cursed Peschiera, still we were
deeply grieved to be now obliged to leave it
as the vanquished party.

The Piedmontese — I must say it to their
credit — behaved on this occasion with decorum
and dignity ; and among their officers I made
acquaintance with several highly-accomplished
and agreeable men, with whom — notwith-
standing the peculiar nature of our respective
positions — I passed some very pleasant hours.
Under no circumstances whatever would we
have given up the fortress to any but regular
troops ; before we would have opened the gates

IN HUNGARY. 5

to free corps, we would have blown the place
into the air with the last remnant of our pow-
der.

With what appetite we once more sat down
to our usual food and to the wine-cup, you
may easily conceive. The spectacle, however,
that we presented at our departure was any-
thing but imposing ; and a parade at Milan
before Radetzky exhibited a very different
sight. A pair of whole trousers were a rarity ;
and instead of shoes many had sandals made
out of their useless knapsacks, fastened to the
feet with thongs. All looked pale, famished,
had long beards and hair, and many were
bandaged ; for none of the wounded that could
possibly stir would stay behind. But, in spite
of all their wants, our men maintained a bold
bearing, and looked their enemies in the face
daringly and defyingly. Had we, indeed, had
a fresh supply of provisions and sufficient am-
munition, we should not have cared much to
be shut up again in Peschiera, and to undergo
another siege.

As for myself, I had still a brilliant, nearly
new uniform, as I had scarcely ever worn it

6 THE CIVIL WAR

during the siege ; but my horse had long since
gone the way of all flesh — that is to say, into
our stomachs. I was, therefore, a dismounted
horseman.

Of our march through Italy, I have nothing
further to say. That the populace, but among
whom were many well-dressed men and women,
insulted us in every possible way, even pelted
us with mud, you, who know something of the
Italians, can readily conceive. When did an
Italian ever treat a foreigner, from whom he
had nothing to fear, but by whom he hoped
to make a gain, otherwise than with insult! —
The base wretches !

One day, however,! could not forbear laugh-
ing at a scene of this kind. We were passing
through a small Roman town, when an elegant-
ly-dressed young man had the impudence to
spit in the face of a corporal of the Ottochans,
who was marching upon the wing, and still
carried his right arm in a sling. Firmly gri-
ping the offender with his left hand, he hurled
him into the ranks ; where the soldiers made a
regular ball of him, kicking and cuffing him
from one to another, and finally flinging him

IN HUNGARY. 7

upon the first dunghill they came to. The
populace showed a disposition to make a dis-
turbance ; but we assumed so serious an atti-
tude, and our border-men cut such hideous
faces, and began to screw on their bayonets,
that the Sardinian officers who accompanied
us themselves reprimanded the rabble; who
thereupon ran away.

As my regiment was stationed in Italy,
and, of course, I durst not rejoin it, I solicited
and received permission to serve on the fron-
tiers under Jellachich. Accordingly, after
recruiting myself at Trieste, I travelled by
way of Fiume to the military frontier of Cro-
atia; where in a village I saw for the first
time Jellachich engaged in inspecting troops.
I presented myself to him, and was most kindly
received.

The impression which this distinguished offi-
cer made upon me at the very first moment
was most prepossessing ; and it has since be-
come stronger and stronger, the more I have
had occasion to observe him in all the situations
of life — in battle, and in cheerful society. He
is an extraordinary man; and Austria may

t4

/

/-

8 THE CIVIL WAR

deem herself fortunate in possessing him and
Radetzky precisely at the same moment.

Jellachich is of the middling height and
size. His bearing is upright and truly mili-
tary ; his gait quick, as indeed are all his mo-
tions. His face, of a somewhat brownish tinge,
has in it something free, winning, and yet
determined. The high forehead, under the
smooth black hair, is very striking. The eyes
are large, hazel, and full of expression. In
general, there is something extremely calm
and gentle in their glance; but, when the Ban
is excited, they flash, and have so stern — ^nay,
so wild — a look as to curb even the most dar-
ing fellows. At the same time he is the mild-
est and kindest of officers. When but Cap-
tain, he had almost entirely abolished blows
in his company ; and, while commanding the
second Banat regiment as Colonel, there were
not so many punishments in it in a year as
there were formerly in a month.

Here is just one instance of the care which
the Ban takes of his men. Last winter, when
he was still Colonel, Lieutenant Field-mar-
shal D , who commanded on the frontier.

IN HUNGARY. 9

fixed a certain hour for inspecting the regi-
ment. There was a piercing frost, and the
soldiers shook with cold ; but the Lieutenant
Field-marshal sat enjoying himself over his
bottle at the tavern, leaving the regiment ex-
posed to the cutting wind on the parade, to be
frozen or petrified, for what he cared.

Jellachich waited nearly an hour beyond
the appointed time ; and the General not yet
making his appearance, he ordered the regi-
ment to disperse quietly. No sooner had it
obeyed, than the General appeared upon the
ground ; but it was then too late, and the in-
spection could not take place.

This affair is said to have produced a great
sensation, and, when reported to Vienna, to
have been entered in the black book. But
March has expunged this, like many other
matters ; and the Ban was in a few weeks
promoted from Colonel to Lieutenant Field -
marshal. The whole army, some antiquated
nobs perhaps excepted, rejoiced at it. But
this was nothing to the rejoicing with which,
on the appointment of Jellachich to the oflfice
of Ban, he was received in Croatia and Sla-

b5

10 THE CIVIL WAR

vonia, and which is said to have defied de-
scription.

Never was General more beloved by his
troops. Wherever he shows himself in a mili-
tary village, all — old and young, little boys
and aged men, ay, and pretty girls, too — all
rush out to see him, to shake hands with
him, and to greet him with one Zivio! after
another. In battle, after the most fatiguing
march ; in bivouac, exposed to pouring rain ;
wherever and whenever the border -soldier
espies his Ban, he joyously shouts his Zivio!
and for the moment, bullets, hunger, weari-
ness, and bad weather, are nothing at all to
him.

The scene that I witnessed when the Otto-
chans, who had been with me in Peschiera,
and who arrived a few days after me in Cro-
atia, were reviewed by the Ban, I shall never
forget. Old border-soldiers — who had often
braved death, and not flinched when the bombs
at Peschiera fell in their ranks — wept for joy,
' when Jellachich praised them for their good
behaviour. And yet he told them at once
that the repose at their own homes which they

'^^WVi^a^VMiUniK V'----'-*"'"-

IN HUNGARY. 11

had so richly earned and hoped to enjoy could
not yet be granted to them ; that, after a few
days' rest, they must start for Hungary, to
engage in fresh conflicts.

The language usually spoken by Jellachich
is German ; but he also understands Italian,
French, Croatian, and has some knowledge of
the Hungarian. His voice is soft and pleasing,
but perfectly distinct when giving the word of
command. He is unmarried ; has not much
property ; lives simply and frugally, applying
almost all that he can spare to the support of
his soldiers.

I had now an opportunity to make myself
intimately acquainted with the Slavonian and
Croatian military frontier, and to acquire from
personal observation an accurate notion of all
the peculiarities of that frontier.

I shall transcribe for you a few particulars
from my diaries.

12 THE CIVIL WAR

LETTER II.

Military Frontier of Hungary ; its Extent and Situation
— Frontier troops — The Seressans ; their personal appear-
ance, costume — Dress of the other Border Troops; their
character ; military spirit of their Women ; their personal
beauty; their costume — Villages of the Borderers — Family
Houses — Patriarchal manners — Service required of the
Border- Soldier — Guard-posts.

The military frontier, which, as you know,
furnishes eighteen regiments of infantry, and
one of hussars, the well-known Szekler regi-
ment, is composed of men belonging to several
tribes, differing considerably in language, man-
ners, and bodily conformation. The three
Szekler regiments in Transylvania are of Ma-
gyar origin, and are now for the most part
ranged on the side of the Hungarians. Othr
regiments — the Wallacho-Illyrian, for instance
— comprehend a great number of Wallachians.
In the Banat regiments, the Slavonian and
Croatian, the Slavonian tribe predominates;

IN HUNGARY. 13

and about two-thirds of all the border-soldiers
speak Slavonian, though, it is true, in widely
differing dialects. But in this tract, upwards
of 1000 (English) miles in length, from 20 to
60 broad, and extending from the Bocca di
Cattaoo to the Moldau, there are many more
discrepancies.

In the East is situated the lofty mountain
range of Transylvania, the abode of the
Szeklers ; then the low marshy grounds of
the Danube and the Saave; and, lastly, to-
wards the West, the wild and lofty mountains
of Ogulin stretch away to the Adriatic Sea.
Here dwell the most uncouth, but the bravest,
the hardiest, and at the same time well disci-
plined soldiers of the Liccan, Ottochan, and
Ogulin border-regiments, all of whom, or at
least as many as could possibly be spared, are
now in Italy — tall, bony figures, with meagre
faces, sharp features, the upper lip covered
with a long moustache, not closely twisted up
to a point, like that of the Magyars, but hang-
ing loosely down.

The frame of such a borderer seems to be
nothing but sinew and muscle ; and with ease

1 4 THE CIVIL WAR

— nay, without appearing to be at all affected
by them — he endures hardships and fatigues
to which we seasoned soldiers are scarcely
equal. A piece of oaten bread, a dram of
shlikowitz, (plum-brandy) suffice him, on an
emergency, for a whole day ; and the Ot-
tochan, Ogulin, and Liccan soldier, as well
as the men of the regiments of Kreutz and
St. George, will march on untired alike in the
most scorching heat and the most furious
snow-storm, and desires no other couch than
what the bare ground, no other roof than
what the sky, afford him.

He possesses the shrewdness to avail him-
self of every petty advantage that offers, whe-
ther in reconnoitring an enemy's position, or
in a hand to hand fight, and is a master in the
use of arms. I have myself seen a Seressan,
with his stanitza — (a long Turkish gun) for
a wager, shoot the bowl off a short pipe,
which a comrade, at the distance of eighty
paces, had to hold up in one hand above
his head. Any Seressan would wager ten
to one that he hits a swallow as it flies, at
thirty to forty paces ; and, when one of them

IN HUNGARY. 15

misses, he becomes a laughing-stock to his
comrades.

These Seressans are wild fellows, of singular
aspect, such as is not to be found elsewhere
in Europe. A high cap, of brown or black
felt or fur, covers their long shaggy hair. The
bearded face is lean, with sharp features, and
darkly tanned. The spare, sinewy body is
clad in a short brown jacket, with a half-
standing collar, bordered with red braiding,
and wide, dirty white linen trousers, tied at
the ankle. The foot-clothing consists in wide
blue and white stockings, drawn up to the
thigh, and sandal-shoes fastened with thongs.
Round the waist they wear a wide red or yel-
low sash, in which are stuck the broad Turkish
handjar, usually in a red, richly ornamented
sheath, and a long pistol, the but of which
is often richly inlaid. A small cartouch-
pouch hangs from a black bandelier, adorned
with numerous yellow nail-heads, over the
shoulder ; on the other, the long Turkish gun,
which has a very narrow barrel. These guns
are frequently of very beautiful workmanship,
enriched with ornaments of gold and silver,

16 THE CIVIL WAR

and often of considerable value. In general
they are booty taken in some Turkish war or
other, and transmitted, as dearly prized heir-
looms, from father to son, and hence almost
all of them have very ancient locks.

In like manner as the hussar wears his
pelisse, the Seressan has his long cloak, of a
particular kind of thick woollen stuff, con-
tinually fastened about his neck, even in fine
weather, by a double cord : it is lined and
turned up with red, and provided behind with
a large hood. From these cloaks they have
obtained the name of Red-mantles ; and under
this designation, or that of Pandours, they
acquired in the Seven Years' War, under
Trenk's command, a somewhat equivocal repu-
tation. In bad weather, the Seressan draws
this cloak about him, throws the hood over
his head and face, and thus defies the pelting
of the most pitiless storm.

These people serve partly on foot, partly
on small, mean-looking, but nimble and never-
tiring horses, unequalled in particular for
climbing the steepest hills. They constitute
the frontier gendarmerie ; live in constant hos-

IN HUNGARY. 17

tility with the wild predatory bands, which,
corning from Bosnia and Dalmatia, frequently
take up their abode here ; and this occupation
is apt to communicate something savage to
themselves. If the Seressan can take the
robber by surprise, he shoots him dead upon
the spot, with the same sang-froid as we
should shoot a hare : likewise the robber
murders the Seressan when he falls into his
hands ; and often, in the most cruel manner,
cutting off, while alive, ears and nose, and then
hanging him on a tree. Both parties, who
bear the most implacable hatred to each
other, never think of taking prisoners : with
them taking and hanging are synonymous.

If the Seressans, as well as the Croatian
frontier regiments dwelling here, have not
clever officers, who know how to maintain
strict discipline, which, with a little energy, is
not difficult, licentiousness is apt to creep in
among them ; but under good leaders they
make the best soldiers in the world, especially
for advanced post service. Subsequently, in
Hungary, I have been the only officer of thirty
or more Seressans, and have never had reason

18 THE CIVIL WAR

to complain of want of obedience. Of course,
the Ban, who is as much feared as beloved by
them, understands how to keep up admirable
discipline.

The clothing of the other frontier troops is
precisely similar to that of the regular Hun-
garian regiments, except that, instead of white,
they wear a brown uniform coat, with black
leather accoutrements. The coats, indeed,
now looked excessively shabby ; and scarcely
half the troops assembled by the Ban in
Croatia and Slavonia, against Hungary, were
in proper uniform. The field-battalions of
the regiments were almost all in Italy; it
was therefore necessary to call out the re-
serves and the third battalion ; and very many
of these men, in general no longer in the ser-
vice, were out of uniform, and wore their brown
cloaks and linen gatjes [trousers]. The officers
and subalterns alone appeared in regular uni-
form. So torn and tattered were also the
coats of some of the Ottochans who had come
with me from Peschiera, that the men were
obliged to fling them away, and to have re-
course to their brown woollen cloaks and

IN HUNGARY. 19

their working jackets. These brave fellows
had been but a few days at home, with their
wives and children, before they were obliged
to march off again ; and they did so cheer-
fully and joyously, amidst hearty Zivios ! for
Jellachich.

What the military frontier, and particu-
larly the Croatian and Slavonian part of it,
has performed this year, is almost incredible.
About 35,000 men were in Italy; 20,000
were required for the protection of the fron-
tier itself; for the Bosnians, excited by agents
of Kossuth's, taking advantage of the critical
situation of affairs, attempted incursions ; and
yet the Ban, in not quite six weeks, brought
together 36,000 men, who certainly were not
so completely equipped as to be fit to appear
at a review under the Linden (Limes) at
Berlin, but, nevertheless, as fit for fighting,
and animated by as good a spirit as could be
wished.

What enthusiasm, what zeal for the Em-
peror and the independence of Croatia ! I
"have myself seen, in districts of the Ottochan
regiment, wives and maidens take up the

20 THE CIVIL WAR

musket, and repair to the chain of posts on
the Turkish boundary, that all the men might
be able to take the field : and such an eight
days' duty at these frontier posts is no trifle,
and requires not a little firmness. Old, half-
invalided, frontier subalterns, incapacitated
for taking the field, were the commandants ;
young, many of them handsome females com-
posed their troops. By my faith, I should
have had no objection to be the commander
of such a corps of Ottochan females my-
self!

They are almost all pretty — nay, even
handsome ; tall, elegant figures, yet plump ;
small feet, oval faces, long dark hair, hanging,
braided into two tresses, far down the back ;
rather dark complexion, it is. true, but at the
same time dark, animated eyes, red lips, ex-
quisitely beautiful teeth ; and brisk and lively
withal in manner and gesture. This, you see,
accounts for the wish to command such a
corps of Amazons. At any rate, it does one
good to behold again friendly female faces,
instead of seeing, as of late in Italy, tongues
almost always stretched out at us. This was

IN HUNGARY. 21

really done, shortly before the outbreak of the
revolution, by a lady of very high rank, who
met me in her carriage, and whom I politely
saluted, because I had been several times in
companies with her. Besides, the costume of
the female sex here is very handsome and
ornamental. The sleeves of the chemise are
neatly worked with a variety of arabesques,
and every seam is braided with gay cording,
and the stockings are generally coloured. A
Croatian woman, in her Sunday dress, looks
just like a female peasant on the stage.

And these women frequently astonish by
their courage and fortitude. We had wives
of frontier soldiers with us in Peschiera, and
on the march through Hungary, who equalled
the men in the endurance of fatigue, and dis-
played undaunted courage in battle. In Hun-
gary, we had with us a young Croatian, the
daughter of an old Seressan, who was as
daring a rider as the best hussar, and more
than once fearlessly joined the men in the
charge. An Hungarian Jwra^ gave her, in an
action, a cut on the right cheek, which she
returned with a severe blow on the arm,

22 THE CIVIL WAR

seized the bridle of his horse, and took him
prisoner. This horse, a gray stallion, she
ever afterwards rode, and refused to sell,
though I offered her forty ducats for him.

The villages of the borderers in the moun-
tains are mean and scattered, the houses almost
all in the Swiss style. In the rich plain of
Slavonia, on the other hand, where wine,
maize, wheat, and capital vegetables of all
sorts are grown in abundance, the villages
are large and regular. Fine alleys, mostly of
plum-trees, which are planted here in great
numbers, border the wide village streets ; the
houses are spacious, neat, in good repair ; no
filth, no disorder, no decay — at the same time,
no beggars, no poor, no rags; every where
plenty, regularity, activity.

All this makes a most agreeable impression,
especially on coming from Italy — the land of
dirt, beggary, and every kind of disorder. The
people here prate less than the Italians, but
then they are more industrious; and as for
courage, I would engage, with one company
of borderers, to drive a thousand of those
Roman or Neapolitan volunteers, who made

IN HUNGARY. 23

believe that they would eat us up, bide, bair,
and all, to the world's end.

Upon the whole, I have taken such a liking
to the country and way of living here on the
frontiers, that I have a great mind, when the
war is over, if I am living, to get myself ex-
changed from my hussar regiment into a Sla-
vonian frontier regiment.

What has particularly pleased me on the
frontiers, is the peculiar custom of family
habitations. There is something quite patri-
archal in it. To every house on the frontier
is attached a sufficient extent of land, which
belongs in common to the whole family, but
cannot be sold by it. In general, the eldest
of the family, mostly a border soldier, whose
term of service has expired, and who still
belongs only to the reserve, is elected by the
others to be house-father, and his wife is the
house-mother. These are then invested with
the superintendence over the whole family,
which consists of children, grandchildren, sons-
in-law, of all degrees of relationship, to the
number frequently of sixty or eighty indi-
viduals in a single house. .

24 THE CIVIL WAR

All take their part in agricultural labour,
as well as in their meals, and also in any
surplus-money. The latter is divided by the
house-father, who settles all petty disputes,
and when his influence is insufficient, applies
to the captain of the company. Every house
must furnish the company to whose district it
belongs with a certain number of soldiers, in
proportion to its adult male inhabitants. The
unmarried, and indeed all up to the age of
thirty-five, belong in general to the field-bat-
talions, and the others to the reserve.

In time of peace, the field-battalions are
assembled for a week only in spring, in com-
panies, and for a not much longer time in
autumn, in regiments, or even larger divisions,
for the purpose of exercising; and, further,
only four days in each of the winter months
are destined for mancsuvring in detail. It is
only on these occasions that the soldier wears
his complete uniform, which he keeps at home :
at other times he goes in the ordinary dress
of the country, and receives pay only for the
period that he is called out, or on guard -
duty.

IN HUNGARY, §5

The frontier soldier is supplied by the go-
vernment with shoes, accoutrements, arras,
and ammunition ; the other parts of his uni-
form he must procure himself. With the ex-
ception of extraordinary cases, the soldier in
the field-battalions must go upon guard-duty
the whole of every fourth, or even third week.
At his departure, the family to w^hich he be-
longs supplies him with provisions, which he
cooks himself at his post. He takes with him,
to the frontier, musket, sword, cartouch-box,
and cloak ; for the rest, he wears the ordinary
dress of the country — the staff-guard, which is
in complete uniform, alone excepted.

The guard-posts consist, in the dry, moun-
tainous part of the fronti=er, in Transylvania,
and again, from the Unna to the Bocca di
Cattaro, of huts sunk in the ground. Each
of these huts, which are at so short a distance
apart, that the posts can see one another,
contains six or eight men. At certain dis-
tances, there are larger posts of twelve or
fourteen men, \^ith a corporal, and at a still
greater distance the officers' posts, from which
the main patroles set out. At every officer's

c

26 THE CIVIL WAR

post is set up a signal pole, with a pitched
barrel, which is fired, in case of emergency,
to alarm the district upon any serious incur-
sion of the Bosnians.

In the marshes of the Danube, the Saave,
and the Unna, the guard-posts are raised upon
poles, and communicate with each other by
means of causeways, or plank bridges. A
wooden gallery runs round these guard-houses,
and there the men on duty walk to and fro.
This whole line of posts along the Turkish
frontier has the two-fold object of preventing,
by means of a strict cordon, the introduction
of the plague, and of forming a defence against
the predatory incursions of Bosnian hordes of
banditti. There are generally about 8,000
men upon guard on the frontier line.

IN HUNGARY. 27

LETTER IIL

Agram, the capital of Croatia, and residence of the Ban ;
preparations there for the campaign in Hungary — The
Writer appointed to command the advanced guard of Jella-
chich's army — Nature and vicissitudes of that duty — The
Magyar Population almost exclusively confined to the great
plains, and the Slavonian race to the mountains of Hungary
— Military character of the Magyars — Composition of the
Insurgent force — Unexpected meeting — Mansion of Count

St Cavalry Action with the Pesth National Guard

— Bivouac scenes.

I was at Agram, the capital of Croatia, for
several weeks, on military business. There I
again completed my equipment, which had
suffered lamentably on the retreat from Milan
and in Peschiera.

Agram is a considerable and a lively town,
and pleased me much. In the upper town,
which is enclosed with walls, like a fortress,
is situated, in an open place, the palace of the
Ban of Croatia, a handsome and extensive
building. Just at that time, great military

c 2

28 THE CIVIL WAR

bastle prevailed in the city. The prepara-
tions against Hungary were prosecuting with
the utmost zeal. I had enough to do, to col-
lect remounts, to clothe recruits, and give
them instructions in riding, and to travel
about the country in quest of suitable horses.
We were in great want of cavalry ; for the
greatest part of the hussar regiments lying
iu Southern Hungary had ranged itself under
Kossuth's banners. Many of the officers, how-
ever, and all the men who were not of Magyar
but of Slavonian descent, had come over to
us, and we were enabled to form some squad-
rons of efficient light cavalry. In Hungary
itself we had reason to expect reinforcement :
Hardeg's cuirassiers, and Kress's Italian regi-
ment of light horse, which lay not far from
the Croatian frontier, were already preparing
to join us, and so was a gi-eat part of an
hussar regiment in which very many Slavo-
nians were serving.

As I am perfect master of the Hungarian
language, I received directions to form the
advanced guard, with a flying corps of eighty
excellent horse, among which were thirty-five

IN HUNGARY. 29

mounted Seressans, and to flank about at dis-
cretion. To me this was most agreeable; for,
though my commission was a dangerous and
extremely arduous one, on the other hand,
such an independent, romantic life, had the
greatest charm.

Often have we fared extremely well, revel-
ling like princes, surrounded by abundance of
every kind, dwelling in splendid mansions,
quaffing generous Tokay ; then, again, for
weeks together without house or harbour;
scarcely finding a few heads of maize for our
horses; the tschuttora (large wooden bottle)
filled with half-putrid marsh water, instead of
wine or sklikowitz. Frequently, too, were
we hunted on all sides, like wild beasts, by
Kossuth's partisan corps, and often escaped
from them only as by a miracle.

On one occasion, we were not a moment
out of the saddle for full thirty-six hours;
and during that whole time our horses had
not a handful of fodder, scarcely a drink of
water ; and I had become so stiff, that I could
hardly walk or stand ; and when, after a few
hours' rest, we were obliged to start again,.

30 THE CIVIL WAR

for the first time in my life, I mounted a horse
most reluctantly. When we could not save
ourselves in any other way, we fell back upon
the main army of the Ban, and remained with
it for a few days ; but no sooner was there an
opening than we were off again.

