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Battle of Smolenice
	Part of Rákóczi's War of Independence
Date	May 28, 1704
Location	Smolenice, Upper Hungary (today Slovakia)
Result	Tactical Kuruc (Hungarian) victory
Belligerents
Kurucs (Kingdom of Hungary) with Slovak rebels	Habsburg Empire; Holy Roman Empire; Kingdom of Denmark
Commanders and leaders
Sándor Károlyi general; László Ocskay brigadeer; Miklós Bercsényi general	General Johann von Ritschan; Guido von Starhemberg; Duke John Adolphus of Holstein-Plön; Colonel Leopold Maltzan
Strength
ca. 15,000 (5,000-6,000 participated in the battle)	2331 infantries; 250 cavalries; 4 cannons
Casualties and losses
300-400 dead	700 captured, several hundred dead, 3 cannons

The Battle of Smolenice (Hungarian: Szomolányi csata, German: Schlacht bei Smolenitz, Slovak: Bitka pri Smoleniciach) was a battle between an army of untrained Hungarian peasants, called the Kuruc, and the forces of the Habsburg Empire, contingents of the Holy Roman Empire and auxiliaries of Denmark. The battle occurred on May 28, 1704 at Smolenice in Upper Hungary, where the Kuruc army routed the Imperial forces and captured the Austrian commander. For a short time, the rebels marauded a number of villages in Lower Austria, Marchfeld and Moravia, which threatened the safety of Vienna.

Prelude[edit]

In April 1704, Miklós Bercsényi led an uprising among the Hungarian and Slovak peasants in Upper Hungary, promising freedom to serfs on behalf of Rákóczi. Bercsényi's goal was the destruction of the army led by the Austrian general Johann von Ritschan. Meanwhile, General von Ritschan left Moravia with the aim of reaching Pressburg (present-day Bratislava).

In May 1704, General Simon Forgách crossed the Danube river with 4,000 men, hoping to lure Hannibal Heister's army into a battle.

Opposing forces[edit]

The Kuruc force had approximately 15,000 untrained fighters. The leader Bercsényi could command the light horsemen, a small number of infantry, as well as Slovak and Hungarian peasant rebels. The majority of the peasants used agricultural tools as weapons along with low-grade rifles.

Ritschan opposed Bercsényi's force with imperial forces from Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Denmark, and Germany. Although significantly outnumbered by the Kuruc forces, Ritchan's forces were elite, highly trained and well-equipped. The imperial army, which consisted of 2331 infantry, 250 cavalry and 4 cannons, was composed of the following contingents

473 infantry under von Deutschmeister from Vienna
129 infantry under John Adolphus, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön
625 infantry under Guido von Starhemberg
468 infantry under Baron Georg Friedrich von Kriechbaum
454 infantry under command of Jung-Daun
182 Danish infantry under Colonel Leopold Maltzan
150 Cuirassiers under Captain Giordani Visconti
50 Cuirassiers under Graf Francis Taaffe
50 Dragoons under Marquis Captain Joseph-Paul de Vaubonne

The battle[edit]

The Austrian army moved to Smolenice and camped there on the 26th of May, in order to recover from fatigue after crossing the Carpathian Mountains. Moreover, Ritschan wanted to wait at Smolenice until reinforcements arrived from another Austrian-Royalist army under the command of János Wolfy.

The Imperial Army hesitates[edit]

Ritschan was not aware that the rebel Kuruc army was gathering in the forest and preparing for an attack. When the Kuruc attack was reported, Ritschan called a council and proposed an advance by Červený Kane. However, Colonel Maltzan, Captain Visconti, Deutschmeister and Ritschan's officers, all rejected his plan as the region was firmly controlled by the Kurucs and they feared for the safety of Moravia and Vienna.

The Kurucs attack[edit]

In the first stage of the battle, Brigadier László Ocskay and the Slovak rebels attacked Starhemberg's Austrian force, stopping his advance. The cavalry followed under Sandor Károlyi. Ocskay's Hussars were on alert near Smolenice as the most of the Slovaks remained in the forests and the Kuruc infantry were on their way to Smolenice.

The Austrians counterattack[edit]

In the second stage of the battle, Ritschan launched a counterattack by the skirmishers, and the Kuruc fusiliers retreated to the woods. After a while, 2,000 Kuruc horsemen arrived and pushed back the Austrian cavalry. Starhemberg's forces were totally confused by the surprise attacks and their commanders recalled von Deutschmeister's regiment and the Danish infantries. In this clash, von Deutschmeister forced the Kuruc cavalry to retire after one and a half hours.

Kuruc victory[edit]

Nevertheless, the Kuruc surprise attacks had disrupted the Austrian army, splitting into two. This allowed the Kuruc army to rout the Austrian, German, and Danish contingents one by one. Ritschan was wounded in the battle and tried to escape from the encircling Kuruc forces with the Danish and Kierchbaum troops. Subsequently, the Danish contingent was caught and tried to back the Jung Daun troops.

Ritschan had made a tactical error. After the success of von Deutschmeister's regiment, he concentrated on the defense of equipment and skirmishers, but his soldiers were exhausted in crossing the mountains between Trnava and Jablonica.

The surprise Kuruc attack and movement disrupted the Austrians, allowing the Kurucs to surround and defeat the enemy forces. At last, General von Ritschan and a small force escaped and reached Jablonica, but von Ritschan himself was eventually captured.

Aftermath[edit]

Casualties and captives[edit]

Several hundred soldiers in the Austrian army were killed and 700 captured. The Hungarians lost 300-400 soldiers either injured or killed.

Further campaigns[edit]

After the success in the Battle of Smolenice, Ocskay invaded Moravia and Károlyi took Lower Austria. Hence, Leopold I was forced to cancel his vacation in Laxenburg. Moreover, on June 9, 1704, Leopold's birthday, Károlyi's cavalry set fire to German and Croatian villages near Vienna (at that time few Chakavian Croatians lived in Lower Austria). Károlyi's men also destroyed the Imperial Zoo near Vienna.

On 10 June, Károlyi returned to Hungary with a significant haul of war spoils. Károlyi and Forgách's armies tried to unite against Heister, but Heister was faster and defeated Forgách in the Battle of Koroncó. Thus, the victory near Smolenice became inconsequential and the Kurucs were defeated in Transdanubia. It was not until 1705, in the battle of Szentgotthárd that Bottyán the Blind regained the region.