the slavonic year-book || the diary of john paget, 1849

The Diary of John Paget, 1849Author(s): Henry Miller MaddenSource: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 19, No. 53/54, The Slavonic Year-Book(1939 - 1940), pp. 237-264Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4203595 .

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THE DIARY OF JOHN PAGET, 1849 JOHN PAGET, the author of this diary, was born at Thorpe Satchville, Leicestershire, in the year I808. After studying medicine at Edinburgh he travelled extensively on the continent, and visited Hungary in I835- 1836. He married Baroness Polyxena Wesselenyi, widow of Baron Ladislas Banffy, in I837. Settling in Transylvania as a member of the landed gentry, he was enabled to witness the events of the Hungarian war of independence and to record the fugitive reports which circulated among the upper class in Hungary. Of particular interest is his account of the relations between the Magyars and Roumanians of Transylvania, the animosity between the Austrian and Russian allies, and the dissension among the Hungarian political and military leaders.

After the subjugation of his adopted land, Paget visited England, returning later to occupy his estate near Kolozsvar. During his later years he interested himself in the welfare of the Unitarian church of Transylvania. He was the author of Hungary and Transylvania; with remarks on their condition, social, political, and economical, published in London in 1839, and translated into German and published at Leipzig in 1842. John Paget died at Gyeres on Io April, 1892, and was buried at Kolozsvar.

The diary is in six notebooks, written in pencil, preserved in the Szechenyi library of the Hungarian National Museum, and numbered 2 Oct. Angl. The first five volumes contain only observations of natural history, made in France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary. The sixth volume contains Paget's diary, written in June, July, and August 1849, dealing with the war of independence. It is to be noted that Paget generally renders Hungarian names in the accepted Magyar order, the family name preceding the Christian name. The spelling and punctuation here given conform to the original; the correct Hungarian geographical nomenclature has been supplied in brackets immediately following the first mention of the locality. Parts of the diary dealing with personal and family matters have been omitted.

HENRY MILLER MADDEN.

Stanford University.

THE DIARY OF JOHN PAGET, I849

June I3 [1849]. Barand. Left Elesd [tlesd] this morning and were detained at Gross Wardein [Nagyvarad] till 2 for horses. Near the town we found 2 cannons planted on the road with vedettes out as if the Enemy were within gunshot distance, some fright of our valourous friend Czeczl. . . There is a report we have had an engagement near Presburg [Pozsony] in which we have lost 14 cannons, others say we have gained so many. Arad is probably ere this given up. Four officers

General John Czetz (I822-1904), active in the Transylvanian campaign. 237



238 THE SLAVONIC YEAR-BOOK.

were allowed to go out to ascertain if Often [Offenbanya] was really taken & if Debritzen [Debrecen] was not in the Austrians' power. They say that the French have formally recognised the independance of Hungary.

I6 (Saturday) Pest We got here yesterday and after talking with Zeyk Karoly2 I went to call on Bathyany.3 It appears the whole matter 4 has been a stupid blunder of Kemeny 'Sigo's.5 Bathyany said that he was told that I wished to make the journey to Constantinople and he said that of course he should be very glad if I went with Andrasy,6 as I could help him to get out of the Country and give him other assistance. He said that of course it never came into his head after the conversation we had had together to offer me the position of Adjutant to Andrassy, that he still counted on my services, but that here he understood I was going for my own pleasure, that when he wished to send me, he would write himself and explain the terms of the mission and then that if I chose to accept it, he should be very glad &c. He says there is nothing sure yet as to what the Russians are doing or mean to do: that neither England nor France are likely to interfere. Sr Stratford Canning7 has been very active in taking our part & Colqu- houn8 is really still in Bucharest and he in fact has given his passport to the Wallach who is now here, sent by Brown9 from Constantinople. Brown writes that the Turks are very much inclined to help us but dare not without France and England, that Sr Strafford has sent despatches of great importance to England and is waiting for an Answer every day which may turn matters in our favour. Bathyany said he had appointed Pulsky'° charge d'affaires & desired him to send Biik6syll back again. Biik6sy is not implicated in the Diamond affair as far as I can hear, tho' Merci the man seems to be so. Csernatonyl2 is gone to Paris only as Courier. Bathyany says that Beml3 has been playing them all manner of tricks, and it has now gone so far that if he does not

2 Charles Zeyk (born c. 800o), son of Daniel Zeyk. 3 Count Casimir Batthyany (I807-I854), Foreign Minister in the cabinet of

Bertalan Szemere. 4 This matter probably refers to a plan to send Paget to Constantinople on a

diplomatic mission. 5 Baron Sigismund Kemeny (1814-1875), member of the revolutionary Diet. 6 Count Julius Andrassy (1823-1890) toward the end of the war went to Con-

stantinople to secure at least the neutrality of the Ottoman Empire. 7 Afterwards Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe (I786-I880), British Ambassador

to the Porte, I824-I829 and I842-I858. , 8 Robert G. Colquhoun, British Consul-General at Bucarest, appointed in 1835. 9 Frederick William Browne, an Irishman, who left Paris in March, I849, on a

mission in Constantinople for the Hungarian Government. 10 Francis Pulszky (1814-1897), occupant of a post in finance in the revolutionary

government, an active member of the committee of national defence, and leader of the Hungarian Committee in London, 1849.