Our principal object was to ascertain the
disposition of the country ; to reconnoitre the
position of the enemy's corps; to seize convoys
of money and emissaries of Kossuth's ; and to
give such divisions of the imperial troops as
were in Hungary, and wished to join the army
of the Ban, directions where to find it. We
were often a hundred miles distant from the
main army ; then again only twenty or twenty-
five, and even no more than five or ten.

I had thus abundant opportunity to make
myself acquainted with the western and south-
ern counties of Hungary. It is precisely in
these that the Magyar population predomi-
nates, and that comparatively few Slavonians
are met with ; whereas, in the north-eastern
part of the country, and especially in the Car-
pathians, the Slavonians far outnumber the
Magyars, as is also the case in the west, on

IN HUNGARY. 31

the Styrian frontier. Upon the whole, it may
be adopted as a general axiom that the great
plains of the kingdom are predominantly oc-
cupied by Magyars, the mountain districts by
Slavonians.

The Magyars, a nation of horsemen, sought
out for themselves, in preference, the exten-
sive open plains, where they could freely
scamper about with their horses, to their
hearts' content. Hence it is that, in the vast
plain, stretching from Pesth southward, be-
tween the Danube, and extending in some
parts to the length of two hundred miles, and
to the breadth of from fifty to seventy, the
Magyar race has kept itself most unmixed.
This, however, applies solely to the real pea-
santry : the gentry, wholly of Magyar descent,
dwell in all parts of the country as masters ;
but the villages where every peasant, even
though possessing but a ruinous cottage, is a
gentleman, are to be found only in the purely
Magyar districts.

The principal supports of the Hungarian
insurrection are the numberless, mostly needy,
Magyar gentry, who live scattered over the

32 THE CIVIL WAR

whole country. These people, who may be
computed at twenty thousand, and who for-
merly procured a subsistence as petty pro-
prietors, as jurats, or as officers in the Hun-
garian regiments, are full of inordinate national
pride, ever disposed to warlike operations and
adventures, and have, most of them, but little
to lose. At the same time, they are capital
horsemen and good soldiers, who rush boldly
into battle ; but perseverance is not their
forte. Herein is shown the still Oriental blood
of the Hungarian : fiercely and daringly as he
assaults, so easily is he dispirited ; to pro-
tracted enterprises, which require patience and
perseverance, he is no friend ; and in this re-
spect he is far surpassed by the Slavonians.

Very few of the families of the great mag-
nates of the country take part in the present
insurrection ; on the contrary, they are mostly
on the side of the imperial hou^e ; while most
of the officials, gamekeepers, &c., on their
large domains, had gone over to the in-
surgents.

Instigated and partly forced by these per-
sons, about thirty thousand peasants, young

IN HUNGARY. 33

and old, from tlie Magyar districts, have
joined Kossuth's banners, and ten or twelve
thousand of them at home form a sort of
landsturm. Among the former are many
horse- herds, cow-herds, and shepherds, who
are known as the most daring fellows in Hun-
gary. In addition to these, all the prisons
and houses of correction have been emptied, in
order to strengthen the insurrectionary army.
Out of those herdsmen has been formed an
excellent light cavalry ; the Hungarians being,
in general, the best horsemen in the world.

Besides these new levies, about ten thousand
regular imperial troops are associated with the
insurgents; and this is more to be lamented
than all the rest put together. These consist
chiefly of Magyars, who were serving in the
Hungarian infantry, and in still greater num-
ber in the hussar regiments. Many of these
people were given to understand, at first, that
Jellachich meant to depose the Palatine Ste-
phen ; but many of them have been incited to
rebellion by national pride. Many Hungarian
regiments are completely broken up ; the Sla-
vonians who were with them have joined us,

c 5

34 THE CIVIL WAR

and the Magyars are with Kossuth. For the
rest, many officers and soldiers are there also
by compulsion, and avail themselves of every
opportunity to come to us. We have already
received several hundred officers and soldiers
in this manner.

The national guard of the towns, with the
exception of that of Pesth, is not worth much,
and fights in general against the grain. Upon
the whole, the Hungarian army of insurrection
may be computed at sixty to seventy thou-
sand good, safe troops ; and twenty to thirty
thousand combatants, on whom less depend-
ence is to be placed. The Hungarian regi-
ments serving in Italy under Radetzky have
universally continued faithful, and the utmost
reliance can be placed on them.

The different sentiments prevailing in the
country were best to be learned from our re-
ception in the villages. In the places where
dwell many Slowacks, Raizes, and Serbes, we
were received with acclamations, cherished in
every possible way, supplied with provisions
and wine in abundance — nay, many young fel-
lows followed us voluntarily, and enrolled

IN HUNGARY. 35

themselves in the army of the Ban for this
campaign.

In the wholly Magyar villages, and at the
residence of the inferior gentry, we were re-
ceived unkindly, and were not supplied with
any thing but reluctantly, or even by com-
pulsion. The peasants collected wherever they
could ; and we were obliged to be vigilantly on
our guard, lest we should be surprised. More
than once we have had to sustain fights with
such peasants, in which we lost men. Not
far from Szabad-Szallas, we were engaged for
a whole day with a band of three or four hun-
dred men, headed by a man who had formerly
been a county -hussar, when we had four men
killed and nine wounded. On this occasion,
the port-epee of my sword was shot away.
In the end, we were victorious, and dispersed
the rebels.

We had once been riding about all day, not
far fromTopolga; and when it grew dark, the
gipsy who served us for a guide lost the way,
so that we proceeded pretty much at random.

At length — it might be about ten o'clock —
I was about to order my men to bivouac;

36 THE CIVIL WAR

when four Seressans, who had gone on before
us as a scout-patrole, brought word that there
was a large mansion on the right of us, and
.not far from it a village. I then ordered ten
Seressans and hussars to dismount, to steal as
near as they could to the mansion, to learn if
there were any partisan corps round about,
and, if possible, to bring back a prisoner.

It was not long before they brought back a
peasant-girl, caught probably on her way to
her sweetheart, and who was frightened to
death, when, instead of being clasped by her
lover, she found herself in the arms of a Red-
mantle. I cheered the trembling and weep-
ing damsel, and asked her whether there were
soldiers or armed peasants in the mansion or
in the village. She assured me, with many
solemn protestations, that the last had de-
parted eight days ago ; on which, still with an
advanced and flank patrole, I rode on towards
the mansion, and, conducted by the girl, who
now chatted unreservedly, entered the spacious
courtyard.

At the tramp of horses, and the clank of
swords, the porch-door opened, and an old

IN HUNGARY. 37

man, a kind of steward, followed by servants
with great lanterns, came towards us, asking
who we were, and what was our errand. I re-
plied, that I was an officer of the Emperor
and King, belonging to the army of the Ban ;
and requested, in the first place, to be con-
ducted to the master of the mansion. The
man obeyed, though with some reluctance,
and led me into a spacious hall, which, by
the dim light of a lamp, appeared to be a sort
of ancestral hall. Large pictures were hung
upon the walls, and between them swords,
muskets, old armour, and arms of all kinds.

Here the castellan bade me wait while he
went to announce me ; and I availed myself
of this moment to take off my cloak, to set
my hair to rights a little, to fasten my dol-
man close about. me, to tie my sash properly;
in short, to make myself as smart as I could.
The old man presently came back, conducted
me along a corridor, and then opened the
folding-doors of an apartment, whence issued
the brilliant light of tapers.

Somewhat dazzled, I entered the apartment,
which was most elegantly fitted up, where a

38 THE CIVIL WAR

tall, handsome lady received me with a polite
but proud obeisance. I was just going to
introduce myself, and to apologize for my un-
bidden visit, when she extended her hand to
me with the loud exclamation of joy, " Ab,
Baron W !"

I now recognised her. It was the Countess

St , the Milan beauty, the wife of my old

comrade, St , who once saved my life in

Bologna, and who, after his marriage with the

fair Marchesa B , had obtained leave to

resign, and retired to his lordship in Hungary ;
and I now found myself, without having sus-
pected it, in his mansion.

Being called by his wife, he made his ap-
pearance immediately, and cordial was our
embrace. He was still, as he ever had been,
Magyar with body and soul; and told me
frankly that he should long since have gone
to Kossuth, had he not been restrained by the
odious idea of being obliged to fight against
his former comrades ; but he assured me that
he should yet do so. ; ; iii 5.i m ii iki

I advised that we should not talk of poli-
tical matters, but rather think of old times ;

IN HUNGARY. 39

and his wife approved the suggestion. By
and by came his sister, the young Countess
Helene, the most beautiful Hungarian female
I had ever seen ; and that is saying a great
deal.

St gave me his word of honour that

we were perfectly safe from any surprise
by the enemy, and my men were abundantly
supplied with wine and meat ; and, while they
made themselves comfortable outside, I found
myself in Paradise, between two beautiful and
amiable females, opposite to a friend whom I
had not seen for a long time, and before a glass
of exquisite Tokay. All weariness vanished ;
and we joked and laughed half the night, for-
getting the war, and Kossuth, and national
hatred.

Two days I rested in St 's mansion,

as a little respite was highly desirable for both
men and horses. The eyes of the Countess
Helene began to be dangerous for me; but
upon earth the soldier has no abiding quarters.
On the third morning, with a tear in my eye,

I pressed St to my breast, kissed the

cheek of his wife and his sister; the latter

40 THE CIVIL WAR

plucked a rose-bud for me as a keepsake, my
trumpeter sounded to horse, and away we
dashed.

A few days afterwards, we bad, about a
thousand strong, not far from the pusta Mon-
tony, a smart cavalry action, with a nume-
rous corps of Hungarian insurgents. It was
fine when, as we rushed over the green heath
at one another, the trumpets flourished, the
swords clashed. Unluckily, almost all the
former hussars were opposed to us ; and this
cut me to the heart. Those fine Hungarian
hussar regiments — where are they now ? Will
the old bond ever knit us together again ? I
cannot bear to think about it.

To my great joy, the lot did not fall to me
to be obliged to fight with men who had been
hussars ; it was the Pesth national guard with
which we were engaged ; and to those gentle-
men, admirably as they manage their beauti-
ful horses, we have given a sound drubbing,
I have myself cut down two or three of them
from their horses, and come off with a quite
insignificant graze on the arm.

Here it was, too, that the young Seressan

IN HUNGARY. 41

female whom I have told you of already made
prize of her gray steed. Her brother, when
he saw the enemy's horseman making up to the
girl, who dashed on daringly in the first ranks,
would have hastened to her assistance; but
she called to him, laughing, '^ Je jedan hrate:
ne hoisse ! " ('Tis only one, brother ; never
fear !) and she was victorious, too. Though
we at first had greatly the advantage of the
insurgents, we were at last obliged to retreat
slowly, as they received reinforcements of
infantry; but they did not venture to pur-
sue us.

Our bivouacs were often extraordinary, on
the wide plains, under the tent of heaven. At
nightfall we halted ; patroles were sent out in
all directions ; and, when these reported that
all was safe, the necessary advanced posts,
which were relieved every three hours, were
placed. The greatest bustle now commenced,
in order to provide against the wants of the
nisfht. The horses were watered — for we
always chose our lodging for the night in the
vicinity of a rivulet or of a well, such as the
herdsmen dig for their cattle; then saddles

42 THE CIVIL WAR

and bridles of half the horses were taken off,
and the nose-bags with maize fastened to their
heads.

The hussars and Seressans who were not
engaged in this business went in quest of
materials for the great fire, and these it was
often difficult to collect. Others unpacked
the provisions, meat, wine, maize-flour, brought
in the great covered waggon, drawn by six
Hungarian horses, which served us for an
itinerant magazine, store-room for equipments,
field-smithy, and hospital.

You see, none of us could claim any great
space for baggage. The fire soon blazed up,
and our cooks fell to work to prepare the
favourite gulyas-lius of the Hungarians, which
was highly relished by them, after the ex-
ertions of the march. It is really an excellent
dish, consisting of beef cut into small cubical
pieces, onions, cumin, and paprika^ (red Spa-
nish pepper) an indispensable ingredient in
every dish in this country. If we had been
lucky enough to get wine, the tschuttora
passed briskly round among the men ; other-
wise sklikowitZy and frequently water, sup-

IN HUNGARY. 4S

plied its place. I, as officer and commander,
had a plate and a cup to myself, but ate and
drank whatever the soldiers had, and fared
extremely well. Upon the whole, I had every
reason to be perfectly satisfied with my men :
they were courageous, persevering, and obe-
dient.

After supper, they mended saddles, bridles,
clothes ; looked to the shoes of the horses ; or,
seated round the watch-fire, sang, frequently
for hours together, their melancholy national
songs, in not disagreeable chorus. I then
stretched myself upon a horse-cloth, wrapped
myself in my cloak, leant my head upon my
saddle, and watched the smoke of my cigar
curling about before me, till silence gradually
stole over the busy scene, and sleep strength-
eued us all for the exertions of the coming
day.

Often have I lain for hours awake, absorbed
in reverie; above me, the vast, dark firma-
ment, with its innumerable twinkling stars ;
around me, the immense plain, whence, in
the distance, was heard at times the call of
our advanced posts and patroles ; near me, the

44 THE CIVIL WAR

high-blazing fire, about which lay the sleeping
forms of the Seressans and hussars, in their
red and white cloaks ; not far off, their horses
fastened with the snaffle, some lying down,
some with bowed heads, resting as they stood ;
some neighing and pawing the ground. If
the march had not been too fatiofuins:, or if
we had had a day of repose, two or three
hussars would play upon the Jew's harp, while
others sang ; and the rest danced their pretty
national dances, at the same time clanking
their broad spurs, and clashing their swords
together, so as to resound far over the heath.

In this manner we scampered about many
a day in Hungary, always on horseback, always
pursued by near or distant foes, often involved
in fights, losing many a brave fellow and good
comrade by mortal wounds, but in high spi-
rits, and full of confidence in the Ban.

The latter had concentrated his whole array
near Raab: and the intention was to give battle
in the next days to Kossuth, a prospect which
rejoiced us all ; when, in the evening of the
9th of October, an officer, who had ridden
day and night, brought us intelligence of the

IN HUNGARY. 45

insurrection at Vienna, and of the atrocious
murder of Latour.

The trumpets instantly gave the signal for
breaking up. We marched away in the dark ;
halted as little as possible ; and, in the even-
ing of the 10th of October, we, who were the
foremost of the advanced troops, descried at
a great distance the tower of St. Stephen's.

Another time about the camp before Vienna,
the assault of the city, and my abode in the
hospital — three things which I shall never
forget while I live.

46 THE CIVIL WAR

LETTER IV.

March to Vienna — Sentiments of the Peasantry in Lower
Austria — Diversity of feelings awakened by the sight of the
Capital — Encampment at Modling — Visit to Count Auers-
perg's camp — Efforts of the Insurgents to seduce the Soldiers
— Visits of Vienna citizens and coxcombs to Jellachich's
Army — External appearance of the Writer and his men —
Unskilful Defence of Vienna by the Insurgents — Singular
interview with an Insurgent leader — Aspect of the Im-
perial camp — Bohemian cuirassiers; Nassau infantry; the
Kress regiment of chevaux-legers; artillery; Border sol-
diers, cadets, &c. — Storming of the city — Dexterity dis-
played in the attack by the Border soldiers — Conduct of
the Insurgents — The capitulation violated by them — Action
with the Hungarians near Schwechat — Description of a
Scene in that action.

It was beginning to get dusk, when, on the
10th of October, we first came in sight of the
tower of St. Stephen's at a great distance.
We had ridden hard the preceding night and
the whole day, and had rested but for a few
moments. Our horses, covered all over with
mud and foam, were still more weary than

IN HUNGARY. * 47

their riders ; when we made a first halt near
Schwechat, and kindled our bivouac fire, in
order to pass the night there. We belonged
to the foremost advanced troops : the Ban,
with the main body of the army, was yet
several leagues behind ; and, as we were to-
tally ignorant of the disposition of the coun-
try-people, great caution was necessary. But
nothing stirred or moved, and there was not
the slightest indication of a rising of the pea-
santry, of which we had been apprehensive.

On the very first day, we could plainly
perceive that the country-people in Lower
Austria, so far from having any thing what-
ever to do with the Vienna insurrection, had
rather conceived an animosity against its
authors and partisans. In the villages they
received us every where with some shyness, it
is true, on account of the uncivilized appear-
ance of my Seressans ; but, as for resistance
or hostility, no such thing was ever thought
of. "What is it to us? We cannot sell
any thing now, and that is all we care about."
Such were the expressions used by all the
peasants with whom I spoke ; nay, frequently

48 THE CIVIL WAR

they broke out into invectives against the
students of Vienna, and the other fellows, as
they called them, who had caused all the
gentlefolks to leave the city, so that they
could not find so profitable a sale as formerly
for their corn, fruit, and vegetables.

I felt, nevertheless, very uncomfortable,
when I first saw Vienna again under such cir-
cumstances. How many happy hours had I
passed there ! and what joyous recollections
attached me to that city ! When I had last
left Vienna, four years ago, a cheerful com-
pany of jovial friends and lovely women ac-
companied me to the Spinnerin am Kreuz,
(Spinner at the Cross) the well-known point
where you overlook the whole imperial city ;
and now I was leading with hostile intent my
Croatian horse against it. In spite of bodily
fatio'ue, I sat musincr for several hours in the
dark night, by the blazing watch-fire, before
sleep visited me.

My Seressans and hussars participated not
in my feelings; on the contrary, they were
unusually merry, and sang their popular songs
with greater glee than ever. Of the splen-

IN HUNGARY. 49

dours of Vienna they had heard often enough
in their lives : the fame of the brilliant capital
of the Empire, as the seat of all earthly
grandeur and pleasure, penetrates into the fur-
thest corners of the extensive monarchy. All
the border-officers, who had once dwelt as
cadets in Vienna, had, from sorrowful recol-
lection, related in the solitary frontier guard-
houses much concerning the pleasures which
they had there enjoyed. The Croatian car-
riers— whose huge waggons, drawn by from
twelve to sixteen small, meagre, shagiry horses,
are so frequently seen in Vienna — had given
at home many alluring descriptions of the
glories of the place ; and so my men were
filled with joy at the idea that they should
themselves learn to know something of these
wonders.

It was curious enough that they could not
be made to comprehend that the Emperor was
not at Vienna : in their minds, Vienna and the
person of the Emperor are conceptions so in-
timately connected, that they could not se-
parate them ; and, notwithstanding the pains
I took to explain to them why the Emperor

D

50 THE CIVIL WAR

was now in a different place, they still shook
their heads incredulously. They were also of
opinion that the tower of St. Stephen's, which
rises to such a height into the air, and com-
mands so vast a prospect, must be the palace
of the Emperor, and that he lives at the top
of it.

In Vienna itself they seemed to be already
made aware of our coming, either by telescopes
or by scouts. In the very first night, I saw,
as I conceived, various signals given by lights
and coloured lanterns on St. Stephen's. A
patrole, which I sent out in the night, with a
guide acquainted with localities, beyond the
Neugebau, to the moor of Simmering, brought
word that no attack need be apprehended ; but
that on the Max line itself, great noise and
excitement must prevail, as they heard loud
singing and shouting proceeding from that
quarter.

Next morning, when more troops of the
Ban's kept arriving, I moved more to the left,
and we pitched our camp near Modling.
Partly in order to visit some former ac-
quaintance, partly on professional duty, I rode

IN HUNGARY. 51

over soon afterwards to the troops of Count
Auersperg, which had been in Vienna itself,
and were now encamped not far from the Bel-
vedere. What I there heard filled my heart
with indignation, and I now fought with real
passion against this insurrection.

During the whole summer the soldiers and
officers had been treated with every species of
insult and indignity, because they were not to
be seduced by Kossuth's gold to violate their
oath of fidelity. The Aula, and the savage
scum of the suburbs, upon which the former
supports itself, had vented upon the soldiers
every sort of contumely that could be devised.
Our contest in Italy, where we upheld the
honour of Austria against foreign conquerors,
had been ridiculed, disgraceful defeat pub-
licly invoked for our arms, victory and triumph
for Charles Albert. And then the 6th of
October !

All this and still more was related to me
by comrades in the Auersperg corps. The
men of the Ruthenian regiment Duke of Nas-
sau, which had sustained the greatest loss
on the 6th in Vienna, were in particular so

d2

52 THE CIVIL WAR

exasperated that they would joyfully have
stormed at any hour.

Just while I was there, two members of the
Academic Legion, who had stolen into the
camp in disguise, to persuade the soldiers to
desert, were made prisoners. It was with
difficulty that a strong guard could protect
them from the fury of the men. A council
of war soon decided their fate — that always
allotted in war to the discovered spy — death.

Their plan, however, was utterly hopeless.
Some bad subjects indeed deserted now and
then from the Auersperg camp ; on the other
hand, grenadiers of the battalion, which had
in part gone over to the people on the 6 th,
were continually coming in, penitent and im-
ploring pardon. They related that they had
been made drunk ; that much money had been
given to them, and they had been promised
such great things that at last they knew not
what they were, or what they ought to do.
And subsequently at the storming of the
barricades of the Jagerzeil, they expunged the
stain of the 6th of October ; and the captain,
who should have conducted himself more ener-

IN HUNGARY. 53

getically when Latour was murdered, found
on the same occasion that death which he
sought, and thus wiped off the blot upon his
military honour.

On the first day after our arrival, and still
more frequently afterwards, we received nu-
merous visits from inhabitants of Vienna, who
had fled from the city and other places round
about, still further off. There was no end to
their complaints and wailings about the insur-
rection. Their lamentations and bursts of
anger were often highly comic.

To these Philistines and Money-bags it was
the greatest of hardships, that they were
obliged to forego their domestic conveniences,
their seat at the theatre, their visits to the
coffee-house ; and yet their want of firmness,
their cowardice, were the principal causes of
all the mischief. Had the numerous burgher
guard possessed courage at first, and displayed
energy, the Aula and the rabble of the suburbs
would never have got the better of them ; and
the storm, which began to burst over Vienna on
the 6th of October, might have been prevented.
Indeed, had not the honour of Austria been

54 THE CIVIL WAR

at stake, these street-loungers might for me
have regained their comforts as they could.

Now that we were there and going into
fire for them, they had wonders to tell about
the heroic deeds which they had already per-
formed, or meant to perform. One of those
drawing-room heroes, an elegant, such as
every great city produces in abundance, in
yellow gloves, and with the lorgnette at his
eye, strutted about among us, and enlarged
upon the feats of courage and loyalty which
he purposed to achieve for the Emperor ; but
one day I very soon silenced him.

I took the old, greasy, fur cap of a Seres-
san's, which happened to be lying there, and
clapped it upon his befrizzed head, saying,
" That fits admirably. If you want to fight
against the insurgents, you can enter at once
among my Red-mantles ; there is a vacancy
at this moment ;" and, while I was thus
speaking, a comrade threw an old red cloak
over his shoulders. He stood quite con-
founded, and knew not what to say; while
my men greeted their new companion with
roars of lausfhter.

IN HUNGARY. 55

The handsome Croatian and Slavonian
women who were with the borderers attracted
the particular notice of these Vienna cox-
combs, who considered them as piquant beau-
ties. But they met with any thing but a
favourable reception from them. Those bold,
fiery maidens have a very different taste from
that of the ladies of Vienna. My handsome
Seressan damsel, whom I mentioned in my
last letter, gave one of these puppies, who
had probably made rather too close approaches
to her, such a watsche, as the people of Vienna
call it, that he came to me rubbing his ting-
ling cheek, and complained of the girl. I
laughed heartily at him, but offered him my
horse and my sword, if he was disposed to
fight his antagonist, and in that way to obtain
satisfaction ; but he manifested no inclina-
tion to do so, saying that would be beneath
him.

Our exterior seemed not particularly
pleasing to these visitors ; and in the radical
papers of Vienna we were even described as a
band of ragged vagabonds. In truth, we did
look rather savage and grotesque ; and a

56 THE CIVIL WAR

parade would not have exhibited any very
splendid sight.

As the greater part of the frontier bat-
talions from Croatia and Slavonia were in
Italy, our uniforms, at our departure, were
sadly defective, and many had left in their
bundas, [sheep-skin cloak] gatjes, and hoods.
The long, arduous march through Hungary,
and the incessant bivouacking, had completely
spoiled the men's clothes, and most of the
officers themselves were the very reverse of
elegant. My tschismen [hussar-boots] were
so badly mended, the braiding on pelisse and
dolman turned so pale, the white cloak so gray,
that I should indeed have cut a very wretched
figure at a ball. We took advantage, how-
ever, of the first days of rest we had before
Vienna, to patch, and mend, and darn, as well
and as much as we could. This rest was very
beneficial to our horses, which were at last too
hard worked : they soon recovered themselves;
and the men suffered no want of meat or wine.

