Chapter VII – The Beginning Year of the Rebellion
By the beginning months of 1423, loyal supporters to King Matyas had formed an army of nearly 25,000 men to battle Branabus Hunyadi and the Magyar rebels. It was a great feat that, in many aspects, was a miracle to see. King Matyas had limited funds to supply, let alone form a large army. The Hungarian army that did exist before the rebellion had splintered into opposing sides, with nearly half the available men and generals siding with Hunyadi or abandoning the army all together. One common belief among Magyar rebels was that the war would be quick, for they did not believe Matyas could truly mount a defensive. Unfortunately for the rebels, they were wrong. One aspect the rebels failed to realize was the importance and loyalty of the newly acquired Polish lands in the north. The Polish nobles, delighted of the Luxembourg heir were staunch allies against the Magyars.
(1) With their assured loyalty, Matyas was able to recruit over 10,000 Polish soldiers to fight for him, as well as attain a sizeable loan to pay for a few seasons of campaigning. Along with his Croatian subjects, as well as the remnants of the former army, Matyas mustered a force that was three-times the size of the Magyar rebel army.
With that said, King Matyas still had problems facing his army and his hopeful victory over the rebels. The king was fighting an enemy that had no official fortifications or castles, and its army had the support of many common Magyars throughout the kingdom especially in the Carpathian Basis and Transylvania. In short of ransacking and burning every town and castle in the rebel regions, which would not be looked upon favorably by his own loyal subjects, Matyas could only wait for good intelligence of rebel movement and hopefully strike when the rebels were at their weakest.
Branabus Hunyadi was having troubles of his own. Though word of the rebellion began to spread in September of the previous year, Hunyadi’s army was slow to form. The largest part of his army to arrive was his former Hungarian soldiers that splintered from Matyas’s Royal army months earlier. These reinforcements of nearly 6,800 men increased his army to not quite 8,500 men by April of 1423. Promised reinforcements from loyal nobles were coming in every day, usually in pockets of 100 to 300 men. This pleased Hunyadi but he knew that Matyas was able to form a larger army much quicker, and he constantly worried that Matyas would ambush the smaller rebel armies while in route to him. Again, fortunate was not in favor of Hunyadi, his biggest stress and worry became reality.
In April of 1423, a rebel army of nearly 4,000 men under a local Magyar lord named Karoly Festetics was marching to Carpathia to join forces with Hunyadi. Matyas’s spies very easily discovered the army, for it was the only notable rebel force in a region that Matyas unofficially controlled. King Matyas, along with his best general Erno Ozoray left a small garrison force in Buda and forced march to intercept the rebels in Ersekujvar. In only two days, the Royal Army, numbered over 20,000 men met up with the small rebel force and battle ensued. The Battle of Ersekujvar was a relatively quick but incredibly brutal battle. King Matyas did not declare that the common soldiers would be spared and a massive massacre occurred after rebel troops surrendered.
The Battle of Ersekujvar was one of the worst massacres in all the years of the Magyar Rebellion.
Actual rebel casualties in the battle were light, but the ensuing aftermath would see the eventual destruction of the entire rebel army. No quarter was not a typical sight on European battlefields, yet Matyas enraged with the war felt it unnecessary to spare the lives of traitors.
It was an outstanding though predictable victory for King Matyas. His army only received about 150 casualties in the battle with only about thirty men perishing. However, one of those thirty men was Matyas’s loyal general, Erno Ozoray.
(2) With the death of General Ozoray, Matyas did not have a competent or experienced general to fight against Hunyadi. Matyas, himself was a relatively incompetent field general with no experience in war. Though the king had won the battle, he lost a key piece to his hopeful victory against Hunyadi.
A huge blow to King Matyas, it deprived the king of his best and only experienced general.
Branabus Hunyadi would receive word of the devastating loss a week later. Hunyadi who was always a composed man reportedly slammed down the message against the table. Though such a small act of rage, it was clear that Hunyadi was distressed over the no quarter given to the army. King Matyas had massacred his own subjects.
After the victory over the rebels in Ersekujvar, King Matyas briefly returned to Buda to proclaim a new coinage to promote his enlightened rule as well as limit inflation that the old currency was giving. This, of course, was a large undertaking that would take over seven years to fully be in effect, but it held promise that it would help the Hungarian economy in the long run. However, the immediate benefit was that it increased Matyas’s treasury to provide funds for his army, which he desperately needed.
(3)
By July of 1423, Matyas’s army was on the march again. Emboldened by the victory in April, Matyas marched his army to Carpathia in hopes of facing Hunyadi’s main force and crush the rebellion instantly. Matyas and his Royal Army would come up against a very small detachment of the Magyar army on July 18. A noble named Pavlo Shchukarev was in command of a rebel army of 2,500 men. Shchukarev was a complete imbecile and failed to heed warnings of an approaching enemy army. The fatally confident general did not believe Matyas would march to Carpathia with his army. His extreme error would lead to the destruction of his army. Again, no quarter was given to the rebels. Only Shchukarev and a small band of rebels were able to escape and send word to Hunyadi of Matyas’s invasion.
A massive blunder by Pavlo Shchukarev.
Hunyadi was surprised with the daring Matyas was showing. He was slightly impressed with the young king. He sent Shchukarev with a force of 8,000 men around Matyas to hopefully trap the king. The main force led by Hunyadi, which had grown to 5,000 men would form a pincer movement, in effect hopefully confusing the Royal Army and severely cripple it, if not destroy it. However, Hunyadi was completely unaware of Shchukarev’s incompetence as he failed to wheel his army around far enough away for Matyas to be unaware of the movement. Believing that Hunyadi was trying to escape sent his entire force to catch the army before it could get away. The Battle of Ruthenia, which it is commonly called due to being fought on the border of Ruthenia, was nearly a complete disaster for the Magyar army. Though both armies fought to a standstill, the rebel army was forced to retreat back where it came from. This allowed Matyas to follow, while also not allowing Hunyadi to trap the king.
The Battle of Ruthenia was nearly a disaster for the Magyar army.
With the defeat, Hunyadi dismissed Shchukarev and licked his wounds. Branabus Hunyadi with a command of only about 10,000 soldiers only could watch as the Royal Army numbering 20,000 men led by King Matyas formed on the opposite side of the river. Hunyadi decided this is where he would make his stand.
King Matyas's expansion in the beginning year of the Magyar Rebellion.
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(1) - Many historians also argue that the Polish lords were more inclined to help Matyas because they believed that they could possibly gain more lands that reached beyond the borders of Poland. They also enjoyed the fact that the Magyars were suffering under the head of a "Venetian."
(2) - It is not entirely clear how General Erno Ozoray died in the battle. Yet, many believe that he was surrounded by the frustrated and outnumbered Magyars and cut down in one last effort.
(3) - In seven years, the coinage was finally completely replaced, but this would become a massive failure by King Matyas. His overwhelming reason for the replaced coinage would also come out as being a last ditched effort to gain money to fight the rebels.