11 Colonel Francis Bikkessy was sent to London with a copy of the declaration of Hungarian independence (14 April, 1849), and participated in the work of the Hungarian Committee there.

12 Louis Csernatony (I823-1901), secretary to Kossuth during the War. 13 Joseph Bem (1794-I850), Polish commander in the Hungarian army.



THE DIARY OF JOHN PAGET, I849. 239

obey he will be replaced. He has had the order to go forwards in the Banat and advance towards Croatia but in spite of that without any order he went back to Transylvania. It has been determined that Kossuth14 shall go to meet him in Gross Wardein on the Igth to try to make matters up with him. He says he is a Panslavist in correspondance with Csatorinsky15 and that their only object is Poland, of which he cannot complain as long as it does not interfere with his duty to Hungary. He says he is a cunning old fellow who is playing a deep game underhand, but altho' they know his importance and would not lose him, they are determined not to bear his dictatorship. They lay the whole fault of Perczel's16 defeat on Bem. Perczel has been dismissed, and Vetter17 is gone to take the Command of the Army of the South. G6rgei18 arrived here two days ago with the news of a victory he had gained beyond Raab [Gy6r]. The party of Kovacs19 appears to be coquetting with G6rgei, who is strongly monarchical and abuses them all right & left for the glorious I5th of March.20 He and all his corps wear white feathers in

sign of peace. Kovacs, Csanyi,21 Szemere22 and G6rgei are forming a party against Kossuth, Bathyany, Vukovitch23 & Horvath,24 whom they hope before long to get rid of. Kovacs is an intriguing dangerous man and I suspect not over & above honest. I met Iriny25 at Supper, who is come back from Paris a very moderate man. I saw little Clarke,26 who looks well and flourishing, he tells me that Szechenyi27 is quiet & quite reasonable when nothing occurs to excite him, so that there is a hope that if things get quiet again he may recover and be again of service. His fixed idea is that he has brought all this misfortune on his country, and that his madness is a judgment on him for it. Superstition, of which I often saw traces before, seems to have taken a faster hold on him than ever. He refuses to see his family, but Clarke he wished to see, but it was thought it might excite him too much & they

14 Louis Kossuth (1802-1894), leader of the revolution and Governor of Hungary after the deposition of the Habsburg dynasty.

15 Prince Adam George Czartoryski (I770-I86I), Polish statesman, resident in France after the revolution of I830.

16 Maurice Perczel (I8I--I899), General of Honveds. 17 Antony Vetter (1803-1882), Lieutenant-Field-Marshal of Honveds. 18 Arthur Gorgey (I818-I196), Commander-in-Chief of the Hungarian forces

after February, 1849. 19 Louis Kovacs (1812-1890), politician, adherent of the so-called peace party. 20 The day on which the Emperor Ferdinand acceded to the demands of the

Hungarian parliamentary delegation. 21 Ladislas Csanyi (1790-1849), civil commissary with Bem in Transylvania. 22 Bertalan Szemere (1812-1869), Minister of Interior in the first Hungarian

Cabinet, later Premier. 23 Sebo Vukovics (I8II-I872), Minister of Justice in Szemere's cabinet. 24 Probably Michael Horvath (1809-I878), historian, Bishop of Csanad, Minister

of Public Worship and Education. 25 Joseph Irinyi (1822-I859), writer and politician. In October, 1848, he accom-

panied Count Ladislas Teleki to Paris on a diplomatic mission. 26 William Tierney Clarke (1783-1852), engineer, constructor of the suspension

bridge connecting Buda and Pest. 27 Count Stephen Szechenyi (179I-I860), leader of the movement for con-

stitutional reform before 1848.