It was evident in the very first days that
the defence of the city was badly conducted.
The many petty sallies beyond the lines, espe-

IN HUNGARY. 57

cially out of the Maxer, against our advanced
posts, were manifestly undertaken without
any plan. A great quantity of powder was
thus most needlessly expended. Single pa-
troles were frequently fired at with cannon,
and at such a distance and so unskilfully, that
it was an amusement for our soldiers to pro-
voke such a fire at themselves. Once or
twice, indeed, a few of our men were shot ;
and some Croatians, who had incautiously
ventured too far, were taken prisoners ; while
we, on our part, took a great many. De-
serters, especially from the soldiers who had
remained behind in Vienna, and likewise from
the burgher guard, came over in great number.
\^ If the insurrection was expected to hold
out any prospect of success, it must have been
conducted in a totally different manner. Imme-
diately after the 6th of October, an attack from
the city should have been made with twenty-five
or thirty thousand men — and so many combat-
ants might easily have been collected — on the
far less numerous Auersperg troops. Then
the Hungarians, who, twenty-eight thousand
strong, were posted near Raab, should have

D 5

58 THE CIVIL WAR

appeared about the IStli or 15th of October
before Vienna, which they might well have
done, had there been any zeal and unity
among them. Had an additional body of pea-
sants from the neighbouring mountains and
from Styria come forward, our situation would
have become very dangerous, and we should
have been placed between two enemies.

Nothing of the kind was done)) In spite of
all the signals from the tower of St. Stephen's,
the Hungarians came not till it was much too
late ; of an insurrection of peasantry, not a
trace was to be discovered ; and the people
of Vienna, instead of attempting a sally on a
large scale, were content to offer only petty
annoyances, to defame us in their newspapers,
and thus to exasperate still more the animo-
sity of the soldiers.

Windischgratz, on the other hand, gained
sufficient time to collect his army from Bo-
hemia and Moravia, and to join us with forty
thousand fresh troops. We could have taken
the city earlier, and our soldiers had a strong
desire to do so ; but it was thought better to
spare unnecessary bloodshed on both sides, as

IN HUNGARY. 59

much as possible, and therefore to wait the
arrival of all reinforcements, that the contest
might then be speedily terminated. Every
day my soldiers asked me, " Gospodine, shan't
we soon go into the city ? — shan't we put the
Aula to death ?"

It was soon clear to us that the succour of
the Hungarians was not to be depended upon.
In the days between the 18th and 22nd of
October, I went, with a strong reconnoitring
patrole of fifty hussars, towards Bruck on the
Leitha, and along the Hungarian frontier.
Not far from Bruck, I saw, at a considerable
distance, and on the Hungarian territory, a
troop of about a hundred horse, as it seemed
to me, armed tschikos, (horse-herds) halting.

An elderly man, in the home -dress of a
magnate, on a noble horse, and with a long
pipe in his mouth, appeared to be their leader.
When he perceived me, he came galloping to-
wards us till within thirty or forty paces,
and then made a signal to me with his hand-
kerchief to come to him. He told me that
he had formerly been captain of cavalry, but
that he had now joined the Hungarian insur-

60 THE CIVIL WAR

rection, as the lordship upon which he resided
wished it. Though we were now in reality
opposed to each other as enemies, he behaved
in a most friendly manner; treated me to
exquisite Tokay ; gave me line Hungarian
tobacco ; and sent my men meat and wine in
abundance.

I asked him jokingly, why he did not march
to the assistance of the people of Vienna, and
put himself there under the command of a
student, or a tailor, or a shoemaker. Stroking
his long moustache, he muttered one terem-
tete after another, and said : ** I am a noble-
man ; I shall not put myself under shoe-
maker or tailor ; I will have nothing to do
with Vienna. If you are in Hungary, you
and Jellachich are my enemies; otherwise,
you are my comrade. Have not I too worn
the King's coat? Out of Hungary, I will
not fight against his hussars." With that
he shook me cordially by the hand, and we
parted as the best friends.

With the daily arrival of troops coming in
larger or smaller divisions, the military bustle
in our bivouacs increased. It was a real Wal-

IN HUNGARY. 61

lenstein's camp. One martial spectacle fol-
lowed close upon another. Here, Bohemian
cuirassiers of the regiments of Auersperg and
Wallmoden ; tall fellows with not very hand-
some broad-boned faces ; the glistening helmet
on the head ; over the white collar, the heavy
black breast-armour ; the large straight pal-
lasch dangling from a broad belt round the
waist. The horses are just as hardy and
spirited as their riders — of the Bohemian
breed, not light, not elegant, but sure and ad-
mirably suited to the purpose. Of all arms,
these cuirassiers remind one most strongly
of the middle ages, of which they are the last
vestige.

There, are men of the Nassau infantry ;
slender, nimble Ruthenians ; and sons of the
northern Carpathians ; soldiers with nervous,
elastic frames, who must be numbered among
the best infantry of the Austrian array, when
their old nature has been somewhat polished,
which is no easy task for the poor officers and
subalterns — yonder horse, of the Kress regi-
ment of chevaux-legers, slim sons of Italy, even
of Venice ; handsome, well-shaped figures, with

62 THE CIVIL WAR

animated, expressive countenances, rapid in
motions as in words. Their fathers and bro-
thers are fighting in Italy against Austria ; and
here they are fighting faithful to their oath on
entering the service for the honour of Austria.

Further on we see bright cannon drawn up,
their dark mouths pointed towards Vienna ;
the artillerymen, in their simple dark uniform,
are busily engaged in arranging the ammuni-
tion, and in packing the projectiles, as though
they were innocent balls to play with, in re-
gular rows in the chest attached to each.
Whistling merrily, the soldiers of the train
are cleaning the hard-worked horses that draw
the guns, or mending the gear which has suf-
fered much during the hasty march from
Bohemia.

Not far from the artillery, lie borderers
of the Ottochan regiment, mingled with in-
dividual Seressans, around a great watch-fire
— tall, gaunt figures, with grave, furrowed
faces, dark flashing eyes, dark moustaches
over a finely-cut mouth, with white teeth.
The clothing very motley : the hasty depar-
ture would not admit of a regular equipment.

IN HUNGARY. 63

Among the border-soldiers, arms and tschakos
only are uniform ; and, among the Seressans,
the long, brown, and red-hooded cloaks.

We are frequently met by tall, elegantly-
shaped females, with faces full of expression;
their long raven-black hair braided in two
tresses hanging down below the hips. Many
wives and daughters have followed the bor-
derers ; and their motley appearance is a pe-
culiar trait in this camp-scene.

Blithe words, hearty laughter — such as is
given to youth alone — resound from a long
table, around which are closely-crowded cadets
of every different regiment. All arms are
here united : the hussar is seated by the
artilleryman, the jager by the cuirassier.
Almost all juvenile faces, many hardly more
than boys, the down scarcely covers the places
where the manly beard is impatiently awaited ;
and yet many have already fought gallantly,
and even earned honourable wounds. Diverse
as their uniforms are their countries and their
languages; and many of them understand and
speak German but very imperfectly. Beside
the Englishman we here see the Serbe, the

64 THE CIVIL WAR

Italian by the Dane, the Hanoverian by the
Tyrolese, the Bohemian by the Walloon. The
officers' corps of Austria has ever been accus-
tomed to see in its ranks sons of almost all
the nations of Europe : they all forget their
native country, and find under the banner of
the double eagle a new one, for which they
cheerfully spill their blood.

Peasants bringing provisions; long trains
of carts laden with corn, hay, or straw ; herds
of bellowing cattle, intermingled with elegant
ladies and gentlemen who have fled from
Vienna, and are curious to see something of
life in camp; patroles of hussars, returning
from long excursions on wearied horses — such
are the diversified scenes which furnish matter
for all sorts of reflections, and which have
often amused me for hours.

Of the actions, all in tlie last days of Oc-
tober, I can give no account ; I saw only
what was passing around myself : the inferior
ofllicer naturally has no opportunity for a ge-
neral survey of the whole. In the fight in
the city itself we hussars were not employed ;
but yet I was, in reality, as an idle spectator.

IN HUNGARY. 65

for several hours in the Jagerzeil, when a barri-
cade there was taken by our troops. It was
a savage conflict, carried on upon both sides
with great animosity. The insurgents there
had the great advantage that they could stand
covered behind the barricade, or fire delibe-
rately from the windows-, without exposing
themselves ; while the soldiers, unsheltered
from the enemy's balls, were obliged to storm;
but never did they hesitate for a moment to
advance. " Terrain terrai, stravo^ Gospodme!"
(Forward, forward, forward, in the name of
God, sir !) cried a company of borderers to
their captain, when ordered to wait awhile
before they attacked a barricade, till it could
be attacked also from the corner houses which
troops were on the point of occupying ; and
so to it they fell at once without delay.

The soldiers of the Nassau regiment, who
were still extremely exasperated on account
of the 6th of October, particularly distin-
guished themselves ; likewise the Bohemian
jagers and the grenadiers, who had partly
joined the insurgents on that day. These
corps sustained also the greatest loss. It was

66 THE CIVIL WAR

astonishing to see the dexterity displayed by
many a Croatian in this street-fight. Lying
flat upon the belly, with the knapsack placed
before them for a breastwoik, they crept like
snakes towards the barricade, to get as near
as possible, and to do the surer execution
when they fired. . Every recess of a door,
every corner, every lamp-post, was a sort of
shelter, to which they sprang and fixed them-
selves with the agility and celerity of a cat.
Hence the borderers lost proportionably the
smallest number of men, though they were
perhaps the most exposed to the enemy's fire.
Their own was so sure, that they brought
down many of their foes by their almost un-
erring balls.

Some portions of the insurgents fought
very well, and others particularly ill. Many
barricades and positions, which might have
been defended for a long time, and from which
much mischief might have been done, were
hastily abandoned in irregular flight; others,
on the contrary, defended almost uselessly,
with the courage of despair, to the very last
man. Want of superior direction, of due

IN HUNGARY. 67

military organization, and of obedience, was
every where observable ; otherwise, the city
might well have defended itself for some days
longer, though its eventual fate could not be
doubtful.

The only person in Vienna, who showed
military talent and made judicious disposi-
tions, was General Bern, a Pole, who was ulti-
mately invested with the chief command.
Upon the whole, the Polish Legion, as it was
called, fought with much zeal, and was our
most dangerous foe. The Styrian sharp-
shooters also, and individual divisions of the
people of Vienna, displayed — it cannot be
denied — great courage.

What most justly incensed the troops, and
subsequently occasioned excesses here and
there, though the many stories of barbarities
and savage acts of pillage are impudent lies,
was the infraction of the capitulation by the
insurgents. The white flags were every where
hoisted ; all the conditions of the entry were
agreed upon ; our soldiers were preparing them-
selves, with musket on the arm, to march in ;
when suddenly, and without any previous no-

68 THE CIVIL WAR

tice, the firing from the city was renewed, on
the mere report that the Hungarian auxiliary
army was at last on its route.

The authors of this perfidy have drawn
upon themselves a heavy responsibility. Great
mischief, which would otherwise have been
obviated, has been brought by it on the un-
fortunate city. And what assistance could
the Hungarians then have rendered them?
Since the whole corps of Prince Windisch-
gratz was united with ours, their help could
at most but have prolonged the contest for a
few hours, and have cost some more victims.

If I had nothing to do with the street-fight,
I did take part in the action with the Hun-
garians near Schwechat. It was a repugnant
idea to me to be obliged to draw the sword
against many a former comrade, to wliom I
was attached by the ties of intimate friend-
ship. But the moment the artillery thundered
and the trumpets sounded, these fancies were
dispelled.

The Hungarians, about twenty-one thousand
strong, under the command of General Moga,
formerly in the Imperial service, partly re-

TN HUNGARY. 69

gular troops of Magyar regiments, but chiefly
Jionvod battalions and squadrons, fought at
first very gallantly. Their position was more
favourable than ours ; and, if their artillery
had been rather better served, they might
have inflicted on us considerable loss. They
gained also at first some advantages ; and our
cavalry, especially the Italians of the Kress
chevaux-legers, could not make much impres-
sion on them. We nevertheless completely
routed them ; the Auersperg cuirassiers cut
into them with irresistible force ; and they
had to lament the loss of some brave oflScers.
We also made a very successful attack, and
many a foe sank under our swords.

A cavalry attack of this kind is a fine thing,
and never to be forgotten by those who have
borne a part in it. When such a body, in
close order, horse to horse, scampers at full
gallop over the plain, swords flashing, horses
snorting — verily, there is a charm in this kind
of combat, such as that of no other arm
affords. Individual divisions of the Hunga-
rians defended themselves desperately; and
the parties frequently came, especially after-

70 THE CIVIL WAR

wards, in the pursuit, to hand to hand fights ;
but among the enemy there was no direction,
no command, no order; and so we had no
great diflficulty to repulse the whole army of
the insurgents, and to make a large booty in
cannon, arms, and prisoners.

Among the many incidents of this day, one
scene is vividly present to my view. A very
young Hungarian lad, evidently belonging to
the nobility of the country, was engaged in
fight with two cuirassiers. He contrived to
turn his superb horse about with such dex-
terity, that his antagonists, on their heavy
beasts, could not get at him ; while he had
dealt many blows, which, it is true, mostly
fell harmless upon the breast-armour and hel-
met. At last, one of the cuirassiers, waiting
for a proper moment, prepared for a thrust
with the pallasch ; and the broad, pointed
blade was driven with such force into the
breast of the youth, that he sank on the spot
lifeless from his horse, without uttering a
single sound.

What maternal heart may mourn for him ?
what bright eye may be filled with tears for

IN HUNGARY. 71

his loss ? His horse, with blood-stained saddle,
ran snorting away, and could not be caught ;
his rider we afterwards buried. He had about
him nothing but a handsome gold watch, and
a ring with hair, which I bought from the
cuirassiers for a couple of ducats.

My own lot was more favourable : a gun-
shot wound, which I received late in the action,
was attended with no danger, though at first
painful ; and the good nursing that I received
from friends soon effected my recovery.

72 THE CIVIL WAR

LETTER V.

March from Vienna to Pesth — Presburg and Raab aban-
doned to the Imperial Army — Devastations and cruelties of
the Insurgents— Intense cold and night-march — A battle-
scene — Remarkable incident during the pursuit of the
enemy — Tragic scene, enacted by the Magyars on New
Year's Day, 1849 — General character and cruelty of the
Honvod troops — Despotic conduct of Kossuth and his
retinue — Character of his officers.

Scarcely was the wound which I received
before Vienna so far healed that I could again
mount my horse, when we had to leave that
capital. I was heartily glad of this ; for the
abode in that once so cheerful city had be-
come quite disagreeable : one scarcely knew
it again.

All our comrades who were to remain there
envied us, when we broke up for Hungary,
and would cheerfully have changed places with
us. And yet it was to be foreseen that a
winter campaign in so uncultivated a country

IN HUNGARY. 73

as Hungary would not prove to be a party of
pleasure, and that we must prepare ourselves
for hardships of every kind. In truth, we
have met with them in abundance, and have
so often been pinched by cold that our teeth
chattered.

Much as I suffered this summer in Italy
from the heat, so much have I now to endure
in Hungary from the cold ; and in this year I
have been first thoroughly roasted and then
thoroughly cooled again. But during the
whole campaign not one of my men has com-
plained or murmured ; all were day and night
exposed to tempest and snow-storm, ready and
willing for any service, how arduous soever,
full of resignation to their officers, and full of
confidence in victory.

In Hungary we advanced to almost the very
same spot which we had left on the 9th of
October. We now made a rather better ap-
pearance, were more completely equipped ;
our horses were well fed and in recruited
strength : and thus we were quite ready for a
winter campaign.

In the very first days after our re-entry,

74 THE CIVIL WAR

having been sent forward with a strong recon-
noitring patrole, I had to sustain a petty
action with a division of mounted honvods
{landsturm). The result was very trifling:
the insurgents soon retired upon a division of
infantry, which, when we turned about, sent
after us a few balls that did us, however, no
harm.

Upon the whole, the army of the insurrec-
tion gave us at first not much to do ; and we
were surprised to find so little resistance as
we met with. Presburg was abandoned to us,
without any defence whatever ; and the great
majority of the inhabitants of that city, who
had always been averse to the cause of Kossuth,
received our troops with loud rejoicing.

The people of the house in which I lived
depicted the terrorism which had reigned
there, and the brutalities and cruelties perpe-
trated by the honvods, in the most frightful
colours. Some jurats, it is true, pulled long
faces; and it was plainly to be seen that to
them we were unwelcome guests, whom they
would much rather have treated to powder
and lead than to red Buda [wine.]

IN HUNGARY. 75

A severe conflict we had confidently ex-
pected, and that at Raab ; but, to our great
astonishment, we found ourselves disappointed.
The insurgents had there constructed exten-
sive entrenchments, and made such prepara-
tions as if they were determined to defend
them for weeks with their whole force ; and
yet they abandoned these works the moment
we appeared. Why Kossuth imposed such sa-
crifices upon the country, why he caused so
many fruit-trees to be cut down, so many
bridges removed, so many houses burned, if
he meant not to make a better defence, is
quite incomprehensible.

The country around Raab has suffered
frightfully from the insurgents, and will not
be able to recover itself for years. Instead of
fighting, several honvod divisions had here
most cruelly murdered above thirty soldiers
of a Croatian frontier regiment who had been
taken prisoners, as it was too troublesome to
drag them further along with them.

Moor also was soon occupied by our column,
which met with no serious resistance. Beyond
Moor, not far from the celebrated military

E 2

76 THE CIVIL WAR

Stud of Babolna, the first smart action took
place, on the 29th of December, between us
and the corps of Perezel. There was a frost
that day of 15 or 16 degrees. Ever since
four in the afternoon of the preceding day,
we had been marching the whole night long,
in order to overtake the enemy. This night-
march I shall not easily forget : never in my
life was I so frozen. The icy north-wind,
penetrating to bone and marrow, whistled over
the wide plain. It was impossible to continue
on horseback on account of the cold ; and the
animals were so incessantly sliding and near
falling upon the slippery ground that the whole
of the cavalry dismounted and marched for-
ward on foot, leading the horses by the bridle.

In this manner, we proceeded the whole
night along a high, narrow causeway, leading
through the half-frozen marshes, in not the
most pleasant mood, launching many an exe-,
cration against the insurgents. Had they
known ever so little what was for their ad-
vantage, they would have attacked us this
night on those causeways.

At length, at ten in the morning, when the

IN HUNGARY. 77

cold had considerably moderated, we fell in,
upon a plain, with PerezePs corps, about
19,000 strong, infantry, cavalry, and artillery.
Our soldiers, rendered furious by the cold
night-raarch, could scarcely be restrained from
the attack till the order for it was issued, and
then dashed like mad upon the enemy.

Here the two cuirassier regiments of Wall-
moden and Hardeg in particular found work.
The earth quaked when these squadrons of
heavy cavalry, in close contact, horse to horse,
clattered in a sharp trot over the hard -frozen
ground to charge the enemy. The cuirasses,
the helmets, the long pallasches glistened — it
was a real battle-scene.

The army of the insurgents fought par-
tially with great resolution : but there was a
want of direction, of confidence in the officers.
The honvdd'h2itt2l\on^ soon dispersed, and
sought their safety in flight.

A battalion of the late Hungarian regiment.
Prince of Prussia — which, with the exception
of individual officers and men who continued
faithful, was now entirely on the side of the
insurgents — fought with the utmost obstinacy.

78 THE CIVIL WAR

It was formerly a capital regiment, well-known
and highly estimated in the army — now it is
gone ! The men, mostly Magyars of pure
race, defended themselves with desperate re-
solution, but whole files of them sank under
the pallasches of the powerful cuirassiers, who
made frightful havoc when they had once
penetrated into the ranks. To a great dis-
tance might be heard the clash of swords
against bayonets ; at intervals, Magyar curses
from the one side, Bohemian from the other,
in confused medley ; and at times, too, cries
of agony from the wounded. It was an awful
fight, that cost many a life.

Here, too, we encountered a strong division
of the hussar regiment to which I formerly
belonged. Fortunately it so happened, that
I myself was not brought into collision with
them, though my sword found plenty of work
that day. It was quite grievous enough for me
to see these men, many of whom I had myself
trained for soldiers, who had so long been my
faithful subordinates, now fighting against
their king. Individual hussars, as they galloped
past, saluted me with the sword.

IN HUNGARY. 79

In the pursuit of the routed enemy, when
the mass was dissolved into separate fights, I
witnessed a scene which made a very deep
impression upon me. As something about my
saddle-girth was broken, I stopped to mend
it, and was thus left behind in a small meadow,
through which ran a wide ditch, that could
not be leaped with a horse, the edge being so
slippery with the frost.

All at once, I saw one of the enemy's hus-
sars, closely pursued by two cuirassiers, rush
from among the brushwood at a little distance
on the other side of the ditch. As this ditch
parted me from them, and I had a loaded
pistol, I continued to stand quietly by my
horse, awaiting the issue of the affair.

When the hussar came nearer, I recognised
in him a man who was formerly a subaltern,
and had long been in my company. He was
a fine, handsome fellow when he enlisted, six
years ago, into our regiment, a genuine Cu-
mane from the environs of Debreczin, wild,
disposed to all sorts of mad pranks, but brave
and trusty in service, at the same time a par-
ticularly excellent horseman ; not wholly un-

80 THE CIVIL WAR

educated, for he was the son of the overseer
of an estate — in short, an ideal of the Hun-
garian hussar. As a subaltern, to which he
had been promoted in two years, I had him
constantly about me ; and, when I was re-
moved from the regiment, I was extremely
sorry to part from him, I subsequently learned
that, at the time of the insurrection in Gallicia,
he had, on several occasions, particularly dis-
tinguished himself, and so I hoped to meet
with him some day as officer.

Iwanka, on his part, recognised me, and
lowered his sword as he galloped past, by way
of saluting me. Obstructed by the ditch, he
faced about resolutely against his two pursuers.
Then ensued a fight than which nothing finer
or more picturesque could be exhibited in a
Circus by any equestrian company, only that
it was bitter earnest, and for life or death.

The hussar, who rode a handsome stallion
of the best Hungarian breed — and many of
the insurgents were extremely well mounted —
manao:ed his swift steed with wonderful dex-
terity. He tunied him so short upon his hind-
legs, and dodged so quickly to the right or

IN HUNGARY. 81

left, that for a long time the cuirassiers, on
their clumsier horses, could not come at him,
though they had dealt many a tremendous
blow. The Hungarian, too, had aimed many
a one at them, with his glistening blade ; but
it had always glided with a loud droning
sound from the impenetrable breast-armour.

At length the hussar's tschako was struck
off, and he was covered with blood from a
wound on his forehead. " Nimm pardun /"
(take quarter !) repeatedly cried the cuirassiers
in their Bohemian German ; but, raising him-
self upright in the saddle, he replied, ''En
Magyar wagyck .'" (I am an Hungarian !) and
levelled fresh blows at his antagonists. His
very horse seemed to participate in his master's
ardour for fighting. His black hide was dotted
with white flakes of foam; his red nostrils
were widely distended ; his long mane flickered
wildly in the wind ; his large eye seemed to
flash.

At last, the aflair ended precisely in the
same manner as that of the young Hungarian
noble, whose fall before Vienna I have related.
As the hussar again dashed past, and pre-

E 5

82 THE CIVIL WAR

pared himself for a desperate blow, one of the
cuirassiers, seizing the right moment, thrust
the long, pointed, glistening blade of his
jpallasch into the right arm-pit of his antago-
nist with such force, that it came out on the
other side. With a loud exclamation of Jesus
Maria ! the hussar sank from his horse, and
was instantly dead. What a pity that he
could not die thus for his Emperor ! I took
care afterwards to have him buried under a
tree by our men.

Stuhlweissenburg was also occupied by our
troops without any serious action. We now
pursued incessantly the fugitive foe, who, after
the defeat at Moor, never attempted any serious
resistance. The corps of the Ban marched
by what is called the Fleischhackerstrasse
(Butcher Road), because the large droves of
cattle from southern Hungary are mostly
driven along it to Austria.

As I am tolerably well acquainted with the
Hungarian language, it again fell to my lot to
form with a detachment of eighty men a re-
connoitring patrole, that was to scour the
country on all sides — a duty, productive of

IN HUNGARY. 83

honour, it is true, but also of danger and of
great hardships. From twelve to sixteen hours
a day we were scarcely ever out of the saddle.

New-year's day was one which I shall
never forget — so doleful a day was it for me.
Let me tell you what befel me on it.

When, in the autumn of last year, we were
about to break up from Croatia, and the whole
frontier was striving to furnish the Emperor
with as many combatants as possible, the pen-
sioned German widow of a captain, whose
husband had fallen many years ago in light
with predatory Bosnians, brought her only
son, a fresh, lively, stout lad, of scarcely six-
teen, who had from childhood been carefully
exercised in arms. He was gladly received
as a cadet in the hussars, learned the duty in
a short time, and behaved on all occasions
extremely well.

I began to be very fond of the ingenuous,
spirited youth. On the march back through
Hungary, before Vienna, and also at Moor,
he had fought gallantly, borne all fatigues
with the unconcern of youth, and his promo-
tion to officer must soon have followed. He

84 THE CIVIL WAR

would perhaps have acquired a brilliant posi-
tion in the army, for he had all the qualities
for it.

On New-year's day, he rode forward on
patrole with three hussars, while the rest of
us awaited their return by a great watch-fire.
They had been so long absent, that I began
to be uneasy. At length, one of the hussars
came at full speed towards us, bleeding, and
with a wild look. While yet in the saddle,
he informed me that they had proceeded
rather too far, when a band of savage honvods
suddenly rushed upon them from all sides,
and surrounded them. He himself had suc-
ceeded in fighting his way through, but the
cadet and the two other hussars were taken
prisoners.

Conducted by this hussar, we proceeded
with all the speed we could over ground in-
tersected by wood and bushes, in pursuit of
the fionvods, to take the prisoners from them.
On coming to a small clearance, what an ap-
palling spectacle met our view ! Stripped
stark naked, mangled with innumerable
wounds, there lay the bodies of the two hus-

IN HUNGARY. 85

sars ; but the cadet, also completely stripped,
was bound to a tree, after the monsters had
with their hand-bills, which all of them carry,
chopped off both his hands at the wrist. In
this condition, he was left to bleed to death
slowly ; but the intense frost had congealed
the blood, and he was still alive and perfectly
sensible, when we came to him.

It was truly appalling to see the poor boy,
who strove with manly fortitude to conquer
his pains, and only broke out now and then
into a slight moan, which penetrated so much
the deeper into our hearts. We cautiously
unbound him, and laid him upon a bed formed
of our cloaks — this was all that we could do
for him at the moment.

With faint voice, frequently interrupted, he
related to me that the honvods had first cut
down the two hussars, and then required him
to give them information concerning our posi-
tion and force. When he refused to comply,
they stripped him to his shirt, they beat him
severely with sticks, then chopped off his
hands, and tied him to the tree, and at last
went off laughing and singing.

86 THE CIVIL WAR

It was now heartrending to hear how ear-
nestly he implored me to shoot him, and put
an end to his misery. " What should I live
for without hands, if it were possible that I
could recover ?" said he. ** Shoot me dead,
I beg of you ; kill me at once."

Compliance with this request was as unne-
cessary as it was impossible. Death, the de-
liverer, was fast approaching. His breath
already became weaker, his eyes glazed ; it
was evident that in a few moments his spirit
would be summoned away ; when he rallied
once more, and asked me, while kneeling be-
side his bed, in a tolerably loud voice, which
could be heard by part of the hussars who
stood around, " I am dying like a brave sol-
dier for the Emperor — am I not ?"

When with entire conviction I assured him
of this, he was evidently rejoiced, and said,
" Write to my mother that I have fallen like
a brave soldier for the Emperor : this will
comfort her in her sorrow; and send her a lock
of my hair." Here his voice sunk to a faint
whisper, and he was a corpse.

It was long since I had w ept ; but now,

IN HUNGARY. 87

between grief and rage, my tears flowed pro-
fusely: this was also the case with many
of the men. As it was now too late for pur-
suit, and began to be dusk, and we durst
not venture too far from the main body, we
bivouacked on the spot, after we had suffi-
ciently secured ourselves against a surprise.
We thawed the ground under an oak with
large fires, so that we could scoop out a grave
with our bills, and there laid the three man-
gled bodies with all the solemnity we could.
We waved our swords over the grave, and
clashed them together; because, for obvious
reasons, we were obliged to forego salutes
with our carbines. In the bark of the oak we
carved a cross and the initials of the names
of the persons here interred, vowing to revenge
their death upon the enemy to the utmost of
our power.

Gf course such scenes, and the horrible
cruelties in general practised by a part of the
honvods upon all who fell into their hands,
did not tend to produce in our men a kindly
disposition towards the enemy. The officers
had often great difficulty to persuade the sol-

88 THE CIVIL WAR

diers that they ought to give quarter to the
enemy, and they always rushed into battle
with the most terrific fury.

Among these Jionvods, indeed, there are all
sorts of ruffians. Many battalions and squa-
drons of them are well organized, consist
principally of peasants possessing landed pro-
perty, are commanded by gentlemen, kept in
good discipline, and are not guilty of such
excesses. Other divisions are composed of
the inmates of jails and houses of correction,
which Kossuth has entirely emptied.

The numerous robbers that always infested
Hungary play a prominent part. By these
are perpetrated acts of pillage, and atrocities
of the most barbarous kind ; and they make
little distinction to which party a person be-
longs, plundering Magyar families as weW as
others. Though it admits not of a doubt that
we shall soon put an end to this insurrection,
a long time may elapse before these bands of
robbers are exterminated.

The regular troops which are now with
Kossuth, and especially their officers, have
naturally but little intercourse with these in-

IN HUNGARY. 89

famous allies, and strive to keep them at a
distance as much as possible. There are, be-
sides, to be found in the Magyar armies ad-
venturers of all nations, invested with officers'
appointments ; for, upon the whole, every one
willing to bear arms against us was gladly
received by Kossuth, even though he came
direct from the gallows.

An Hungarian gentleman who was taken pri-
soner, and made no secret of it how ardently he
wished victory to the insurrection, spoke with
profound indignation of many of Kossuth's
officers, and called them plumply rogues and
vagabonds, whose only object was booty, and
to be obliged to serve with whom was a severe
ordeal for an honourable man. It is comic
enough that, in this self-styled army of liberty,
the cane rules more arbitrarily than in the
Austrian army itself, as we have been re-
peatedly assured by prisoners. Flogging is
practised there with cruel severity.

In the head-quarters of the rebels, things
upon the whole are reported to be conducted
very despotically; and Kossuth, and still
more his wife and their numerous retinue, are

90 THE CIVIL WAR

said to make such pretensions as if they be-
longed to the imperial family itself. An
hussar who did not present his sword before
the carriage of Madame Kossuth has been for
that omission tied up and received his full
twenty-five, as he himself told me, and his
comrades confirmed what he said. The offi-
cers also are reported to behave brutally
towards their subordinates: and, upon the
whole, dissension and confusion reign in the
ranks of the insurgents.

The Magyars will not obey the Polish offi-
cers whom Kossuth has engaged ; so that he
has been obliged to send General Bem, indis-
putably the ablest leader in the whole insur-
rectionary army, to the Szeklers in Transyl-
vania. The inordinate pride of birth of the
Magyar nobles shows itself in all its presump-
tion ; and in the well disciplined divisions of
the army, nobles alone are appointed officers.
The free corps, it is true, are not so strict; and
in the so-called " Tirolese honvod battalion,"
raised by a man who formerly kept a pot-
house, persons who had been equestrian per-
formers, actors, croupiers at gaming-tables,

IN HUNGARY. 91

are appointed as officers. The second com-
mandant of this corps was formerly an officer
in the imperial service, who was cashiered for
a vulgar theft, and sentenced to ten years'
confinement in the house of correction. The
internal disunity and dissension must also
have been the chief cause that Pesth was
abandoned to us without resistance ; for the
Magyar cannot be denied courage, especially
in an impetuous attack in the open field.

92 THE CIVIL WAR

LETTER VI.

Capture of a Convoy by the Writer's party — Merry-
making in Bivouac — Scene described — Kossuth, after con-
structing extensive works near Buda, retreats precipitately
without resistance — Entry of the Imperial Army into
Pesth — ^Wretched roads in Hungary in Spring.

Two days' march before Pesth, I made a
fine prize with my roving corps. We dis-
covered that a honvod division of about a
hundred men were escorting a convoy of four
waggons. Though I had not more than sixty
men with me, I resolved, if possible, to secure
those vehicles.

Taking by-ways and riding swiftly, we
gained a start, placed ourselves in ambush,
and fell with loud shouts upon the startled
escort, which had not expected any attack
from that quarter. Some of the honvods,
indeed, put themselves in a posture of defence;
the horse of one of my hussars was shot; two
of them received slight wounds ; a ball went

IN HUNGARY. 93

through my cloak ; but presently the enemy
fled, and left us the convoy for our booty.

The waggons contained principally provi-
sions of all sorts, but also a quantity of
woollen horse-cloths, which were very accept-
able. At last there was discovered a hamper
with fifty bottles of genuine champagne, pro-
bably ordered by a superior officer of the
insurgents. Great was the exultation among
my soldiers, not one of whom had ever tasted
champagne in his life. The necks of the
bottles were quickly chopped off, and the
sweet foaming wine drunk in eager draughts.
It was much liked, though many declared that
they would rather have had sklikowitz (plum-
brandy).

We made our bivouac on the spot where
we had taken the waggons ; and here ensued
scenes full of animation and mirth. Huge
fires were kindled as usual, for it was yet
pretty cold, and the men fell to boiling and
roasting, to their hearts' content. A patrole
had accidentally picked up five gipsies, with
a couple of girls. These people, provided with
instruments, played up; and my hussars, clat-

94 THE CIVIL WAR

tering witli their spurs, snapping their fingers,
danced half the night on the hard-frozen
ground, which formed a capital floor for the
purpose. All was gaiety and merriment;
and yet we imagined that, in the next days,
we should have hot work in the reduction of
Pesth and Buda. But the soldier enjoys the
present moment, reckless what the morrow
may produce.

I too yielded to the seductive influence of
the moment, and danced several rounds with
the handsome Seressan girl, whom I have
already mentioned. Then, shoving my saddle
under my head, wrapping myself in a woollen
coverlet, I lay down by the watch-fire, to con-
template the scene about me.

Above, the dark wintry firmament, with its
sparkling stars, reddened in the distance by
the glare of a conflagration, such as we saw
almost every day — for Kossuth's bands burned
in their retreat many dwellings, and even vil-
lages inhabited by Germans and Slaaves — in
a wide circle around me, our horses, com-
pletely covered with their warm cloths, either
stretched at full length, or feeding out of their

IN HUNGARY. 95

nose-bags, part of them of course saddled and
bridled, ready at the first signal to bear their
riders against the enemy. Near me, tinged
by the bright blazing fire, the dancing hus-
sars, in their white cloaks, all hale fellows,
with dark expressive countenances, black eyes,
and the lower part of the face covered with a
thick black beard.

The few Seressans whom I still had with
me — on account of the extraordinary service
they render in scouting patroles, the uncom-
mon acuteness of their senses, and their pecu-
liar dexterity — lay asleep by the fire, wrapped
in their red and brown hooded cloaks; for
they were elderly men, and had ceased to have
any taste for dancing and noisy mirth. Add
to all this the tones of the gipsy music, which
was not amiss, and the shouting, the singing,
the snapping, the clattering of my men.

At a distance was heard occasionally the
cry of our vedettes, and here and there, from
the recesses of the woods, the howling of
wolves, which are still tolerably numerous in
Hungary. For those animals this year was a
propitious one; many a dead horse, and like-

96 THE CIVIL WAR

wise many a human corse, found its way into
their never-sated maws.

About midnight my order put an end to the
dancing, for the men could not be allowed to
waste their strength to no purpose ; and all
whose duty did not keep them waking were
soon stretched by the watch-fire, sleeping the
sound sleep of the weary, which the soldier
always does in the field.

Shortly before the morning dawn, we others,
alarmed by a vedette, which made the signal
for an attack, were prepared for it, and in our
saddles in a few minutes. It proved to be a
false alarm : no enemy made his appearance,
and so we could take a few more hours' rest,
before we broke up, in order to get sight
about noon of the steeples of Buda in the
distance.

It was believed throughout the whole army
that the insurgents would concentrate them-
selves before Buda, and attempt to make as
long a stand as possible in that town and in
Pesth, which is connected with it. All of us
looked forward to a decisive engagement here,
and made every preparation for it. In pom-

IN HUNGARY. 97

pous phrases, the radical Hungarian news-
papers, which, be it observed by the way, lied
more impudently, and boasted more absurdly,
than the Vienna papers themselves during the
October insurrection, proclaimed that Buda
would be another Saragossa, and that there
the Imperial army of Austria would find its
destruction.

For months together entrenchments had
been constructing, and much property of in-
dustrious families laid waste. And now, when
the trial came, all this had been done for no-
thing. Kossuth was afraid of getting between
two fires ; the majority of the population of
Buda and Pesth, who had sufficiently learned
his character, and had seen through his am-
bitious schemes, was wholly adverse to him
and his party. Had we therefore made an
attack from without, he must have appre-
hended that a party within was rising against
him; and it is not improbable that this consi-
deration contributed much to his retreat, re-
sembling a flight, to Debreczin.

When our scouts informed us that the
entrenchments near Buda were wholly un-

r

98 THE CIVIL WAR

occupied, and that Kossuth's army was fleeing
from Pesth, we could not give any credit to
the report. Cautiously and still apprehen-
sive of treachery, or an amhuscade of some
kind, we approached the city; but the report
was perfectly correct ; with the exception of
individual laggards, we found not a single
defender in all the works ; and we soon re-
ceived certain intelligence from the city, that
we could enter without molestation. To many
in our army who were eager for fighting, this
was a great disappointment. Many of our
divisions had not had an opportunity, since
Vienna, to fire a single shot at the enemy.

It was a fine sight when, on the 6th of
January, we marched over the great bridge of
boats from Buda to Pesth, to make our entry
into the first city of Hungary. All possible
preparations had been made, and the bands of
several regiments played with animation the
Austrian national hymn. We were greeted
with loud Eljens ! and handkerchiefs waved
from the windows of very many houses. It
was a day of universal rejoicing. The many
thousand Germans and Slaaves who compose

IN HUNGARY. 99

half the population of those two cities made
bitter complaints of the ill-treatment which
they had suffered from the partisans of Kos-
suth. Whoever is acquainted with the coarse
haughtiness of the Hungarian nobles, and the
savage character of Magyar peasants, will not
be surprised at this.

It was an extraordinary sensation for me
to sleep once more in a bed, and to be able
to pull off my clothes. This had not been
the case since the 21st of November, when
we marched away from Vienna. Upon the
whole, the incessant advanced post duty, and
the continual patroles, have so harassed men
and horses, that we need repose. This rest
will not be long; for, though the complete
suppression of the rebellion is to be antici-
pated, the business may still be protracted for
weeks. The many plains of Hungary, the
districts of the Cumanes and Jazyges, the
seats of the genuine Magyar race, will hence-
forth be the theatre of war; and there, so
clever, shrewd, and at the same time energetic
man as Kossuth, will find many resources, if
he is resolved to play a desperate game.

r2

100 THE CIVIL WAR

After all, the best allies of the insurgents
are the wretched roads ; in spring, when the
thaws commence, they are almost bottom-
less, and impede every operation. In par-
ticular, the transport of artillery, in which
arm we are so superior to the insurgents, is
attended with prodigious exertions. Hun-
dreds of poor horses, employed in this service,
are driven to death, and you advance very
slowly, or not at all; so that the General never
can execute a plan with certainty.

We hussars, on our light horses, are less
cramped by the miserable roads : at least, our
enemies, who are mounted and organized in
the same manner as we, are subject to the
same inconveniences that we experience. In
these Hungarian affairs, it is a fine thing to
belong to the cavalry ; and let us only get to
the extensive plains, which seem to be made
for cavalry actions, and we shall be found
capable of doing good service.

My next letter will, I hope, be dated from
Debreczin; the place where, in early youth, my
military career commenced.

IN HUNGARY. 101

LETTER VII.

Hardships of advanced post service — The Writer's pic-
ture of himself — Frequent actions with the Magyars —
Sharp combat at Gyongios — Excellence of the Hungarian
cavalry — Quality of the Austrian army — Cruel necessity
of having to fight against former friends and comrades ex-
emplified— Kemarkable meeting of the Writer with hussars
of his old regiment — Brief occasional suspension of hos-
tilities between the advanced posts of the two armies — Ex-
treme animosity of both parties in fight — Diminished im-
portance of cavalry in war.

It frequently appears incomprehensible to
me that I am yet alive, and have not even one
crippled limb about my body. What hardships
I have encountered during the last weeks,
what dangers I have escaped, are not to be
described.

As I am still employed with the advanced
troops, which of late have unfortunately become
too often the rear-guard of our corps, and as
I am in general roving about with my little

102 THE CIVIL WAR

troop, difficulties and dangers fall in double
measure to our lot. I had long forgotten
what a bed, what a chair was like; and I never
had my clothes off, ever since our departure
from Pesth till the day before yesterday ; when,
on account of the excessive fatiofue of our
horses — for of course no regard was paid to
us men — it was found absolutely necessary to
grant them a few days' rest.

But how do I look myself ?— frightful,
hideous. I could not forbear laughing, when
I first saw my figure again in the glass. A
long beard covered chin, cheeks, and lips,
forming not the most graceful curls, the hair of
the head wretchedly cut by an hussar; the
forehead bound with a black handkerchief, on
account of a slight cut which I had received
from an Hungarian hussar, a few days before ;
my white cloak covered with spots, gray,
black, brown, and yellow, marbled with streaks
of blood, in holes from sword-cuts, balls, and
firebrands of the bivouac ; the tschako cut
through and bent; instead of the w^dXtschismen,
clumsy fisherman's boots, over the trousers,
having a broad border of leather; and the

IN HUNGARY. 103

black and yellow sash, stripped of all its
friDge.

My sword, from the many strokes that it
has dealt and parried, is full of notches and
covered with rusty blood-stains ; my excellent
Ali, my noble charger, is dry as a cat, and de-
prived of one ear; but, at the same time,
like his master — God be praised ! — fresh and
hearty, and always ready for new conflicts.
My soldiers, too, bear up stoutly, but look
still more like a band of robbers than I do
like a captain of banditti.

More than half of those whom I had at first
along with me have, it is true, fallen or are
severely wounded, and my little corps has re-
peatedly required completing. Well; this
great empire has still abundance of men ;
even though all who are here should perish,
the Emperor will always obtain more soldiers.
Human life sinks prodigiously in value, when
one has, like us, lived for a year in continual
war.

As we are always in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of the enemy, and our vedettes are
frequently placed not above a mile from his

104 THE CIVIL WAR

advanced posts, we have had to sustain in-
numerable fights, particularly of late. Scarcely
a day passes, on which we have not been en-
gaged, on a greater or a smaller scale, with
the enemy's hussars ; and we often enjoyed
this treat in the morning for breakfast, and
again in the evening — nay, some days were
wholly passed in incessant skirmishing.

Frequently it was only a few sword-cuts that
individual horsemen exchanged with one ano-
ther, or the advanced posts sent for variety's
sake a few carbine balls to and fro ; or the
point was to execute or to repel some cunningly
devised attack. But sometimes the matter
was more serious ; real battles were fought,
and the cannon roared lustily the while. Many
a rider had to exchange his seat in the saddle
for ever, for a bed in the cold ground.

The more important actions were some of
them very sanguinary ; for both parties fought
with the greatest courage and inexpressible
animosity. Thus, at Gyongios, I saw two
squadrons of Kossuth's hussars charge three
times, in order to break into a square of our in-
fantry : twice were they repulsed by the calm,

IN HUNGARY. 105

steady fire of our men ; horses and riders had
fallen in files ; when they made a third charge,
amidst loud shouts of " Huzzah ! eljen^ eljen^
Kossuth r dashed at full speed, utterly re-
gardless of our fire, broke the square, and
plied their sharp swords with destructive fury.
Unfortunately, being ourselves at the moment
engaged with a superior body of the enemy's
cavalry, we could not go to the assistance of
our gallant comrades. Though, after a hot
contest, we retained the field of battle, our
loss was not inconsiderable.

It is not to be denied that the greater part
of the insurgents, and their cavalry in parti-
cular, fight valiantly, and display a courage and
an address which are the prominent character-
istics of the good soldier. What are those
prating, boasting, cowardly Italians to these
bold Magyars and death-defying Poles ! With
the exception of part of the Sardinian army,
especially the Piedmontese regiments, all these
so-called soldiers of the so-called republics
are not wortli so much as four regiments of
Hungarian hussars.

But it is a question whether, in spite of the

F 5

106 THE CIVIL WAR

gallant and clever defence of the enemy, we
might not have been more successful, if mat-
ters had been managed differently in the
highest quarter. The spirit of our soldiers,
with very few exceptions, continues to be the
best ; and, in the firm endurance of the endless
hardships which this campaign brought with
it, they have performed things almost incre-
dible. Yes, our army is brave and faithful ; the
good old spirit still lives in it; and under ju-
dicious guidance and direction, very much may
still be accomplished with it.

Should it be decreed in the book of Fate
that the power of Austria shall be dissolved ;
that this once so proud empire shall be over-
turned, our army must first be destroyed —
annihilated. So long as this subsists, so long
as it adheres firmly together, so long will Aus-
tria stand unshaken. She must support her-
self upon her bayonets : these have not yet
begun to waver — all other props are rotten, and
of little value.

But to return to the details of my life,
since my last letter. — It would be too tedious
to describe all the petty actions in which I

IN HUNGARY. 107

have since been engaged. We frequently
drove back the Magyars, and were sometimes
repulsed by them when the fortune of war so
willed it. Doleful scenes there were in abun-
dance— rarely cheering ones.

The buoyant joyousness with which we
entered into the war is much damped, and
has given place to a manly sobriety. Jovial
war and drinking-songs are now heard but
seldom, and on particular occasions, in our
bivouacs. They proceed in general from in-
dividuals only ; the majority are too fatigued
or out of humour. Almost every day are
coming accounts that this or the other friend
or gallant comrade has met with death from
the enemy's balls or swords, or that he is lying
severely wounded. The incessant recurrence
of such tidings must in the end depress the
spirits.

Of late, too, it is not forward that we have
moved ; but a great way backward that we
have had to go ; and that is a galling word
to the ear of the brave soldier, which is apt
to rob him of all disposition to cheerfulness.
Now, it is to be hoped that we shall move

108 THE CIVIL WAR

forward, steadily forward, and make amends
for previous omissions.

But it is impossible to foresee when this
unhappy war is to end. The Hungarians will
keep it up to the last extremity ; it will yet
cost one cannot tell how much blood, till
Austria can consider all Hungary and Tran-
sylvania as completely conquered provinces.
And whenever this takes place, an army of
fifty thousand men must be left in the country,
to extinguish any flame that may burst forth
from the fire, which will long, very long, smoul-
der under the ashes.

But what is this to us inferior officers ! If
any faults have been committed, it is not by
us, neither have we to answer for them : our
duty is only to fight for the honour of the
Austrian colours, and that we will faithfully,
till our latest breath.

What has of late frequently rendered fight-
ing extremely unpleasant to me has been, that
I so often found myself opposed to hussars of
the regiment to which I formerly belonged, and
that I have been repeatedly obliged to battle
with them in good earnest. Thus, I was once

IN HUNGARY. 109

nearly a day skirmishing with a troop of ca-
valry, chiefly composed of hussars of the squa-
dron to which for years I had formerly belonged.

A corporal of my company, whom I had
myself clothed and trained, now commanded
as officer ; and it cannot be denied that he did
his business cleverly. I myself shot through
the head, with my pistol, an old hussar, who
had known me when still a cadet, and from
whom I gained much practical knowledge.
He dropped from his horse immediately. He
had fired at me twice, and his balls had passed
through my cloak and through the flourishing
tail of my horse. With another hussar, who had
long been my private servant, I was engaged in
a longer single combat with the sword. Both
cut away stoutly, but at last separated without
either having done the other much harm.

Comrades of other days, with whom I had
emptied so many a bottle, with whom I had
played or chatted so many an hour, with whom
I had had so many a wild nocturnal ride, when
returning from the convivial halls of Gallician
mansions to our distant villages — these were
now arrayed as bitter enemies against me.