did not let him in. Clarke says he does not believe that Henzi,28 whom he describes as as fine an old soldier as ever lived, meant even to blow up the bridge.29 Clarke went up to Buda the day before the bombardment began, and Henzi with tears in his eyes told him his orders were to destroy the town and at last the bridge, but that he would not do, such an act would be a stain on his name forever. At the request of Clarke he had the powder moved to a situation where in fact it could do no harm, and which he must have been aware for he was an officer of Engineers. When the Austrians retreated, he sent for Clarke, with whom he was previously well acquainted, & asked him how the bridge could be made impassible with the least possible damage, and when Clarke had explained it, the old man remained himself the whole night on the spot to superintend the operation, & so carefully was it done that when Buda was taken the whole thing was replaced in 4 or 5 hours - not a plank was misplaced or wanting. Henzi did not fall till towards the last, and then he evidently invited it, for he rode forward before our troops & said, I am Henzi, when a Honved shot him, fortunately thro' the body, for had it not been so, nothing could have saved him from the fury of the Pesters. The Bathyany,30 who is living in the Karoly's house, received me very cordially, & I dine with them today. She was rather more undressed than ever, and her charms of which a vast mass was visible, trembled like a loose jelly. It is reported that the upper house is to be dissolved at the meeting of the Diet. Pest is more brilliant than ever, & the shops really begin to vie with those of Vienna. A good many houses have been burnt & injured, but the town in general may be said to be as it was. The bridge is one of the most splendid things in Europe. ... I can hear nothing of poor Polyxene,31 they know no more of her here than I do. Poor old Dembinsky32 did really give up his commission, but all his officers declared that if he did they would retire, & in consequence he took the Command again.

17. Dined with Bathyany & met Rhadai,33 B. tells me that Brown has already contracted for a certain quantity of Arms in Constantinople, and that the rest may easily be got from England. News is come that Ledru Rollin34 is president and Buonaparte35 chasse, the independence of Hungary recognised with an imposing ceremony and a great speech from Teleki.36 For us the change will probably be of advantage, for

28 Heinrich Hentzi (1785-21 May, 1849), Austrian General. 29 The suspension bridge (lanchid), constructed in I839-I849. 30 Probably Countess Kasimir Batthyany (born 1808), divorced wife of Count

Antal Szapary, nee Countess Augusta Keglevich-Buzin. 31 Mrs. John Paget, nee Baroness Polyxena Wesselenyi. 32 Henryk Dembifiski (1791-1864), Polish revolutionary, General in the Hun-

garian army. 33 Count Gedeon Raday (I806-I873), politician. 34 Defeated opponent of Louis Napoleon for the French presidency. 35 Prince Louis Napoleon (afterwards Napoleon III). 36 Count Ladislas Teleki (I8II-I86I), Hungarian representative in Paris from

31 August, 1848.




France I doubt it. I met Iriny at supper and in spite of an Antipathy which Browne's report of him gave me, Josika Miklos37 forced me into an acquaintance with him & I found him an intelligent & moderate man. He speaks of Sandford38 as a friend of his. He seems to have no idea that either France or England will interfere even if Russia does, tho' he says that Ld Palmerston promised Pulsky to do all he could to prevent the Russians coming. He says that towards the last almost all the French journals & most of the English were in our favour. Called on George Karoly40 who looks but very unhappy in his grandeur. Went with Zeyk Karoly over the Buda fortifications. On the whole the upper town has suffered but little except the Palatine's palace, of which the centre & right wing are burnt & the whole plundered. The lower town towards Pest is also much injured. The breech, tho' practicable, is confoundedly high & steep and commanded by a bastion. The attack was made with ladders at the same time on every side. They are now destroying the walls completely, so that it can no more sustain a siege or expose Pest to a second destruction. There are a great number of houses destroyed here, and almost all of them the property of Pechovics. Met Tasner39 in the Casino, he looks fat & well and seems to take matters pretty easily. He says poor Szechenyi, according to a letter he received from the Countess 2 days ago, is still in a very bad state, tho' she says better than he was at the beginning. Tasner says that when he saw him in October he was quite incapable of sustaining a conversation or of fixing his ideas on one point. He scarcely recognised Tasner.

I8. Called on Paleologe, a young Greek employed by Colquhoun and who has brought a letter to Kossuth from Browne. He gave me a letter from Colquhoun, which contains no great news except that Janko40 is in Bucharest, to which Paleoge added that he was quite disgusting with his fanfaronades, he rode about the streets shewing himself off & making the most noise possible. He said he hoped in the course of a month or two to ride over the whole of Hungary at the head of his regiment! Paleologe knows the Wallacks who are here and says they wish to make my acquaintance, and he is to bring them to me tomorrow. I shall do all I can to put them off, from their idea as well as prevent the government from accepting it. The Westons4l were a month at Bucharest and are gone to Vienna. They were going thro' Orsova when they met Puchner's42 troops coming back and were obliged to go thro' Servia. Weston is still furiously Austrian. Colquhoun seems to be quite in our

37 Baron Nicholas Josika (1794-I865), newspaper editor and politician. 38 William Sandford, an Englishman who assisted the Hungarian agents in Paris. 39 Antal Tasner (I808-I86I), secretary to Count Stephen Szechenyi. O4 Avram Iancu (I824-I872), a member of the Roumanian " national govern-

ment " established in Transylvania in May, 1848, and leader of the armed Roumanian insurrection there.