110 THE CIVIL WAR

One of their hussars, with whom I had
formerly been well acquainted, once called out
to me in Hungarian, in the midst of an action:
*' Formerly you were my brave officer, and I
was attached to you ; now you are the enemy
of my country, and I'll shoot you." At the
same moment he fired his pistol at me, and
galloped off; the ball whizzing past my
head.

A few days afterwards I again met with
hussars of my former regiment in a singular
manner. The petty advanced post fights and
skirmishes had been so incessant and so haras-
sing, particularly for the horses, that both
parties necessarily required some rest ; and so
a kind of truce ensued between the corps
opposed to each other. Our vedettes were
posted about two thousand paces distant from
each other, both parties equally unconcerned
about an attack, at least about any secret sur-
prise ; for to all a day's rest was far more
agreeable than fighting.

We were upon short commons, as we had
long been : our supplies were very scanty, for
there was not much to be picked up in the

IN HUNGARY. Ill

extensive plains where we then were ; as the
Magyars had carried off all the provisions
the J could, or concealed, or even destroyed
them.

I looked, therefore, rather disconsolate,
when I saw my men cooking the everlasting
mamaliga (Indian meal porridge) at the
watch-fire. This is of itself rather insipid
food ; but when you are confined to it for
weeks together, with scarcely any variation,
it becomes absolutely disgusting ; and I shall
think of this mamaliga as long as I live.
Neither was there much sklikowitz in our
tschuttoras ; and so we sat in no very good
humour around our slender watch-fire, swal-
lowing our meal porridge, and washing it
down with bad water.

Our adversaries must have been, as they
generally were, better supplied with provisions
of all kinds. The sounds of their laughter
and singing rang in our ears like derision. I
saw two hussars waving a white cloth, as a
signal for us to come to them.

Curious to learn what they meant, I ap-
proached, and recognised in them two soldiers

112 THE CIVIL WAR

of my old squadron. On my coming up to them,
they saluted me respectfully ; said they had
excellent provisions, a cask of wine, and a fat
hog ; and, as they knew that we had not much
that was good, they came to ask me to accept
part of their store. As I perceived that I had
before us genuine Magyars, who, when not
excited, always act honourably, I thankfully
accepted their offer, and sent a couple of hus-
sars over to them.

The hussars soon returned, laden with about
forty quarts of good Hungarian wine and a
quarter of a pig ; and it was not long before
my soldiers were feasting in high glee, quite
forgetting that they had received this treat
from an enemy, with whom, in a few hours,
they might be fighting for life and death.
One civility is worthy of another ; so, when
our meal was over, I took a large bladder of
fine Turkish tobacco, of which I still possessed
a tolerable stock, and which I knew from
experience the Hungarian hussars to be very
fond of, and went towards the enemy's bivouac
fire. An hussar came forward, to serve me as
a guide.

IN HUNGARY. 113

As soon as I approached the fire, the whole
of the men on guard, about fifty hussars of
my former regiment, rose respectfully ; saluted
me in the same manner as if I was still their
officer ; and were delighted when I acquainted
them with the object of my visit, and deli-
Tered the tobacco to the grey-bearded veteran
who acted as commander.

I conversed for a few moments with the
hussars, most of whom I personally knew, and
asked them why they had left their colours
to fight against their king. " That we do not,"
replied they very seriously ; " Ferdinand is
still our king, and we would have him remain
so ; but the country must not be divided among
Croatians and Germans, such as the Ban Jel-
lachich and Windischgratz choose to give it to."

I laughed, and assured them that nobody
had ever thought of such a thing : but they
declared that Kossuth had said so ; that what
he said was true ; that they would do every
thing that he commanded ; and that their
captain and colonel also had enjoined them to
do all that Kossuth directed.

I asked them whether I had not formerly

114 THE CIVIL WAR

treated them as kindly as the captain, who
had dispensed so many floggings. " Better,
much better," they exclaimed I *' You are an
excellent man, but you are a German, and the
captain is an Hungarian, and so we had rather
do what he orders."

One of them said ; " You have been a good
officer, and, when we take you prisoner, we
will use you well." I laughed, and replied,
" You may be sure that I shall not let you
take me prisoner, but be cut in pieces first."
The old soldier acting as commandant of the
watch patted me familiarly on the shoulder,
and said gravely : " You are right ; who-
ever has had the honour to command us for-
merly as officer, must now not let us catch
him."

On departing, many of them extended their
hands to me, and they shouted a thundering
Eljen! eljen! as I withdrew. In a few hours,
a detachment of the Polish legion relieved the
Hungarians, and attacked us the same evening
with such fury, that we could scarcely keep
our ground.

Such suspensions of arms at the advanced

IN HUNGARY. 115

posts were not practicable, unless with what
had formerly been regular troops, or well
disciplined honvod battalions or squadrons.
There were divisions in the Magyar army
which it would have been very dangerous to
trust, even for a moment. If an advanced
post division on either side wished for a few
hours' truce, it caused the signal for foddering
to sound. If this was answered from the op-
posite side, the truce was concluded ; if not,
it was rejected. If hostilities were to recom-
mence, the signal for saddling was blown ; and
in a few minutes the attack began, or at least
might be begun.

Notwithstanding this mutual, amicable
agreement, both parties fought with extreme
animosity, and giving or accepting quarter
was very rarely thought of. The Magyars
scarcely ever accept quarter : many of them
have been taught to believe that Windisch-
gratz has both thumbs of all prisoners chopped
off, to render them unfit for military service ;
and our soldiers, who well knew how many
unfortunate prisoners had been inhumanly
slaughtered by individual battalions of savage

116 THE CIVIL WAR

honvods, preferred fighting to the last gasp to
surrendering their swords.

How often have I seen, on our side as well
as on that of the Magyars, a horseman com-
pletely covered with blood, defending himself
with desperation against great odds, and suf-
fering himself to be cut down from his horse
before he would accept quarter ! I have my-
self once had to sustain the attack of three
mounted honvods for half an hour ; and saved
myself at last only by my Ali, who lost an ear
in the fray, making a prodigious leap over a
ditch, across which my antagonists could not
follow me. From this affair, I brought away
only a slight wound in the forehead. It
would have been much deeper, had not a silk
handkerchief which I had in my tsckako broken
the chief force of the stroke.

It was a fine sight, such a combat of horse
soldiers, man against man, in which strength,
courage, and dexterity display themselves.
In this Hungarian campaign, in which the
cavalry was in general of such prominent im-
portance, this treat was profusely afforded to
us partisan corps and advanced post troops.

IN HUNGARY. 117

In other situations, these fights are becoming
less frequent: all firearms are now so im-
proved, that the cavalry is thrown more and
more into the background. This relic of
chivalry is wholly disappearing. If I had
sons who were determined to be soldiers, I
would put them into the artillery or the en-
gineers ; on these the issue of battles will
more and more depend.

This, indeed, is not the country for them.
The roads are so bottomless that the artillery
is either not to be moved forward at all, or
not without the greatest exertions. Sixteen
or eighteen horses are often harnessed to a
single piece, and then it can scarcely be
dragged from the spot. The wretched and
often impassable roads are, upon the whole,
of great advantage to the Magyars. With
their small, light, active hussar horses
they can get on every where incomparably
better than our cuirassiers, on their heavy,
unwieldy beasts. The poor cuirassier horses
often appear to suffer sadly. Nevertheless,
precisely the cuirassier regiments, especially
the regiments of Hardeg, Auersperg, Wall-

118 THE CIVIL WAR

moden, and Prince of Prussia, have done a
great deal in this campaign, and gained them-
selves high reputation.

We hussars are upon a par with the enemy
in respect to getting forward ; and, as there
is a considerable want of light cavalry, our
services have been in great request, so that
we have often been obliged to remain in the
saddle night and day.

But how cheerfully I should bear it all, did
not this accursed war bring with it scenes
that have harrowed my soul ! Yes ! in these
last weeks I have had to endure profound
sorrows.

I will tell you more about this in my next.

IN HUNGARY. 119

LETTER VIII.

Action with a Honvod corps — A military field hospital
— Painful meeting of the Writer with an old friend — Af-
fecting death scene of St Serious affair with a body

of the enemy's infantry — Singular fate of the Countess

Helene, sister of Count St A halt and military

workshop.

We had — as we so often have had — a se-
rious engagement with the Magyars, in which
there were, on both sides at least, ten or twelve
thousand men in the fire. On this occasion,
the enemy again had a numerous and excellent
light cavalry, and had the skill to employ it
on ground favourable for himself; so that our
infantry was repeatedly exposed to the most
violent attacks, and had the greatest difficulty
to ward them off.

Two squadrons in particular, of very well
organized and equipped honvods, distinguished
themselves by their furious charges on Cro-
atian infantry battalions, and could at last not

1 20 THE CIVIL WAR

be compelled to retreat but by several dis-
charges of grape, which made dreadful havoc
in their ranks.

The leader of this corps, a man of tall
elegant figure, in the rich dress of a magnate,
mounted on a superb, spirited, gray stallion,
which he managed with great dexterity, was
indefatigable in always rallying his men, and
leading them back against our infantry. He
galloped to and fro with as much unconcern
as if the balls whizzing around him were but
snowballs, continually flourishing his glistening
blade.

The figure of the rider seemed to be well
known to me ; but I could not distinguish
his features, as we were drawn up in rear of
our column of infantry, at the distance of
some hundred paces from him.

Twice he had escaped unhurt the fire of our
infantry ; when, as I have already mentioned,
some guns, which had meanwhile come up,
began to fire with grape. He seemed not to
heed the first discharge ; for I saw him, still
brisk and animated as ever, galloping about at
the head of his men. The second must have

IN HUNGARY. 121

been directed better; for when the smoke
cleared off, I could perceive horse and rider on
the ground.

At the same moment we received the signal
for charging. The ranks of our infantry sud-
denly opened, to let us pass through, and we
advanced at full gallop upon the enemy's horse.
These at first retired precipitately, to get
beyond the range of our cannon ; then rallied,
and drove us back ; we did the same by them ;
and so we went on, till at length, as it is usual
in Hungary, the whole dissolved into single
combats, in which man is engaged hand to
hand with man.

It was nearly dark when, with my troop,
some of whom were killed, others severely
wounded, I reached the main body. Scarcely
had we unsaddled, and, tired to death, I was
about to stretch myself by the watch-fire,
fed with the ruins of houses which had been
pulled down, when an infantry soldier, ap-
pointed to hospital duty, came to inform me
that an officer of the insurgents, dangerously
wounded and taken prisoner, having heard my
name, wished to speak to me.

a

122 THE CIVIL WAR

In spite of weariness, I immediately fol-
lowed my guide to the hurdle-shed, which was
fitted up for an hospital. Dismal was the
appearance of this dark, low place, scantily
lighted by the hand-lanterns of the surgeons
and attendants, who, with their blood-striped
sleeves tucked up high, and with aprons
equally bloody, were busily engaged. The
wounded lay close to one another upon dirty
straw, which in places was quite wet and slip-
pery from the blood upon it. Loud and gentle
sighs, moans, groans, gnashing of teeth,
mingled at times with curses, in the Bohemian,
Polish, Hungarian, German, and Croatian
languages. I was obliged to rally my cou-
rage, lest I should be scared back.

In the furthest corner of the long building,
on a bed of straw, lay the wounded pri-
* soner, who wished to speak to me. How was
I shocked when the light of the attendant's
lantern fell upon his face, and I recognised
Count St !

On our march through Croatia to Vienna, I
had passed two days at his mansion ; had seen
him in the society of two charming women —

IN HUNGARY. 12S

his wife and his sister — in the full enjoyment of
happiness ; and now, in what a state was I

doomed to find him ! St , a Magyar to

the inmost fibre of his heart, had indeed then
told me that he should take up arms for Kos-
suth ; but thus to meet him again I was not
at all prepared.

Kneeling by the side of my pale friend,
whose noble countenance bore the evident im-
press of speedy death, I grasped his cold hand,
and asked in what way I could be serviceable
to him. " Thank you for coming," he replied
in a voice scarcely audible, and this effort
manifestly caused him great pain ; ^' I heard
that you were here, and I sent for you. I am
dying; my chest is shattered. When I am
dead, take the pocket-book out of my uniform,

and send it to my wife, who lives at K :

it contains my will and other papers."

Here he made a long pause, during which
I strove to cheer him.

" Don't talk thus — 'tis of no use — we part
as friends — I have fought for my country —
you are faithful to your colours."

I pressed his hand in silence.

G 2

124 ' THE CIVIL WAR

** Where is your sister Helene ?" I at length
asked.

" With the army," he answered — " she is
fighting for Hungary. "

It was now a considerable time before

St could utter a word. He moaned

gently; and a regimental surgeon, who came
to us, significantly made the sign of the cross
with his finger.

At length, after a full hour, he suddenly
raised himself and said, — " So — now 'tis all
over — salute Marie (the name of his wife)
— Marie !" and with that he stretched himself
out, his eye-strings broke, and his spirit
fled.

With tears in my eyes, I took, in obedience
to my friend's last injunction, from the breast-
pocket of his uniform, his pocket-book, which
was so steeped in blood, that the writings in
it had become almost illegible ; cut off several
locks of his fine black hair and of the curling
moustaches, which had always been his pride ;
and took the rings from his fingers ; to send
as speedily and as safely as possible to the un-
fortunate widow. The chief surgeon promised

IN HUNGARY. 125

me that St should be decently buried and

alone ; and so I had done what I could.

St had been one of my most intimate

friends in the army. For years together, as
cadets and officers, we had been almost inse-
parable. I had always wished to spend a few
months on leave of absence upon his fine
estates in Hungary ; and now I had buried him
as my enemy !

A few days afterwards, my heart was
doomed to suffer another severe wound. We
had been battling about with the Magyars, as
we so often were, on a white moor — for the
whole country was covered with snow. The
three Croatian battalions of ours had got into
a rather serious affair with a strong body of
the enemy's infantry, and had in the end
driven it back with the bayonet. We too
had pushed on pretty far, and had driven the
enemy's horse opposed to us from the field.
We had also taken some of his forage waggons,
with wine, bacon, and maize-flour — a most
welcome prize for our men.

Mine was, as usual, the forwardest troop of
the advanced guard, and my posts were pushed

126 THE CIVIL WAR

on to a considerable distance against the enemy.
As this part of the country was pretty well
stocked with growing wood, the want of
which we often felt most sensibly in the exten-
sive plains, my hussars had kindled a prodi-
gious fire, the flames from which rose high into
the air; roasted and boiled at it in high glee;
and circulated the wooden camp-bottles, once
more replenished with wine, at the same time
singing their songs in full chorus, as though
there were not an enemy far or near ; and they
had the happiest and pleasantest life in the
world.

I could not participate in this joyous mood ;
an obscure presentiment depressed me ; and,
much as I otherwise like to see my hussars
enjoy themselves of an evening at the watch-
fire, and to hear them sing, it was now disagree-
able to me. As I was, moreover, apprehensive
that my vedettes might have made too free
with the wine to exercise the necessary vigi-
lance, I took two of the Seressans with me,
to inspect the chain of posts on foot. All
the posts were watchful ; and, though I sought
to steal softly and cautiously upon some of

IN HUNGARY. 127

them, yet they all challenged me in due time,
and behaved with great propriety.

Satisfied on this point, I set out, with my
two attendants, on my return to the watch-
fire, the tall flame of which flared up cheer-
ingly before us ; when, the moon shining
tolerably bright, we perceived a human figure
lying at the foot of a tree.

We went nearer — it was a woman, dressed
as a man, in the costume of an Hungarian
magnate ; the long hair which fell over her
shoulders betrayed her sex. My Seressans
turned her round ; and by the pale moonbeams
I recognised Helene, the lovely sister of my

friend St . Inexpressible anguish thrilled

me at that moment, and I was well nigh throw-
ing myself upon the corpse.

Forcibly mustering my spirits, I ordered my
men to carry the body to the fire. There we
examined it more closely, and with extreme
anxiety I sought to ascertain whether there
was any hope left of reviving her. Vain hope !
it was several hours since her spirit had de-
parted ; the ball of one of our riflemen had
gone through her heart. From the small red

128 THE CIVIL WAR

wound the blood was still oozing in single
drops, which I carefully caught in my hand-
kerchief, to be preserved as a relic.

My only consolation was that the deceased
could not have suffered long ; that she must
have expired the very moment she was struck.
Those pure, noble, still wondrous beautiful
features — on her brow dwelt peace and com-
posure, and the lips almost smiled. There she
lay as if in tranquil slumber ; and yet those
eyes were never more to open — those lips
never more to utter noble sentiments, or words
of kindness.

My hussars were visibly affected, and
thought it a pity that one so young and so
beautiful should die so early. Many of them,
who had been with me on our first march
through Hungary, for two days together at

St 's mansion, instantly recognised Helene,

and doubly lamented her death, because she
had shown such kindness to them.

We thawed by a fire the ground not far
from a maple-tree, and were employed nearly
the whole night in digging a large deep grave
with our hand-bills and swords. By the time

IN HUNGARY. 129

the first rays of dawn appeared, we had
finished ; an hussar, who could do carpenter's
work, having meanwhile made a simple cross
out of the stems of two young white maples.

The corpse, in full uniform ; the kolpack,
with plume of glistening heron's feathers on
the head; the light Turkish sabre by her side ;
was then carefully wrapped in a clean, large
blanket, which we had with us, and so depo-
sited in the grave, which we filled up again
with earth. Then, regardless of caution, I
had a full salute fired with pistols over the
grave. I have preserved a small gold ring
and a lock of her hair for a memorial. When
our melancholy business was finished, we
moved off after the enemy, who retreated
rather hastily.

The tempestuous feelings that filled my
heart I am not able to describe. Helene had,
as I subsequently learned, served as aide-de-
camp to her maternal uncle, who commanded
a considerable Magyar corps, and was shot,
when acting in that capacity, by our soldiers
in the above-mentioned action.

Thus have I lost, in one week, two indivi-

g5

130 THE CIVIL WAR

duals SO dear to me, and both opposed to me
as enemies; and, besides them, how many
esteemed comrades, on the side of the insur-
gents as well as ours ! how many excellent
officers have already been snatched from us !
how cruelly the brave cuirassier regiments, in
particular, have suffered !

And what has yet been gained ? Nothing —
absolutely nothing ! Our prospect is worse than
it has been for months. It costs us trouble
enough to keep Pesth alone ; and the march
to Debreczin, which I myself thought to be
so easy, is again far distant.

But all this must not make our courage
falter for a moment. We shall continue to go
undauntedly into fire again and again ; and, if
we are but ably led, there will be no want of
willingness on the part of our soldiers.

For the last two days, I have lain quietly,
with my detachment, at a solitary inn, per-
fectly safe from an attack of the enemy ; and
hence the leisure of which I avail myself to
pen these lines. This rest was a necessity for
us ; if horses, arms, clothes, were not to be

• IN HUNGARY. 131

Utterly ruined. The place in which- 1 am
writing, and what meets my eye when I raise
it from the paper, is so extraordinary, that I
must describe it.

A long, low, public room, with unpaved
floor, the walls blackened by the smoke of
the fire of the hearth, which is in one corner ;
the small window-panes, almost all broken,
and replaced by wisps of straw, so that the
chief light must enter at the open door. The
whole of the furniture consists of a table of
dirty wood, and a few rush-bottom chairs.

Above half of this room is occupied by a
vast bed of straw, on which are stretched
about a score of my hussars, in their now
grotesque-looking uniforms, in all possible
postures, sleeping the sound sleep of the
weary, and at the same time snoring and
snorting in disagreeable concert.

I myself, the writer of these lines, which,
it is to be hoped, will duly reach their desti-
nation, am balancing myself upon one of the
aforesaid rush-bottom chairs, which has but
three legs left, but which is the least damaged
of them all. My paper lies upon a corner of

132 THE CIVIL WAR

the table, and my pencil is moving nimbly
over it.

Almost close to me, upon the table, so that
their wide-spreading arms pass close over my
head, two hussars have established themselves
as tailors. They sew away with such spirit
as though they had never in their lives prac-
tised any other than the noble art of tailor-
ing; and before them lies a large heap of
patched dolmans, cloaks, trousers — attesting
their industry. They seem, however, not to
possess much tact in regard to colours; for I
see at this moment that one of them ha$
clapped on the knee of my gray riding trou-
sers a reddish brown patch, probably taken
from an old Seressan cloak. Well ; if it only
lasts, the colour just now is of little conse-
quence.

The other end of the table is turned into
a saddler's workshop, where some hussars are
hard at work in supplying the place of da-
maged thongs about saddles and bridles with
fresh ones. The cobbler, also a dilletante in
his very useful profession, has squatted himself
on the floor; and, as he has not leather for

IN HUNGARY. 133

mending, he takes some of the softened parts
of a calf's hide, from which the hair has been
scraped with a knife.

In the field, the grand point is to know
how to help one's self; and the hussars
thoroughly understand that art. Though in
garments patched with incongruous colours,
we shall leave our station in whole clothes
and boots; and so a great deal is gained.

We have also an armourer here in the room.
A large field -stone, which he has rolled up
to the hearth, serves for his anvil. He is an
old, weather-beaten hussar, who served for
many years as haiduck in a frontier country,
and is busily engaged in removing notches and
bumps from the blades and sheaths of swords.
He wished to exercise his skill on my Da-
mascus blade ; but the excellent steel with-
stood his tools ; and so, grumbling, he laid it
reluctantly aside.

But it is our cooks, who are bustling about
a huge kettle over the fire, that excite the
o^reatest interest. Thouo^h the house was left
quite deserted — for the landlord and his two
sons are reported to be with the insurgents,

1S4 THE CIVIL WAR

and the wife to have fled to Pesth — we disco-
vered a lean hog which had almost become
wild, and soon afterwards a cellar, containing
some sacks of kukuruz, a bag of paprika
(red Turkish pepper), and a small cask of
sMikowitz,

Great was the rejoicing. The hog soon
gave up the ghost, under the swords of the
hussars; and now there was roasting, and
feasting, and revelling, as in the house of
Ulysses. Our cooks (my handsome Seressan
girl is unfortunately no longer with us, but
has gone back to the frontiers with her father,
who is severely wounded) contrived to make
a variety of dishes, all of which, however,
were reducible to one, with the three ingre-
dients, pork, Turkey corn, and pepper; and
some of them were really savoury. I, at least,
relished them better than the best dinners I
ever enjoyed at the tables of princes.

In the long barn attached to the house,
where our horses stand, and at the well be-
fore it, as great activity prevails as in the
room itself. There the shoes of the horses
are examined ; the gun-shot wounds and con-

IN HUNGARY. 135

tusions which many of them have received
are washed and rubbed with hog's lard ; the
fetlocks clipped ; and the manes, which have
almost run wild, trimmed, and put to rights a
little.

Here, in the room, the men are provided
for ; yonder, without, the faithful horses, our
second halves, to whom we are so often in-
debted for life and liberty. But, when I sur-
vey many of these small lean animals, stand-
ing about with low-bowed head, I can scarcely
conceive them to be the same that have shown
such untiring vigour, energy, and speed, and
which make the best soldiers' horses in the
world for a harassing campaign.

They are just leading my Ali to water in
the courtyard. The noble beast, a genuine
Turkish stallion, who has already been much
harassed, still cuts a proud figure enough,
when compared with our hussar horses. I
whistle to him upon my finger, and he pricks
his only ear, comes running to me through
the open door into the room, snuffles inquisi-
tively about the table, and throws down all
the work of the tailor-hussars.

136 THE CIVIL WAR

Our cobbler leathers away quite uncon-
cerned, though the horse stands almost over
him as he cowers upon the ground, and might
easily tread upon him. But our horses, and
Ali in particular, hostile as they are to stran-
gers, know us so well, and have become so
familiar with us, that we could lie down fear-
lessly under their legs. How often have I
slept, with my head lying on my resting horse !
We are become half-Centaurs. It is not till
he has him in the field that his rider is fully
sensible what a noble beast the horse is.

The cook is just telling me that dinner is
ready : a piece of intelligence that gives uni-
versal pleasure, and calls all away from their
various occupations to the pot. I, as officer,
receive my portion first in a pewter plate to
myself ; this is my only privilege.

A lie-down had been prepared for me in a
chamber half fallen in, on a bedstead half
broken to pieces ; but it swarmed so terribly
with vermin that I preferred sleeping, as usual,
with cloak, saddle-cloth, and saddle, in the
barn among the horses.

Such are the quarters in which we are at

IN HUNGARY. 137

present recruiting ourselves, and which we
shall leave to-morrow evening. You may-
judge from this, how it often fares with us in
the open field, and what hardships we have to
undergo; but to all this and a great deal
more I would cheerfully submit, were it
but a different kind of war — were we not
obliged to direct our most vigorous efforts
against our own flesh and blood.

When I shall be able to write again I know
not. My name, it is to be hoped, will ere
long appear in the list of the slain.

Note of the Corres'pondent from whom the
Letters were received hy the German Editor,

The author of these Letters, a few days after
the transmission of the last, was very danger-
ously wounded, and doubts are entertained of
his recovery.

138 THE CIVIL WAR

LETTER IX.

Action with the Magyars — The Writer having received
two wounds, is left for dead on the field — Survey of the
field of battle, on recovering his senses — Examination of his
wounds — Awful situation in the night — Found by a patrole
of his hussars, and conveyed to the watch-fire of the cavalry
— Bivouacking on the field of the battle in the morning —
Orders to fall back, and painful night-journey — Insensi-
bility— Another hospital scene — Extracting of the ball —
Another awful night-journey with wounded men — Halt at
a solitary pusta.

This time it has gone hard with me — I have
had a narrow escape from Charon's boat — a
little more, and I should have been struck out
of the Army-list, as one of the dead. Thanks
to my tough constitution, and the concurrence
of many fortunate circumstances, which I
should almost call miracles, I have weathered
it this time.

Patched up again, I have been resting for
some weeks from the late tremendous hard-
ships and fatigues ; and, as I am unfortunately

IN HUNGARY. 139

still too weak to wield the sword, I will make
amends by plying the pencil the more indus-
triously, and relate all that has befallen me.
Many things, when I call them to mind,
already appear to me like a dream ; and fre-
quently I can scarcely comprehend myself how
I could have endured all that I have done.

A few days after writing my last letter in

the pusta ,^ where, forced by necessity

for the refreshment of horses and men, we
rested for a couple of days, our rear-guard
again had a hot combat with a strong Magyar
corps.

The Hungarians, reckoning upon their then
superior force, pursued so sharply, that we
were several times obliged to show our teeth
in good earnest. We were obliged to show
them, too, that, though we had been necessi-
tated to abandon Pesth to them again, our
courage was not in the least diminished.

^ The names of persons and places which occur in the
journal, written in pencil only, are, almost universally, very
illegible. We have, therefore, thought it better to omit
them entirely, as we should otherwise be liable to give them
only in a very erroneous or mutilated form. — Note by the
German Editor.

140 THE CIVIL WAR

These combats were frequently mere skir-
mishes, in which cavalry fought against cavalry,
and more sword-cuts were dealt than balls
exchanged; but at times also larger masses
of infantry were engaged. Such was the
case, too, on the day when I received my
wounds.

Very early in the morning, when day had
scarcely dawned, their hussars endeavoured to
surprise our guard ; and at half-twilight we
were engaged in a serious skirmish with them.
It was still so dusk that it was scarcely pos-
sible to distinguish friend from foe ; and we
officers had great trouble to keep our men
together, and to prevent them from separating,
and thus ofettinor taken.

After a combat of about an hour, in which
neither gained much advantage, we had driven
back our adversaries so far that we could give
our horses a regular bait.

We were thus engaged, with most of the
nose-bags still hanging about the horses' necks,
and our breakfast consisting of kukuruz por-
ridge, mixed with warm red Hungarian wine —
for it was still rather cold — was suspended in

IN HUNGARY. 141

the camp-kettles over a scanty fire, when our
advanced posts gave notice that the enemy
was coming upon us again in far greater
masses, and also with infantry.

In haste, to which we had long been accus-
tomed, and now amidst loud curses and exe-
crations, the feeding-bags were snatched from
the horses, the bits placed in their mouths,
the steaming kettles removed from the fire ;
and, in a few minutes, we were perfectly
ready in our saddles, waiting for the enemy.
Nor did they let us wait long; the Magy-
ars being on all occasions distinguished in a
high degree for briskness and impetuosity in
attack.

The insurgents appeared this time to be
several thousand strong; and, amidst loud
shouts of '^ Eljen ! Eljen Kossuth V mingled
with the tones of the Ragotzky march, played
by a band, a mass of infantry, in close order,
advanced upon us in charge-step.

As we were too weak to make resistance,
and were obliged to wait for our infantry,
which was on march, we fell back step by
step, halting and making front every fifty or

142 THE CIVIL WAR

one hundred paces. Our tirailleurs, whom we
had relieved, rushed upon the enemy's cavalry;
and snapping pistol-shots here and there
proclaimed the commencement of the fight.
Meanwhile, more and more of our troops came
up ; and when the Croatian frontier battalion
had arrived in charge-step, and with them
some light field-pieces, we were strong enough
to make head against the enemy, and to
accept battle.

It soon became general. The volleys of the
infantry, accompanied by the thunder of the
cannon, crashed incessantly, mingled with sig-
nals of trumpets, rolling of drums, words of
command, snorting of horses — in short, the
complete din of battle, such as I have so often
heard since March last year.

We ourselves played an important part in
this great drama. We had fenced about a
little with our usual antagonists, the Magyar
hussars ; and I had received a cut upon the
shoulder, which scarcely penetrated through
the cloak and the aiguillette of the dolman,
but had afterwards separated from them.
We then received orders, with a squadron of

IN HUNGARY. 143

cuirassiers, to disperse, if possible, a honvod
battalion, which had pushed on too far, and
therefore was badly covered. The ground, a
level plain, was at first very favourable for a ca-
valry attack ; and the Croatian horse charged
with loud " Zivio ! Zivio V and the German
with "Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Emperor!"

But the ground was so saturated by fre-
quent showers, that we could not advance at a
gallop. We soon fell into disorder ; the lines
were broken ; and many horses could not get
forward but with difficulty, and at a slow pace.
Others stuck so fast in the morass, that the
men were obliged to dismount, in order to
pull them out ; in short, our fine attack proved
a complete failure. Had the honvods not fired
so ill, we must have sustained very great loss;
but, owing to that cause, it was inconside-
rable.

I, for my part, had no difficulty to advance.
My noble steed bore me, in prodigious bounds,
over the swampy soil, into which he sank
deep, and out of which he rose as upon
springs ; and some hussars succeeded in keep-
ing up with me. But of what use was this ?

144 THE CIVIL WAR

Two or three dozen horses could not disperse a
whole battalion.

Furious at our miscarriage, we were obliged
to turn, when the trumpet gave the infamous
signal to do so ; while the honvods broke into
loud rejoicing, and amused themselves with
sending many a ball after us. Our squadrons
rallied on a more solid spot, and re-adjusted
their ranks. Our loss was trifling ; but many
of the horses and their riders, who had stuck
fast in the mud, were in a horrible plight.

Scarcely had the horses recovered their
breath, when we prepared ourselves for a
second attack. A somewhat more elevated
piece of ground, sixty or eighty paces broad,
seemed to promise us a firmer footing ; and
along this we again dashed, in the breadth of
half-squadrons, upon the battalion.

Here the ground was better; and, though
most of the horses were obliged to cease gal-
loping, we advanced pretty rapidly, and had
hopes of coming in contact with the hostile
battalion. Our loss, however, was more con-
siderable than the first time; in particular,
many horses were wounded ; as the honvods

IN HUNGARY. 145

had given up firing volleys, but discharged
their pieces singly, and took as good aim as
they could.

My horse, made wild with the din of the
fio^ht, and snortinor with wide-distended nos-
trils, carried me forward so impetuously that
I had difficulty to curb him, lest we should
advance too far. At the same time, I helped
individual hussars — who were likely to stick
fast again — out of the bog, either by pulling
the horses by the bridle, or by inciting them
to fresh exertions by smart blows with the flat
of my sword.

Thus I was among the foremost, and still
fifteen or twenty paces distant from the first
rank of the enemy ; ready in the next mo-
ment to slash away among them, as several
gaps were already made ; when I saw, exactly
opposite to me, a flash proceed from the barrel
of a piece. At the same moment, my horse,
hit by a ball, made a tremendous leap ; but
I felt as if an ice-cold object struck my skin,
and penetrated the abdomen, just below the
last rib. It was such a sensation as if a large
drop of the coldest water had fallen upon my

H

146 THE CIVIL WAR

heated body. The ball had passed through
the neck of my horse, and then entered my
body below the sash. I kept my seat, reeling
in the saddle, though my horse made some
prodigious bounds towards the enemy.

I saw a honvod running towards me — a
great sturdy fellow, in a brown sheep-skin,
his brownish-red face inflamed with rage or
spirituous liquor ; with long upturned, pointed
moustaches, lank hair, wildly waving about
the head, from which the tschako had fallen ; a
sight that I shall never forget while I live.

With a loud bassamalika, he made a thrust
at my breast with his glistening bayonet ; but
at that moment my horse, in the agony of
death, made another high spring ; and the
bayonet, instead of entering my breast, pierced
my left thigh. At the same instant my horse
suddenly fell with me, and bore me to the
ground along with him.

Of what further happened to me I know
nothing ; darkness seemed to extinguish my
sight, and my senses forsook me. I recollect
only so much that a dull sound of clashing,
and swearing, and firing arose around me;

IN HUNGARY. 147

and likewise that a horse's hoof touched my
shoulder; and I shrunk instinctively as close
as possible to the solid object beside me — my
dead horse. All gradually became silent ; and
I sank into complete unconsciousness.

There I must have lain for several hours ;
for, when I came to myself, and opened my
eyes, I perceived that the sun was high in the
firmament, and that the hour of noon was past.
The violent pain which I now felt in my thigh,
and that less violent in the abdomen, reminded
me that I had been severely wounded. My
cloak, originally white, now of a yellowish
grey colour, was stained with blood ; and one
hand, which had been placed just under the
body- wound, was filled with blood. With
great difficulty I raised myself up, against my
dead horse, which lay by me already cold and
stiff, into a half-sitting posture, to contem-
plate the nqarest objects and the country
about me.

All around was still and deserted ; not a
living thing stirred as far as my eye could
reach. The combat must have been fierce
precisely at this spot. Five paces in front of

h2

1 48 THE CIVIL WAR

me lay a dead cuirassier horse ; close to it the
body of its rider. Flat on the back, the hel-
met still upon the head, the cuirass upon the
breast, lay the corpse, stiff and regularly out-
stretched, as if on a bed of state. Three or
four bodies of lionvods formed not far off so
confused a group, that I could not distinguish
to which of them individual members belonged.

I thought that I could recognise also the
honvod who had stabbed me with his bayonet
lying dead near me : but the face was so mu-
tilated by sword- wounds, that the features
could scarcely be distinguished.

Further forward, at the distance of twenty
to thirty paces, lay several dead men and hus-
sars. As far as I could discern in my half
recumbent posture, two of these bodies were
in the hussar uniform of our regiment ; and
several dead horses had our saddles and saddle-
cloths. A dead piebald horse I knew to be
the one which a subaltern of my squadron had
ridden. That our cavalry must have suc-
ceeded in penetrating into the enemy's bat-
talion was evident from the circumstance that
all the bodies lay forward from me.

IN HUNGARY. 149

Some hundred paces further off, I thought
I could discern dead soldiers and horses ;
which were to me a sure sign that ours had
driven back and pursued the enemy. This
idea was very consolatory. I hoped that, on
their return, some of my soldiers would search
for me, in order to bury me ; and thus I might
be found, and perhaps saved. At any rate,
if my conjecture was well founded, I had less
reason to fear falling into the enemy's hands
as a prisoner — an idea more terrible to me
than any other. For the rest, I saw and
heard nothing either of friend or foe; but
now and then I fancied that I could distin-
guish at a distance faint sounds of the trumpet,
in which I imagined that I could recognise
the signal for gathering.

After this preliminary survey, in which I
convinced myself that it was utterly impos-
sible for me to raise myself, my next care was
to examine my wounds more closely, and to
bind them up in the best manner I could. It
was of great service to me that I had in my
saddle-pocket a packet of lint, some linen
bandages, a bottle of balsam for wounds,

150 THE CIVIL WAR

knives, and scissors ; and I grudged not the
great exertion and the violent pain it caused
me, to raise myself so far upon the horse as
to be able to take these articles out of the
pocket. I availed myself of this occasion to
take also a loaded pistol from the holster ;
and now felt much easier in regard to my
fate.

I first examined the shot-wound, sensible
that it was the more important of the two,
though the stab with the bayonet was far
more painful. When I had unbuttoned cloak
and dolman, I saw that my sash had become
so rumpled up as to form a sort of compress
over the wound. To this fortunate circum-
stance I owe perhaps the preservation of my
life ; but for that, I might easily have bled to
death ; whereas, now only single drops oozed
from beneath the sash.

I took some lint, wetted it with balsam,
cut with the scissors my shirt, which adhered
to the wound, laid the lint close upon it,
thrust my pocket-handkerchief over that, and
tied the sash as tight as possible over the
whole. In this operation, I assured myself

IN HUNGARY. 151

that there was no orifice in the back part of
my body, and that the ball must consequently
have lodged in it — a circumstance that was
not agreeable to me. Easy as this operation
is now to be described, so difficult did it prove
in the execution. In raising the sash, I lost
a good deal of blood, and was obliged to
muster all my energies to prevent fainting.

When I had finished with that, I turned to
ray thigh, the pain of which became more and
more intolerable. Here, too, knife and scis-
sors soon procured me access to the wound,
which was rather deep, but seemed to me not
dangerous : because, as I could feel, the bone
was not injured. The application of the
balsam gave me immediately great relief. The
contusion on my left shoulder, though of no
consequence, began to swell and to pain me
much ; with my right hand I therefore ap-
plied the balsam, and rubbed on the place as
far as I could reach.

When I had finished this business, which
must have taken me full two hours, I wrapped
myself in my cloak, reclined my head upon
my dead horse, and calmly awaited what was

152 THE CIVIL WAR

further to befal me. I found a small quantity
of wine left in my camp-bottle, which I drank
eagerly, and which served to refresh me much.
Meanwhile, it had become dusk, and the
short twilight of a spring-day was succeeded
by a rather dark night. The discomfort of
my helpless situation was thereby not a little
increased. I had reason to fear that, in the
night, patroles of our soldiers might march
past close to me without finding me. A
dread also that wolves, which hereabout were
very numerous, and often annoyed us much
when on guard-duty by their howling, might
be attracted by the scent of the dead horses,
and that, without power to resist, I might fall
a victim to their voracity, thrilled me at times
with horror ; as well as the idea that on this
desolate, unfrequented heath I might not be
found at all by human beings, and thus perish
by a lingering death. However, I banished
these considerations as much as I could ; and,
on the contrary, firmly resolved, so long as a
spark of energy and presence of mind was left
me, to make every effort in my power for my
preservation.

IN HUNGARY, 1 53

A great watch-fire, which I soon saw bla-
zing on one side of me, at a considerable dis-
tance, it is true, revived my hopes. At length,
after a few hours of darkness, the moon rose,
to my great joy, and threw such a mild ra-
diance over the wide heath, that I had a view
of a considerable surrounding tract.

It might be, by my calculation, about eleven
o'clock; when, all at once, I heard the tramp
of several horses and the clank of sword -
sheaths against spurs, and perceived a party
of six horse at some distance. At this sight,
I wavered between hope and fear ; for I was
doubtful whether they were Magyars, or some
of our soldiers.

Presently I saw, to my infinite joy, that
two of these horsemen wore glistening helmets,
which are not to be found in the army of the
Magyars ; they must therefore be cuirassiers.
I quickly drew forth my pistol and fired it ;
and when I saw that they stopped short at the
sudden report, I shouted as loud as I could,
" The Emperor for ever !" At this call, the
patrole immediately trotted towards me ;
and I soon found myself surrounded by two

H 5

154 THE CiyiL WAR

cuirassiers and four hussars of my regi-
ment.

I was saved — at least for the moment.

With lively joy, the brave fellows related
to me that, in the morning, the insurgents had
been driven back so far that they would drop
for the present their hot pursuit of our rear-
guard. They told me that I was universally
considered as dead ; for, at the commencement
of the attack on the honvods, I had dropped
from my horse; and an hussar who had just
afterwards dismounted to look closer at me
had found me lying motionless and with my
eyes shut. No further notice was in conse-
quence taken of me. In the evening, our
cavalry had returned to the quarter where the
combat had taken place, and were now bivou-
acking there by the great watch-fire ; and the
Major who commanded them had sent off the
patrole to find my body, if possible, and to
bury it.

With great care the men then lifted me, and
placed me upon a large horseman's cloak.
Four of them, laying hold of the four corners,
carried me as in a hammock; and, leading

IN HUNGARY. 155

their horses by the bridle, set out at a slow
pace on their return to the watch-fire. Pre-
viously, however, they carefully unbuckled all
the knapsacks and cartouche-boxes of the
dead, whether friends or foes, to be taken with
them ; and searched all the pockets and other
places where money or other useful articles
were likely to be deposited. Whatever was
found upon the enemy was lawful booty, which
was divided among the patrole party; the
rest was punctually delivered to the regiments
to which the slain had belonged.

Great and universal was the rejoicing with
which I — who had been set down as dead —
was received at the watch-fire ; and this mani-
fest attachment of my comrades touched me
deeply. Unfortunately, I could not here en-
joy much rest or nursing, of which I stood in
the utmost need. Scarcely had I swallowed
a few spoonfuls of warm wine and a bit of
hard kitkuruz cake, when orders all at once
arrived to break up, and to fall back upon the
main body, or we should run the risk of being
turned and cut off.

This was no time for hesitating. Wrapped

156 THE CIVIL WAR

in blankets, I was laid in the provision wag-
gon ; the men hastily foddered their horses,
and away we went at a rapid pace. But, with
the jolting of the vehicle without springs,
upon dreadfully bad roads, my wounds were
so excessively painful, that, much as I strove
to contain myself, I could not suppress a
moaning and groaning, for which I am still
angry with myself. However, I soon became
insensible, and saw, heard, and felt nothing
more ; only I was aware that the waggon some-
times stood still, then proceeded again at a
great rate, and, finally, that I was lifted out
of it and undressed : but all this seemed to
me as but a dream.

A new and cutting pain at length wakened
me, and my eyes opened ; and what a singular
sight presented itself! I lay stretched on a
long table, completely stripped. I now be-
held my faithful attendant for the first time
since I was wounded : he was holding my legs
fast, so that I could not move them ; and I
felt both my arms fettered in the same manner.

Stooping over me stood a surgeon, with
large spectacles on his nose, an apron already

IN HUNGARY. 157

Stained with blood about his waist, his shirt-
sleeves tucked up high, and beside him an
assistant, with glistening instruments in his
hand. The doctor was unmercifully groping
about in the shot-wound, to find the ball ; and
it was the pain caused by this operation that
had wakened me out of my stupor. At length
he succeeded in laying hold of the ball with
the forceps, and extracting it. The wound
then received a regular dressing. The prac-
titioners of the healing art immediately turned
to my thigh ; and there too I had to suffer
severe pain. I was then carefully laid upon
a bed, composed of a heap of straw, blankets,
and saddle-cloths, in the corner of an old,
smoky, dirty chamber.

During this operation it was broad day-
light ; on my inquiring, I learned that it was
near noon ; so that I must have been carried
along for many hours in an unconscious state.
Some broth, prepared from portable soup,
which our surgeons usually carried with them,
and a bit of maize-flour cake, did me much
good. My faithful attendant, tears the while
rolling upon his bushy, black moustaches,

158 THE CIVIL WAR

seated himself at the foot of my couch, to
watch by me while I reposed. From him I
learned that we were in the public-house of a
village strongly occupied by our troops, and
that we should probably be allowed to rest
there for some time.

Rejoiced at this prospect, I soon fell into a
refreshing slumber ; but not long was I per-
mitted to enjoy this so needful repose. The
blast of trumpets, the rolling of drums, the
neighing of horses, the clatter of arms, all the
clamour of a body of troops preparing to
break up, awoke me, towards evening, just as
the rays of the setting sun were tinging my
small, half-broken window with a purple ra-
diance.

Presently, Dimitri entered, with some sol-
diers of the train. " Off, off, again, Gospo-
dine !" cried he, in his bad German. ni

This was melancholy intelligence. A jour-
ney upon the wretched roads, and the end of
which could not be foreseen, would inevitably
doom me to renewed sufferings. But what
else could be done than submit with resigna-
tion to what was unalterable ?

IN HUNGARY. 159

I was hastily lifted up and carried to a
large covered waggon, in which were already
laid five wounded men upon a heap of straw.
No sooner was the creaking and jolting vehicle
set in motion, than I heard the reports of
single musket-shots, the loud *' Eljen ! eljen /"
of the Magyars, the *' Hurrah ! hurrah !" of our
Germans, and the *' Zivio I Zivio ! " of our
Croatian troops ; and the battle had already
begun.

While my comrades were fighting, I was
obliged to resign myself to being dragged on,
ill and miserable, in the dark waggon. Pre-
sently a strong red glare arose in the dark
horizon. Our troops, unable to maintain the
village against the superior numbers of the
enemy, had set it on fire, to cover their retreat.

Yes, that was an awful night ! Never, while
I live, shall I forget its torments and terrors.
My wounds pained me excessively, from the
everlasting jolting of the waggon ; for we were
driven, almost always at full trot, upon nearly
unbeaten roads. Besides, we lay closely wedged
in the vehicle, and my poor companions moaned
and lamented. Next to me, so close that his

160 THE CIVIL WAR

lips almost touched my ear, lay a Bohemian,
whose leg was shot off, and whose incessant
" Jesus Maria ! what have I done, that I must
suffer so ! Jesus Maria !" cut me to the soul.

Then the brisk firing, sometimes more dis-
tant, sometimes quite close to us ; the cursing
and storming of the soldiers, riding past, or
behind, or before us ; and the cruel dread of
falling perhaps the next moment into the
hands of the enemy — all together rendered
my situation truly terrible; I cannot even
now think of it without shuddering. In ad-
dition, the bandage about my body had got
loose, and I found my wound beginning again
to bleed, so that I was fearful I might bleed
to death.

One of my companions in suffering had
already breathed his last, with the Hungarian
name of Erzsebet (Elizabeth) upon his lips ;
and I cannot deny that I often wished to be
in his place.

In the course of a few hours, the pursuit
on the part of the enemy slackened ; we there-
fore could frequently proceed at a foot-pace ;
when, at least, the pains somewhat abated.

IN HUNGARY. 161

Morning at length came, after a night that
to me appeared never-ending. On the bare
heath, not a human habitation that might have
afforded us a shelter was to be perceived.
Neither was any thing to be heard or seen of
the enemy : and so we kept moving forward,
accompanied by a few squadrons.

At length, about ten o'clock, we came to a
solitary pusta, which was tolerably roomy,
and appeared not to have suffered very much ;
and to me the order given for halting here
sounded like an angel's greeting. When I
was carried, pale and exhausted to the ut-
most, past the surgeon who had dressed my
wounds the day before, I heard him, con-
ceiving me to be insensible, observe to his
assistant, " Another such ride, and 'tis all
over with him."

This was no very cheering prospect.

162 THE CIVIL WAR

LETTER X.

Quarters of the invalid at the Pusta — The landlady, a
genuine Magyar, and her family — Their reserve — Extraordi-
nary discovery of the portrait of an hussar painted long ago
by the Writer — Favourable influence of that portrait on
the family of the inn — Orders arrive to fall back by forced
marches — The Writer prevails on the landlady to keep him
at her house — Mutual promise of secrecy — Preparations for
bis assuming a new character — Circumstances of the family
at the inn — Armed troops of horse-herds — Visit of some of
their number to the Writer — Their persons, dress, and
accoutrements — Extraordinary whips — Wilma, the land-
lady's eldest daughter — Uncle Imne — Gradual convales-
cence— Pesti Hirlap (Pesth newspaper), formerly edited by
Kossuth — Stock of cattle belonging to the family — Mode
of forwarding insurgents' despatches — Provisions sent from
the Pusta to the army of the Magyars — With the recovery
of strength, the Writer resolves to leave the Pusta — He
buys of the landlady a light cart and a pair of horses —
Magyar patriotism.

The indefatigable attention of my servant
procured me in the pusta a separate small,
very habitable room up-stairs, with a clean
bed, a luxury to which I had long been un-
accustomed. The surgeon, however, when he

IN HUNGARY. 1 63

renewed the dressing, dubiously siiook his
head, and recommended above all things per-
fect quiet ; and this advice I had it for the
moment in mj power to follow. My little
room was quite retired, so that no noise could
reach me, and that, notwithstanding my pains
and the violence of the wound-fever, which
now began to seize me, I seemed to be in
paradise.

Thus I lay undisturbed in my confused
dreams for two whole days, till the fever be-
gan to abate, and I could look round me
with rather more freedom, and even attempt
to talk. I now saw the mistress of the pusta,
who, with a girl of fifteen, and a boy twelve
years old, was the sole inhabitant of the
house.

She was a genuine Magyar in manner, dress,
and language, whose features, which must
have been very handsome when she was young,
betrayed sullen contempt for us her enemies,
and who, with her two children, was as
sparing of words as possible. Notwithstand-
ing this unkind reception, I liked the woman
for her firm, decided manner, her upright car-

164 THE CIVIL WAR

riage, her quick gait, and the great cleanliness
and order in her household matters.

As my Dimitri informed me, the provisions
in the pusta were almost entirely consumed ;
so that the two squadrons, which still lay
here, could obtain scarcely any thing but
kukuruz for themselves and their horses. I
myself was living almost entirely on portable
broth, of which the surgeon had left me a
packet, with malais (A;wterw2:-bread) in it.

Among the objects in my room, a picture
which hung opposite to me in a black frame,
adorned with a green wreath of moss, parti-
cularly attracted my notice ; it seemed to
represent an hussar in the uniform of my
former regfiment. I desired Dimitri to hand
it down to me upon the bed. But what was
ray astonishment when I recognised in it the
portrait in water-colours of an hussar of my
former squadron, painted by myself some
years ago, and at the lower corner of which
ray name as the artist was still to be seen !

As I draw tolerably, and am a good hand
at a likeness, I often amused myself with
painting likenesses of hussars in my troop in

IN HUNGARY. 165

water-colours. To their great gratification,
I generally presented those who had sat to
me with their portraits, which they were ac-
customed to send to their homes. Such was
the picture which now fell so unexpectedly
into my hands in the pusta,

I sent immediately to the landlady, request-
ing her to come to me. I asked her to whom
that picture belonged, and how it had come
into her possession. " It is the portrait of
my eldest son Istvan (Stephen) ; he sent it to
me," replied she, in a sharp tone and lowering
look.

" And is Istvan your eldest son ? I am glad
of it. / painted that. Look here — there is
my name in the corner."

At these words the woman fixed her dark
eyes upon me with a look as keen as though
she would have read my soul, to discover
whether I told the truth, and replied, " Are
you the German gentleman who was so long
Istvan's officer, and who painted this picture?"

" Indeed I am," said I — " only ask Dimitri
yonder."

Her face suddenly assumed a totally dif-

166 THE CIVIL WAR

ferent expression. She grasped my hand,
hanging out of the bed, and said, " Then I
owe you much gratitude. You are an excel-
lent man. Istvan has written so much good
about you, and how you saved him from a
heavy punishment."

This was quite correct. Istvan, a very
good soldier, but, like most of the Magyars,
passionate and hasty, had once, when intoxi-
cated, struck on the breast and wrested his
sword from an Italian sergeant, who had used
some harsh words to him. Had this misde-
meanour been reported and come under in-
vestigation, the hussar would no doubt have
had to run the gauntlet several times to
and fro.

I pitied the lad, and privately prevailed
upon the sergeant, who, like all Italians, was
very fond of money, by means of a few ducats,
to say nothing about the affair; and contented
myself with giving the culprit in private a
most serious lecture, into which I introduced
all ; the Hungarian imprecations that I was
master of. The lad was much affected, and
promised that he would never forget my kind-

IN HUNGARY. 167

ness in saving him from a severe punishment.
And this he must have written or told his
mother.

From that moment my relations with the
inmates of the house were totally changed.
When the little dark-eyed Treescy, (Theresa)
with her two long black tresses, soon after-
wards came to bring me a piece of a water-
melon, she familiarly gave me her hand,
though previously she had been shy and silent
when she entered my room, and left it again
as speedily as possible.

I likewise received, in addition to my broth,
a few little dainties which I had not seen be-
fore ; for instance, notis (dry cakes made of
wheat-corns that have sprouted) and tarJionya
(bread of kukuruz-diOVi^ mixed with butter-
milk, and baked in the form of cakes, which
will keep for years). I now perceived that
there must be more provisions concealed in
the pusta than our soldiers knew of, and that
it was not so poor as those who came to see
me related.

I had enjoyed for three days this better
treatment, from which I derived great benefit.

168 THE CIVIL WAR

when orders suddenly came to fall back fur-
ther in forced marches, as the whole country
would soon be occupied by the insurgents. A
long hasty journey by waggon, as in that
dreadful night, I could not have endured; I
must have perished miserably; this I felt
thoroughly convinced of, recollecting at the
same time the observation of the surgeon,
made on that occasion, when I was carried
past him.

My resolution, therefore, was quickly
formed : I would beg my landlady to let me
remain at her house, there await my perfect
recovery, and then endeavour to escape as I
could to our army. As I speak Hungarian
tolerably well, and am intimately acquainted
with the manners and customs of the hussars,
I might, in case of necessity, give the enemy
to understand that I had formerly been an
hussar ; that I had been long in Italy ; and
that I had now been fighting on the side of
the insurgents.

I instantly sent Dimitri to call the land-
lady, and acquainted her with my plan. At
first, she shook her head disapprovingly, and

IN HUNGARY. 1 69

said that the honvods would be sure to take
me, and that they would then punish her
justly for having concealed an imperial officer.
I strove to remove this apprehension.

She looked at me for some time, and said :
"Be it so then ! you have been kind to Tstvan,
and his mother shall be kind to you. Besides,
you are a German, of course have no country,
and so it may be no sin in you if you do
fight against us. If you were a Magyar, and
taking part against us, I would rather burn
my hand off than save you."

I was now obliged to promise to keep what-
ever I should thenceforward see and hear in
her house profoundly secret from the Magy-
ars ; and she, on her side, gave me a solemn
assurance that I should have no treachery to
fear from the inmates of her house.

When I communicated my design to the
Major commanding in the pusta, he would
not hear of it at first, and said that it was too
hazardous a scheme to put myself voluntarily
into the hands of the insurgents ; but, when
he had spoken with our surgeon, he told me
that, after all, perhaps, I could not do better

I

1 70 THE CIVIL WAR

than stop there, as I should scarcely be
capable of bearing the forced march. I then
earnestly entreated him not to say a word
about me to the landlady, and not to utter
any threats against her, in case she should
betray me.

I now had my uniform, my fine shirts, in
short, all my property which indicated the
imperial officer, packed up, and charged
Dimitri to take it with him. I was very sorry
to part from this faithful fellow, and he too
wept bitterly when I told him that he must
go off with the party, and leave me behind
by myself. The landlady had positively de-
clared that he must not stay, at the same
time justly remarking that the first Magyar
detachment which might chance to arrive
would seize and slaughter him.

I obtained from the Major a certificate that
I was an imperial officer who had been left
behind there on account of severe wounds :
this, together with a description of my per-
son, having the seal of the regiment annexed,
I had sewed up under the lining of an old
hunda (sheep-skin) which I possessed.

IN HUNGAKY. 171

This I did that, in case I should hereafter
fall into the hands of imperial troops, I might
be able to prove by these documents who I
was. I also caused ducats to be sewed up
here and there in the hurida, in a pair of old
tschismen (hussar boots) and in the lowest
border of the gatjes, (wide linen trousers) that
I might have money for any emergency. The
doctor left with my landlady a supply of
balsam, sticking-plaster, and medicine, and
briefly instructed her how they were to be
applied ; and tbus every thing was done that
could be done under the circumstances to pro-
mote my recovery. My comrades and many of
the men sorrowfully took leave of me ; I shook
them by the hand with painful feelings — many
of them, perhaps, for the last time in this life.

1 listened as long as possible to the trumpets
of the retiring party; and, when the tones
ceased, a profound feeling of solitude and lone-
liness came over me, and my heart was sorely
depressed. Wounded nearly to death, entirely
alone, in the power of the enemy, exposed
defenceless to any treachery ; nay, to every
untoward accident — a fearful situation, truly,

i2

172 THE CIVIL WAR

in which melancholy thoughts might well
depress the mind of any man. But I strove
forcibly to dispel them ; and, though ill and
enfeebled, I soon recovered iry old buoyant
soldierly assurance.

Little Treescy seated herself at my bedside,
and chatted familiarly with me ; and her
brother Mischko (Michael), too, a boy twelve
years old, in wide gatjes, with spurs already
at his heels, and a broad-brimmed hat on his
head, a genuine Magyar in miniature, came to
me, now that the soldiers were gone, without
reserve.

" To-morrow, Sister Wilma and Uncle Imne
(Emmerich) will come back with the cattle,'*
cried the young ones joyously to me; and
when I asked inquisitively about those persons,
whom I had not before heard mentioned, my
hostess informed me that her eldest daughter
Wilma, who was grown up, and an elder bro-
ther of her husband's, who had but one leg,
always fled, with the cattle which they still
possess, to a great hansag (marsh), some miles
from the pusta, to which the soldiers cannot
folloyv them.

IN HUNGARY. 173

Her husband and two grown-up sons, San-
dor (Alexander) and Laszjo (Ladislaus), had
joined the Hungarian army several months
before ; and Istvan was now serving under
Klapka, and must be at that moment in Co-
morn. Her two men-servants also were among
the honvods : and they had already contri-
buted, voluntarily and without pay, eighteen
horses, some twenty bullocks, and as many
hogs.

In peaceable times, the family subsisted on
the produce of the cattle and the extensive
lands which they held in hereditary tenure

under Count S , and it was, as the woman

herself told me, in thriving circumstances. All
we^e true Magyars of the purest blood, en-
thusiastic for the independence and the great-
ness of their country, for which they were
ready to make any sacrifice.

On the morning after the departure of our
troops, I was awakened by a great uproar.
Horses were neighing in the yard, amidst loud
cracking of whips, mingled with plenty of
Teremtete ! hassa maika! or hassamanelka!
No doubt, Magyar troops must be below ; and

174 THE CIVIL WAR

I cannot deny that my heart throbbed at the
idea.

Little Treescy presently came and told me
that a troop of about fifty armed tschikos
(horse-herds) was below, to give their cattle a
bait ; but I might be quite easy, for, as I had
been so good to Istvan, tliey would not betray
me.

I had agreed that, in such cases, they should
give out that I was a cousin, who had served
in Radetzky's hussar regiment, and who had
recently been dangerously wounded. I had
purposely mentioned Radetzky's regiment, be-
cause it was still in Italy, and few hussars who
had belonged to it were serving under Kossuth.

** God forgive me the heavy sin of being
obliged to lie to a Magyar !" said the mother,
with a deep sigh, when we had concerted this
falsehood.

The Hungarians had been there about half
an hour, when I heard men's footsteps and the
clanking of spurs on the stairs. Can it be that
I am betrayed? was the first thought that
darted into my mind ; and I was about to grasp
mechanically the pistol under ray pillow, when

IN HUNGARY. 175

the innocent face of the girl still sitting beside
my bed calmed me.

The door opened, and three tschikos en-
tered with an aged man at their head. The
hearty Jonapot agyaliok ! (" Good day, cou-
sins !" a very common salutation among the
Magyars) with which they addressed us, made
me perfectly easy immediately. They had
heard below, they said, that a cousin of the
landlady's was lying ill up there, and they
came to inquire how I did, and to wish me a
happy recovery. Upon pretext that talking
was still very painful to me — which was true
enough — I said but little, and my visitors soon
retired with familiar nods.

They were hale, hardy fellows, expressly
cut out for excellent light horse. Clumsy
boots, with long, rusty spurs ; long, wide, un-
seamed gatjes, of coarse white linen ; a short
white shirt of the same stuff, hanging down
over them ; together with a kopengeg, (a long
white cloak of coarse woollen stuff, adorned
with braiding of various colours) fastened by
a string, fell, like an hussar pelisse, down
the back — such was their dress.

176 THE CIVIL WAR

Their small round felt hats, with a very
broad brim, around which was a band entwined
with the Hungarian colours, they had taken
off on entering the room, so that their long,
black hair fell loosely over their bare necks.

The eldest, and, as I afterwards learned, the
leader, wore a splendid sword, with golden
hilt, probably a trophy which he had taken,
suspended from a band worked with gold ;
forming a singular contrast with his dirty
shirt. The two younger had a czakany (hand-
bill) with long wooden handle, stuck under the
leathern thongs that held up the gatjes. Each
of them carried in his hand a long whip, to
the end of the finely-platted lash of which
are attached four or five leaden balls, of the
size of small musket-balls.

This whip, which has not a very long handle,
but the lash of which is about twenty feet in
length, is used as a sling ; and in the hand of
an expert tschiko it is a dangerous weapon.
When the horse is going at full speed, they will
hurl the whip in such a manner, that the balls
twine round the neck or leg of the man or
beast that they intend to take, and they

IN HUNGARY. 177

have either of them completely in their power.
A clever tschikos seldom misses his aim, even
though it may be running ever so fast ; and
while his own horse is going at full gallop.

After a halt of a few hours, the wild crew,
with loud shouts of Eljen Kossuth ! scam-
pered off again, of which I was heartily
glad.

In the evening of the same day, I received
a far more agreeable visit. Wilma, the eldest
daughter, who had returned with her little
herd from the hansag, came to pay her respects
to me — a genuine Hungarian beauty, tall and
slim, firm in carriage, elastic in gait and move-
ment, with regular features, dark, expressive
eyes, a bold arched nose, and luxuriant raven -
black hair. Her dress, on account of her
masculine occupation, was half Amazon — black
tschismen on her neat feet ; gatjes, of blue
linen ; a short petticoat of the same colour,
bordered at bottom with a narrow red ribbon ;
a tight-fitting spencer of dark blue cloth, made
almost like the dolman of an hussar, and having
two rows of white buttons at the breast. She
wore her hair in two long tresses, entwined with

I 5

178 THE CIVIL WAR

a narrow red, blue, and green ribbon (the
Hungarian colours).

Next morning old Uncle Imne also came to
see me — a handsome old man, in a neat Hun-
garian national dress, with snow-white hair and
large moustache ; he had served in an hussar
regiment from 1802 to 1817; had been ad-
vanced to sergeant-major, and received the
silver medal for bravery, which he could not
wear now.

Notwithstanding these military recollections,
to which he was fond of adverting, old Imne
was, with body and soul, a partisan of the in-
surrection ; and often lamented that, being
a cripple, he could no longer take the field.
To me he was of essential service, for he per-
fectly understood the management of wounds,
and dressed mine with great care and dex-
terity. Upon the whole, the attendance that
I enjoyed here was excellent, and entitles those
good people to my everlasting gratitude.

Here, then, I lay for three weeks longer
continually in bed, frequently tormented with
very violent pains, till my strength at length
permitted me to be up for a few hours, and

IN HUNGARY. 1 79

to hobble about the house with a stick. Du-
ring all this time, I saw nothing whatever of
enemy's troops. A few times, indeed, some
honvod patroles were below, in the yard, but
none of them came into my room. Once,
several battalions and squadrons, with loud
singing and music, passed in the middle of
the night under my window.

About the rest of the world I heard not a
word during the whole of my abode at the
ptista, which lasted nearly seven weeks — not
a word — and yet I was rarely troubled with
ennui. At first I slept a great deal, or lay
for hours together in fevered dreams; sub-
sequently, one of the girls, generally little
Treescy — more rarely the handsome Wilma —
would sit by my bed, chat with me, or read
to me, out of an old Hungarian chronicle that
was preserved in the house, the history of
Matthias Corvinus, Hunniades, and other Hun-
garian heroes. Sometimes, also, I turned
over old files of the Pesti Hirlap, (Pesth
Newspaper) which, formerly edited by Kos-
suth, acquired powerful influence throughout
all Hungary, and prepared the way for the

180 THE CIVIL WAR

insurrection. I could not refrain from ad-
miring the glowing language and the great
perspicuitj which prevail in every thing that
proceeds from the pen of that highly-gifted
man.

Afterwards, when I began to go about a
Kttle, I took great pleasure in observing the
many peculiarities of the household, and the
manners of the family ; and, though I thought
I knew Hungary tolerably well, I here saw
and heard much that was quite new to me.

The principal occupation of the family con-
sisted, as I have said, in raising cattle. By
the voluntary contributions for the Hungarian
army, the stock, which now old Imne, or little
Mischko, or sometimes one of the girls, with
the aid of three or four huge white wolf-dogs,
alternately tended, had very considerably de-
creased. Of horses they had now no more
than five mares, which were too old, and
twelve or fourteen foals, still too young for
military service: they had already furnished
eighteen useful horses, as I have before stated.
To their own were often added hurt or galled
horses, sent from the Hungarian army as unfit

IN HUNGARY. 181

for duty for the moment, that they might here
recover at grass.

The horned cattle, too, were now reduced
to some thirty head ; all the rest had been
given to the army : in like manner, there were
but few hogs and sheep left. The mistress of
the house once told me that she had sent all
her silver trinkets, her daughters even the
silver crosses from their bosoms, together with
six hundred florins which she had saved, as a
voluntary donation to the Hungarian military
chest.

Here, in the pusta, inhabited almost ex-
clusively by females, it was quite clear to me
what prodigious resources the Hungarian in-
surrection must have had at its command from
such enthusiasm in the whole nation. Thus
it happened almost daily that some intelligence
or other was to be forwarded as speedily as
possible, from one division of the Hungarian
army to another. This was frequently done
by means of fire-signals — high poles, with
maize-straw fastened about them, which blazed
from pusta to pusta.

At night, one of the members of the family

182 THE CIVIL WAR

was always upon the watch to descry the
signal, and to transmit it the next moment.
Still more frequently, however, there came
messengers on horseback, usually little boys,
with letters which were to be forwarded im-
mediately. When such a postboy was still
at some distance from the pusta, he cracked
his whip, while the horse was going at full
speed, and set up a shrill cry. No sooner was
he heard, than little Mischko seized the first
two or three-year old foal he could lay hold
of feeding close at hand, threw a halter, made
of rush cords, over his head, and sprang upon
his bare back. The messen^^er flunof him the
despatch, commonly tied up between two
small pieces of board, and named the place of
destination. Mischko cracked his whip lustily,
gave a loud whistle, and away galloped the
spirited foal, frequently kicking out behind
and before, over the extensive plain to the
next pusta.

Such a transmission of despatches was not
attended with the delay of a minute. If
Mischko was not at hand, or happened to be
already riding post, one of the girls would

IN HUNGARY. 1 83

take his place. On a dark, stormy, rainy
night, when Mischko was already out, and
another despatch suddenly arrived, I have
known Wilma, without saying a word, run to
the horses, fling a halter over the head of a
three-year old stallion, spring like lightning
upon the back of the rearing animal, smack
her long whip, and dash away over the dark
heath.

Next morning, seated quietly by my bed,
she told me that she rode ten miles out and
ten miles back, and was at home again soon
after twelve o'clock. Indeed, they are a real
Centaur race : the two girls, as well as the
boy, would seize by the mane the first two or
three-year old foal they come to, leap on his
back, often without so much as a halter, and
gallop him to and fro upon the heath.

Provisions of every kind were also fre-
quently furnished from the pusta for the
Magyar army. Old Imne often drove off with
a waggon so heavily loaded with bacon, ku-
kuruZ'^OMV, wine, brandy, and paprika, that
the small horses could scarcely draw it, and
not return for several days. All these pro-

184 THE CIVIL WAR

visions were concealed in pits very curiously
constructed in the ground out of doors ; so
that, when imperial troops came, they found
nothing in the house but kukuruz.

Thus the difficulties of war were infinitely
aggravated for us ; we had incessantly hard-
ships of every kind to encounter; and, notwith-
standing the excellence of our soldiers, they
could scarcely move from the spot. The
Hungarians, on the contrary, were constantly
informed, with the utmost celerity and punc-
tuality, of all our motions, and found almost
every where provisions of all sorts, while we
were so often forced to hunger and thirst.

For the rest, my fare at the pusta was very
simple, but abundant. The doctor, at parting,
had positively enjoined me not to partake of
dishes in which there was much paprika or
much bacon ; and so I was prevented from
sharing in most of the national viands of the
family, in which those two articles generally
perform a principal part. I lived chiefly on
milk, kaposta (cabbage), farinaceous dishes of
kukuruz, and eggs; and the excellent wine,
of which my landlady supplied me with as

IN HUNGARY. 185

much as I desired, did me a great deal of
good.

Thus I gradually regained strength; and,
though many a week might yet pass before I
could again mount a horse, I was strong
enough to take walks for hours, and to
drive about in a light car. But, with the
feeling of health, the wish to get away
from this place became daily stronger and
stronger.

At length, I resolved to make an attempt
to steal through to the Imperial army. This
was difficult and dangerous, but not impos-
sible. The members of the family, and the
landlady in particular, strove to dissuade me
from this idea, and to represent it as imprac-
ticable.

As, however, I kept continually harping
upon it, the mother at length said, " Well,
you can do so, for you are not our prisoner.
You have promised not to reveal anything of
what you have seen here, and you will keep
your word. For, though you are a German,
and help to ill-treat Hungarians who have
done you no harm, still you are in other re-

186 THE CIVIL WAR

spects an excellent man. Go then, if it is
your pleasure."

I then requested her to sell me a light
covered cart, several of which were standing
in the yard, and likewise two horses, which
had lately been sent back from the army as
being galled and unfit for riding. I meant to
try to reach the military frontier of Croatia.

"If you will promise me," said she, " that the
horses shall never with your consent serve the
dark yellow people, {Schwarzgelhen) you shall
have them, the cart, and harness, for eight
ducats." The bargain was presently concluded.

Abundantly provisioned with several bags
full of kukuruz, some flitches of bacon, and a
cask of Buda [wine], my light vehicle, with the
small lean horses, in wretched harness, stood
in the morning before the door of the house,
ready to convey me into the uncertain dis-
tance.

The parting from this excellent family,
which had so kindly tended me, the foe of
their country, cut me to the heart, and tears
had well nigh filled my eyes. I timidly asked
the mother if she would not permit me to pay

IN HUNGARY. 187

her something for attendance and entertain-
ment.

She looked proudly at me, and said in a
grave tone ; " How can you, a German, offer a
Magyar money for her entertainment ? But,
hold ! our country needs money just now for
war ; give a ducat per week — I will send it
to the military chest."

Ashamed, I handed to her seven ducats ;
as I had been just seven weeks at the pusta,

I cordially shook hands with all, and
mounted the sack of hay which served me for
a seat : my spirited nags started off; and I
followed at a rapid rate the scarcely percep-
tible ruts which led to the south-west.

When shall I have it in my power to repay
those simple, noble-minded creatures the debt
I owe them !

188 THE CIVIL WAR

LETTER XI.

The Writer travels disguised as an Hungarian peasant —
Meets with a body of Insurgents — Is forced to accompany
a detachment of the Polish Legion, as carrier — Escapes
from it — ^Directs his course for Styria — Reaches Lake
Flatten — State of his wounds — He falls in with Insurgents,
by whom he is again detained — Appointed superintendent
of the cart-drivers — Incidents while acting in this capa-
city— Passage through Pesth, where he sees the Countess

St Action with the Russians — Despondence of the

Writer — Another encounter with the Russian troops — Pre-
cipitate retreat of the Magyars — The Writer, purposely
upsetting his cart, contrives to be left behind, and surrenders
to the Russians — Their kind reception of him — He joins a
convoy, and travels to Moravia, to await there his complete
recovery.

On leaving the pusta, I drove on all day
over the desert plain, without seeing a human
creature.

About noon, when the sun was intensely
hot, I halted at a half destroyed draw-well,
out of which I raised with great difficulty sonae
water for my horses, by means of my hat, which

IN HUNGARY. 189

I let down with the lash of ray whip. I re-
freshed the animals and myself with a few
hours' rest, food, and drink, and then proceeded
at a rapid pace.

At times I perceived solitary pustas on
one side or the other, but kept away from
them, as I wished to meet with as few per-
sons as possible. For the rest, I was clothed,
exactly like an Hungarian peasant, in wide
coarse linen gatjes^ and a short shirt of the
same kind of stuff; a round broad-brimmed hat
of coarse felt on my head ; and near me lay
an old sheep-skin. In addition, I was so tan-
ned, that I might well pass for a wounded pri-
vate hussar.

When it grew dark, I fastened the horses
to the cart, threw down fodder for them, col-
lected heath and dry sticks by the way-side,
kindled a fire, and broiled myself a slice of
bacon, which made me a supper with hukuruz-
bread and wine. Then, wrapping myself in
my hunda^ I lay down in the cart to sleep.
It was a singular feeling to be thus entirely
alone, left wholly to myself and my own exer-
tions but Nature soon asserted her right, and

190 THE CIVIL WAR

I slept soundly and undisturbed till early morn-
ing, when I prepared to continue my precari-
ous journey.

I had been travelling some hours, when a
numerous body of irregularly -clothed and ill-
armed honvods, led by a corporal in the uni-
form of his late regiment, came towards me.
No very agreeable meeting this, which might
easily bring calamity upon me : I contrived,
however, to put a good face on a bad game.
Jonapot, agyalioch! (Good day, cousins !) cried
I cheerily to them. Jo7iapotl was their salu-
tation in reply. *' Where from, and whither
away ?" asked some inquisitive fellows. " I'm
a wounded hussar ; unfortunately cannot ride.
Fm carrying provisions, by way of doing some-
thing, and am now bound for Folna." " Good
luck go with you !" replied the corporal; and
so I was suffered to proceed.

I had come off better than I expected ; and
my confidence in the prosperous issue of my
journey was thereby not a little strengthene<l.
Unluckily, it was destined to be very soon most
painfully dissappointed. In a few hours, I
again met a strong troop of horse, at least four

IN HUNGARY. 191

hundred strong. When I saw at a distance
the glistening points of lances, I conjectured
in the first moment that they were Imperial
Hulans, though it was scarcely possible that
there could be any of them in those parts.
They belonged to a Polish partisan corps,
mostly armed with lances or straight scythes.

I was stopped by the very first of them,
who thought it was a lucky accident, and said
that I must turn back with them, and carry
the sick men. Against this I protested to na
purpose, and pleaded the urgency of my busi-
ness. " Have you any certificate in writing,
peasant?" cried the leader of the troop, an old
Polish officer, in an imperious tone ; and when
I answered in the negative, he replied in his
Polish-German-Hungarian gibberish, "Then
come along with us : to a patriotic man like
you it must be all the same whether you are
driving here or there ; we want carriages,
and that's enough."

This was a sad affair for me. To accompany
the Polish legion as carrier had never entered
into my calculation ; and then the danger of
being discovered and shot upon the spot for a

192 THE CIVIL WAR

spy was not small. Necessity, however, knows
no law, and so I was obliged to submit. I
quietly joined the five Slowack peasants' carts,
which followed this troop of cavalry, and now
had to direct my course to the north-west,
instead of the south-west.

My first cargo consisted of one German
and four Polish horsemen, who were suffer-
ing from ague to such a degree as to be
unable to hold themselves upright in the
saddle. The poor fellows' teeth chattered as
as they lay close together in a car, from which
their comrades had immediately carried off my
stock of wine, and drunk it with great glee.
In other respects, they behaved orderly, nay,
even civilly towards me ; and, upon the whole,
good, I may say strict, discipline prevailed in
the corps.

These troops were mostly from Gallicia ;
chiefly young men from Lemberg, and other
Gallician towns ; and the officers were wholly
Polish gentlemen, who had fought in 1831
against the Russians, and in 1 846 against us.
There were also among them many deserters
from our Polish Hulans and infantry regiments,

IN HUNGARY. 193

which might easily be perceived in their more
stiff military bearing.

The clothing of the men, consisting in a
short Polish literka, was good, the arms in
fair condition ; the horses, mostly of Polish
breed, were somewhat worn, bat still very ser-
viceable ; in short, it was not a contemptible
body of horse ; and, indeed, divisions of this
Polish legion had, at an earlier period, dis-
played great gallantry in the affairs in which
they had been engaged with us. If I was
to be absolutely necessitated to play the part
of carrier, I should have far preferred serving
these Polacks, because among them I ran least
risk of being discovered.

We proceeded thus the whole day; gave
the horses a feed at noon, and bivouacked at
night in the open air. Our vehicles were
ranged in a circle, and completely surrounded
by advanced posts ; so that escape was impos-
sible. For nine days I travelled in this capa-
city with the Polish legion, living all that
time, like the other Slowack peasants, on
marnmaliga, and sleeping at night under the
cart, wrapped in my bunda. Opportunity for

194 THE CIVIL WAR

escape there was none, for we carriers were
too well guarded at night, and we scarcely
ever met with imperial troops to whom we
could have gone over.

At length, however, the wished -for oppor-
tunity for flight presented itself. I was de-
tached from the main body, and sent off with
another cart, under an escort of six men, to a
pusta, to take up provisions there.

Darkness, overtaking us on the return,
obliged us to halt, and to pass the night by
the bivouac fire. My Poles, as well as the
Slowack peasant, who drove the other vehicle,
had drunk rather too much sklikowitz (plum-
brandy) in the pusta ; and as no surprise what-
ever was to be apprehended, and not the least
mistrust was entertained of me, they were soon
fast asleep around the fire.

I determined to avail myself of this oppor-
tunity for flight, which might probably not
soon occur again ; shoved my cart, out of which
I had thrown three-fourths of its load, fifty
paces back ; then led to it the better of my
two horses, which had only been galled by the
saddle, and was otherwise a sound and untiring

IN HUNGARY. 195

animal, and harnessed him to the vehicle.
My other horse, which was old and stiff, and
not fit for a rapid journey, I left behind, trans-
ferring the head-gear to a young, spirited
beast, which a Pole had bought at the pusta,
I managed to harness the two animals to the
cart, and, holding them by the head, led them
off slowly and quietly for some hundred paces ;
then mounted and took my seat, flourished the
whip, and galloped off in the dark.

My flight was prosperous. For the mo-
ment, at least, I was saved. I continued to
move on at a rapid rate throughout the night;
and it was not till towards morning that I
gave my beasts a hearty feed of kukmmz, I
was now forced to relinquish my intention of
reaching the Croatian military frontier ; for
my wanderings with the Poles had again car-
ried me too far northward ; I resolved now to
attempt to pass by Vesprim to Styria.

About ten o'clock by the sun, for this was
my only time-piece, I came to a small stream,
which seemed to run into Lake Platten, at
which I watered my horses; then I drove on
without seeing a creature, steering my course

K 2

196 THE CIVIL WAR

by the sun, and at night by the stars, unre-
mittingly, but slowly, that I might not fatigue
my cattle too much, for twenty -four succes-
sive hours ; till, in the morning, I perceived
the waters of Lake Flatten.

Here, greatly refreshed by the shade of
some willows and alders, which screened me
from the burning heat of the sun, I rested for
a day and a half; for I felt very unwell, and
the wound in my side assumed a worse ap-
pearance, and became extremely painful. I
fastened my horses to the cart, and gave them
plenty of fodder; incessantly cooling my in-
flamed wounds with wet compresses, for which
I laded water out of the lake with my great
hat. My fare, since my flight, consisted of
bacon, of which I had still a small store, and
raw or roasted corns of kvkuruz; because,
unluckily, I could not bring with me either
flour or bread, or even a plate, as all these
articles were in the other vehicle. In addi-
tion, I had in my tschuttora (large wooden-
bottle) a little brandy left, which I drank
largely diluted with water.

With recruited strength and fresh courage,

IN HUNGARY. 197

I again pursued my journey. Towards even-
ing, I came to a small village, which appeared
to be almost entirely deserted. I stopped at
the first house, to procure, if possible, bread,
some wine, and a plate. I obtained them all;
but at the same time learned, to my dismay,
that about six thousand Jwnvods and hussars
were resting only a league off. This was sad
news; and yet I was forced to feign to be
very glad of it.

I was still conversing with the owner of the
house, an old peasant, when an hussar patrole
rode into the village ; and I saw, with alarm,
that the men wore the uniform of the reofiment
to which I had belonged till two years and a
half ago ; nay, when they came nearer, I dis-
covered in several faces features with which I
was acquainted. The danger of being detected
was now greater than ever.

Fortunately, the hussars rode past without
noticing my cart. Scarcely were they gone,
and I had begun to breathe more freely, when
a division of honvods came straight to the
house. The officer, formerly a jurat of Pesth,
put some very captious cross-questions to me.

198 THE CIVIL WAR

He probably imagined that I had withdrawn
from the Hungarian military service out of
cowardice, but could not have any notion that
I was an imperial officer.

I thought, however, that it was best to
offer myself voluntarily as a carrier, in order
to escape any further examination. I there-
fore told the honvod Lieutenant that I would
accompany him to his battalion, and serve it
as a carrier of provisions, since my wound
prevented me from riding, a point on which
he might convince himself. This proposal
pleased him : he praised my patriotic zeal ;
and I soon drove off with him to his battalion,
which was encamped with two others not far
from the village.

The Major, an old, weather-beaten Magyar
country-gentleman, who uttered more curses
than any other kind of words, called me re-
peatedly a d — d good fellow, and immediately
appointed me chief superintendent over the
ten or twelve small peasants' carts that were
compelled to follow the battalion. " There
are a great many gipsies among the fellows,"
cried he, in good Hungarian ; " cut them

IN HUNGARY. 199

down, the blackguards, and send their souls
to hell, if they disobey orders, and attempt to
escape !"

I had thus been promoted to head- carrier
of a honvod battalion; and could not help
laughing at myself, far as I was. from liking
the confidential post. For the rest, there
were in our corps several divisions of hussars
of my old regiment, and some of the men I
still knew perfectly well by name. I shunned
their sight as much as possible, and they
passed me without suspicion ; never supposing
that the Hungarian carman, in dirty gatjes,
old brown hunda, and broad-brimmed hat,
over his dark-tanned face, could be their for-
mer lieutenant.

Formerly, too, I had been slightly ac-
quainted with several of the honvod officers,
from their having been in the Hungarian
Noble-guard, or cadets, or lieutenants, in Hun-
garian regiments. With one of them, who
was now captain, I had, two years ago, for
some weeks together, frequently played at
domino in a coffee-house at Milan.

I was not recognised by him either; for, of

200 THE CIVIL WAR

coarse, he did not deign to look closely at
me. In order, however, to be the better con-
cealed, in case of an accidental meeting with
the Poles from whom I had escaped, I swapped
my two horses on the following day with an
Hungarian peasant, who had a couple of Cos-
sack nags, which had been taken from the
Russians. The man gave me a tschuttora full
of good wine into the bargain, as he declared
that his beasts did not understand Hungarian,
and he could not talk with them.

I now moved about for several weeks with
the konvod battalion, without any opportunity
for escape presenting itself. The hard way
of life, full of exertions of every kind ; the
pig-meat diet — bacon and kukuruz in every
variety of form constituting the almost ex-
clusive fare ; lastly, the use of wine and
brandy, because the water was in general not
drinkable, greatly retarded the healing of my
shot-wound, and it began to suppurate consi-
derably. In other respects, I fared as well
as it was possible to do under such circum-
stances.

One day, I had a terrible fright ; my bunda,

IN HUNGARY. 201

in which was all my money, and, what was of
far greater consequence to me, my certificate
attesting that I was an imperial officer, was
stolen. Luckily, I discovered the thief, a
honvod soldier, in a few hours, and recovered
my hunda uninjured. The Major, to whom I
complained, awarded to the thief eighty as
sound strokes of the cane as ever were in-
flicted in the Austrian army. I found that
such punishments were not sparingly dis-
pensed in the insurgent army ; and, upon the
whole, that the officers strove to maintain
strict discipline.

The soldiers were abundantly supplied with
wine, meat, and kukuruz, and were mostly well
clothed and armed. As for ready money, offi-
cers as well as soldiers saw very little of that.
We carriers also, in addition to food for our-
selves and our horses, received no pay, but
were to be compensated by an order upon
some Hungarian chest or other.

I was present as a spectator, among an
assemblage of peasants, at a great review of
our corps, held by Messaros, the Hungarian
minister of war. I was formerly brought into

k5

902 , THE CIVIL WAR

relation in various ways with Messaros, who
had been colonel of an hussar regiment ; and
then neither of us ever dreamt that he should
some day ride past me — he as general of an
insurgent army, and I as a carrier of pro-
visions.

I passed with my battalion through Pesth;
as we were to operate on the other bank of
the Danube. I had hoped that we should
spend one night at least in the city, when I
should have endeavoured to escape in the
dark, and to have concealed myself with par-
tisans of the Emperor : but I was disappointed.

In a long train, under a strong escort, with-
out the least stoppage, we proceeded through
the streets of the city, so that it was impos-
sible for me to absent myself for a moment.
There, in the balcony of a house, stood, in
deep mourning, the widow of my poor friend

St , whose death by our balls I have

already related to you. Her regular, beauti-
ful face, was very pale, and bore the impress
of profound grief.

What vicissitudes of fortune had we all
experienced ! Three years ago, she, the most

IN HUNGARY. 203

admired young beauty of Lombardy, radiant
in all the charms of early womanhood, had
given her hand to the handsome, vigorous,
wealthy man, who attracted the eyes of all
the other sex ; and I, the young, pleasure-
loving hussar officer, served for brideman —
and now — there she stood, a pale, mourning
widow, solitary and forlorn — her husband
sleeping the everlasting sleep on an Hungarian
heath ! — and I, as a poor carrier, driving a
cart laden with flour under her window !

I descried also behind the window-panes a
couple of handsome, youthful faces, belonging
to two sisters of my acquaintance. One of
them must have been struck by the resem-
blance of the carman to the well-known hussar
officer ; for I saw her jog her sister, and point
to me with her fino^er.

From Pesth we proceeded, in a north-
western direction, against a Russian corps.
Once the insurgents whom I accompanied had
a smart action with the Russians, which, how-
ever, terminated without much advantage to
either side. I myself, with my cart and
horses, was obliged to stay, along with the

204 THE CIVIL WAR

baggage-waggons, upon a height behind our
line. Towards the end of the fight, I and
two other Slowack peasants received orders
to take our horses out of the shafts, and to
hasten with them to the line of battle, to be
harnessed to a gun, the horses of which had
been shot.

During the short ride thither my wound
was excessively painful. Under tlie hottest
fire of the Russians, we put the horses to the
gun ; in doing this a Russian ball went
through my hat, which had fallen from my
head, as it lay at my feet ; and we drove off.
One of the peasants, probably feeling not quite
comfortable amidst the fire, attempted to run
away while we were harnessing, but was soon
overtaken by an hussar of the covering party,
and inspired with the necessary courage by
smart blows with the flat of his blade.

For me this combat had a still more un-
pleasant termination. My hope of escaping
on this occasion was again thwarted ; and I
w^as then overpowered by a despondence such
as 1 had never yet experienced. The bad
fare, the unaccustomed employment as car-

IN HUNGARY. 205

man, the uncleanliness which it was impos-
sible to avoid, and a hundred petty disagree-
ables and annoyances, combined with the
constantly disappointed hope of deliverance,
reduced me very low — morally and physically;
and I was frequently obliged to rally all my
energies, lest I should sink under them.

After I had been wandering about for four
successive weeks with the honvods, the day of
deliverance at length arrived.

Twenty carts had been sent under the
escort of a troop of hussars, to fetch provi-
sions. The train was moving slowly forward
in a thick wood, when suddenly cries of " The
enemy ! the enemy !" proceeded from our ad-
vanced guard. With the courage peculiar to
them, the hussars dashed forward, to throw
themselves upon the foe, and I could soon
perceive that they were engaged with a strong
body of Russian infantry.

The peasants were ordered to face about
and drive back with the utmost expedition;
but, in turning, I purposely upset my cart, so
that for the moment it could not be moved
from the spot. The hussars, meanwhile, were

206 THE CIVIL WAR

fighting against the superior force of the
enemy with the courage of lions, and actually
stopped it till all the carts had got off, with
the single exception of mine. Ahove half of
the hussars had fallen ; when, at length, the
rest retreated with great precipitation.

Now or never was the time for me to be
saved. I quickly crept beneath my over-
turned cart, to be screened from any unlucky
cuts by the hussars scampering past, and the
pursuing Cossacks, and to wait till I could
surrender to the returning Russian infantry.
My plan was quite successful. An hussar,
galloping by, struck at my horses with the
flat of his sword, to drive them off; but,
being attached to the overturned vehicle, laden
with sacks of knkuruz, they were unable to stir.

Presently, the first Russian infantry soldiers
came up to my car, and were not a little sur-
prised when a peasant crept from beneath it,
and surrendered himself as prisoner to them.
Some Cossacks, who had, meanwhile, come
up, would have taken my hunda from rae;
and, when I resisted, one of them menacingly
raised his kantschuh towards me; but the

IN HUNGARY. 207

corporal of the infantry took me under his
protection, and would not suifer me to be
plundered.

In vain I now strove to render myself intel-
ligible to the man, as he understood not a
word of German ; but, by means of all sorts
of gestures and the word offizier (officer),
which I frequently repeated, pointing, at the
same time, to myself, I succeeded so far as to
get conducted to the lieutenant of the divi-
sion. But he too knew nothing either of
German or French; and incessantly shook his
head, when I strove, in all possible ways, to
make him comprehend that I was an imperial
Austrian officer.

At last, I ripped open my bunda, to show
him my written document. He did not un-
derstand the writing, it is true ; but the seal
underneath inspired some respect. He now
became quite civil ; offered me brandy out of
his camp-flask; and ordered the Cossacks,
who were ready to appropriate my horses to
themselves as booty, to raise my cart, and put
the animals to it again. The soldiers, how-
ever, kept my sacks of kukuruz and pots of

208 THE CIVIL WAR

lard, and were soon busily engaged in making
with them all sorts of pastry about a large fire.

The officer beckoned me to take a place in
the cart, ordered a subaltern and a soldier to
seat themselves by me, while two Cossacks
were to trot on before upon their small, shaggy
beasts; and thus was I conducted, as half a
prisoner, to the battalion, which was bivouack-
ing about half a league off.

The Lieutenant-colonel, a tall, handsome
man, understood so much German as to be
able to read my certificate, and to compre-
hend my oral explanation. He was very polite
to me ; but begged me not to take it amiss if,
for the moment, he was obliged to treat me as
an officer who was a prisoner. He supplied
me with what was particularly desirable — some
clean linen out of his wardrobe, and a pair of
old pantaloons, instead of my old, horrible,
filthy gatjes, and had my wound examined and
fresh dressed by the surgeon of the battalion.

In the evening, he invited me to his supper,
which consisted of good beef-steaks, and ex-
cellent tea, which was a real cordial to me.
For a bed, he ordered me to be furnished with

IN HUNGARY. 909

some blankets, such as the officers had ; so that
I slept most comfortably. For the rest, a sub-
altern had orders to keep close to my side,
and not to allow me, upon any account what-
ever, to leave him.

After an excellent breakfast of tea and
eggs, I requested that the Lieutenant-colonel,
who was preparing to march forward with his
battalion, to send me to the Russian General
to whose corps he belonged, as I expected to
find there an imperial Austrian officer.

With a Cossack, whose horse was fastened
to the tail of the cart, as driver, and an in-
fantry soldier as orderly, I proceeded in my
vehicle to the head-quarters of the General,
two leagues in rear. As accident would have
it, I was well acquainted with the Captain
placed as orderly officer about the Russian
General.

At the moment we entered, he was lolling
in a window of the inn, smoking his morning
pipe. He looked astounded when he saw me
in such a garb, shook me heartily by the hand,
and immediately attested that I was exempt
from suspicion.

2 1 0 CIVIL WAR IN HUNGARY.

Here I procured the most necessary arti
cles of clothing and linen, in order to make
a somewhat more decent appearance, and,
through the medium of the Captain, engaged
the servant of an Austrian officer who had
fallen, as my attendant for the present. I
passed two days with the Russian General,
from whom I received all possible attentions ;
but my bodily state did not permit me to
enjoy their hospitality in full measure.

I then joined a military convoy, travelling
in my cart, wrapped in soft blankets, by short
marches, to Moravia, having solicited leave of
absence to go to that country. I reached
without accident the neat little town, where I
knew that good nursing awaited me, and
where I am now using all possible means for
my recovery.

I shall not be able to take part in the Hun-
garian war for some months ; and it is to be
hoped that, meanwhile, it will have been
brought to a successful termination.

THE END.

London: F. Shoberl, Jun., Printer to H.R.H. l'rinc« Albert, 51, Rupert St.

ME. W. SHOBERL'S

''■"'if 20, Great Marlborough St., ;:}.■:.•>•;

H -i NEW WOMS.

Jugmt, 1850. '^■■•'^■■^-••^

jS:;:;

MACOMO, THE GAIKA CHIF.F, IN 1834.

From a Portrait taken by F. Ions, Esq , of Graham's Tou n.

I.

In Two Volumes, small 8vo., with Portraits of Sir H. Smith,

Sir B. 1) Urban, Views of Cape Town, Graham's Town, &c.,

EXCUESIONS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA;

Including a History of the Cape Colony, an Account of the Native Tribes,
Remarks on the Convict Question, &c.

BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL E. NAPIER,

Lately Employed on Special Service in Kaffirland.

, '• Fearlessly discloses the actual state of the Colony." — John Bull.

•.^ " A panorama of landscapes of social life and manners — a most inipor- J_

i> tant work." — Sunday Times. <.

f " This work will undoubtedy attain great circulation."Se/r« Messenger. '•

" The fullest, clearest, most satisfactory account of everything relating

to or connected with the Cape that we have yet seen, written in tlm true

Napier style — bold, energetic, and fearless." — Naval and Military Oazette.

'^'4 t:"::;c:i:'"':{. ^^- ^- shoberl's }'^^"Y"r^

:■••■::«:!;•" 20, Great Marlborough St., ;^::.•^i; Augtist, \850,\:"''^'--

M^i i NEW WORKS, h

i"j^"K'^ II.

^•"•■■■"•■■■■■••v. Now Ready, at all the Libraries, in Three Volumes,

|C«::::::::::::| THE MISER'S SECEET;

^:::^::::^::>| OR, THE DAYS OF JAMES I.

P''K AN HIS TO RICA I. ROMANCE.

f% ^ BY A DISTINGUISHED WRITER.

IV'"-".". !•;••■••■//' He had a treasure, far surpassing gold,

•!•...•!•;•..•>:•...•!•" And forra'd in Nature's fairest, loveliest, mould:

.-:•'■ "v. Her angel-presence, like a vision bright,

':•::::..:";•.::.•:•:" Heighien'd his joys and made his sorrows light —

:V )V' ':':' ■•*: A peerless treasure — boon from Heav'n above —

!•;••"•';! !•:••••••! F"r what is dearer than a daughter's love ?

V.::::-"-::::-"':::>:" " A tale of considerable interest." — Britannia.

:( V: •* The great charm of this Novel is its originality, and we

.v""*'*"""'y. have no doubt that it will claim a large amount of popularity."

X::::::::::::::;.y BeU's Messenger.

%^:.,::::.,:::^ III.

:. DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO LADY FRANKLIN.

i In Two Volumes, small 8vo., with Views of Cape Town, and
?: the City of Canton,

1^ A VOYAGE TO CHINA;

* Including a Visit to the Bombay Presidency, the Mahratta '
., Country, the Cave Temples of Western India, Singapore, the..,
if Straits of Malacca, the Straits of Sunda, and the Cape of Good
•; Hope, during the Neptune Convict-ship Agitation in 1850.
P BY J. BERNCASTLE,

?; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, LONDON.

^ IV.

U IMPORTANT NEW WORK ON INDIA.

II In Three Volumes, small Svo.,

I TEN YE AES IN INDIA;

i; OR, THE LIFE OF A YOUNG OFFICER.

I BY CAPTAIN ALBERT HERVEY,

\ Of the 40th Regiment of Madras Infantry. ^

V •• This work will have a wide circulation in this country,

i;* and will be sought after and much prized in the three great

;•• Presidencies." — Bell's Messenger.

:i ;: «: :;

r-rj

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW

AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS

WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN
THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY
WILL INCREASE TO 50 CENTS ON THE FOURTH
DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY
OVERDUE.

SEP 27 IIMe

m ^ ^^^

SEP 25 1941

OCT 01 1941 Y

'^O^SOmiM

Q01L_3tay4i

LD 21-100m-7,'39(402R)

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

s 5 1' j'iK