41 John Joseph Webbe Weston (d. 1849), captain in the Austrian Erzherzog Max Chevaux-legers. Married Horatia Elizabeth (d. 1884), daughter of John James, sixth Earl Waldegrave.

42 Baron Anton Puchner (I779-I852), Austrian general in Transylvania.

Q




favour and to do all he can to help Browne. Went to Bathyany, to give him a letter for Polyxene which he sends thro' an American who carries despatches for the President. He has received a letter from Andrassy who is in Belgrade, where Perczel has been doing a deal of mischief instead of making friends of the Servians. Dined at the Casino, where I met Kis,43 Meszaros,44 & Guyon,45 who is here with his wife & family. I saw Gorgei for a moment at Bathyany's. He has a modest downcast look that I dont like, he must be false. . . . Kemeny 'Sigo spoke to me in the Evening at the Kiosk & attributes all the mistake to Bethlen Janos.46 I suspect Beszeredy,47 who carried Sigo's message to Bathyany, is the real Sinner, tho' not without some help from Bethlen Janos. I am afraid they will still try to send me somewhere or other as they think to put matters to right, for they are evidently very much disappointed at their Coup Manque especially as they had talked of it to everyone. I have had a long talk this morning with the Wallack who is here to do something about a Wallack Legion. He is an intelligent man and seems honest. He denies positively all connection with Laureani48 and Balas- chesco49 and all sympathy with Daco Romania. He declares that it is the fault of our Government, who never would receive the people they sent to propose even a union of Wallachia and Hungary. He says they had the greatest interest to help us against the Austrians, for it was only in our success that they could hope for anything. He protests strongly against the idea that they ever excited the Wallacks against us. He says now the only means of reconciliation is to give the Wallacks what they ask for, the use of their language in the Counties where they are in a majority. I told him that that was hopeless, the Hungarians would rather fight it out to the last. After a talk of an hour or two we got no further than that it was nearly impossible to find any means of concilia- tion. He does not or will not believe that the Wallack peasant requires nothing but the robbery of our Lands, and that the real revolutionists are the priests and lawyers, who excited the people by false & infamous promises.

19 . . . It is unfortunately true that poor Mednyansky50 is hanged, because he defended Leopoldstadt [Lip6tvar] so long, that by this means Comor [Komarom] was saved. I supped with his brother,51 who was gay enough except when he spoke of him. He said he had died nobly. They did not venture to execute him by day nor in the town, but took

43 Possibly Ladislas Kiss (I822-I886), secretary of the Hungarian mission to the Porte, or Ferenc Kiss (1825-I873), Hungarian officer.

44 Lazar Meszaros (I796-I858), minister for war in the 1848 government. 46 Richard Debaufre Guyon (1803-1856), English officer serving in the Hun- garian army.

46 Count John Bethlen (I81-1879), Transylvanian politician. 47 Stephen Bezeredj (1795-1856), member of the revolutionary Diet. 48 Augustin Trebonianu Laurianu (I8Io-I88I), a Transylvanian Roumanian. 4 Nicholas Balcescu (1819-1852), Roumanian revolutionary leader. 50 Baron Ladislas Mednyanszky (1819-1849) major of Honv6ds, executed

4 June, I849. 51 Probably Baron Alexander Mednyanszky (I816-I875).




him out to the Vineyards by night. He says it is [the] work of Hayne,52 Pallfy53 & Almasy.54 Of his relations (and he had many of them there) only three tried to save him. G6rgei called a meeting of his officers together and it was determined not to resort to reprisals. G6rgei is an intimate friend of L. Bathyany's,55 & he fears for his life if we begin with reprisals.

24. Klausenburg [Kolozsvar]. I went to Liedermann & got 1200 f.l.m. [florins] for a bill of fIoo. I sent off 500 by Liedermann to Polyxene with a letter, which if she does not want she is to send back. I saw Guyon a few minutes before I left Pest. He seems to be in disgrace. I suspect G6rgei does not like him. His adjutant said that a courier had just arrived with the news that 40,000 Russians were in the neighbourhood of Bartfeld [Bartfa], and that Dembinsky had given in his resignation and in Consequence the greater part of his officers also. I can hardly think the old fellow would retire in the face of a Russian army, howsoever he may have been disgusted with the treatment he receives. I went off to Bathyany to enquire if there was any truth in the report, but he did not know anything of it, tho' he said it might be come since he had left home . . . Had a slight touch of Cholerine, which however went off & I was able able [sic] to start. We got to Szolnok about 8 in the evening & following the advice of some Jews went to Szarvas, at least Io miles out of our way. We got however to Gr. Wardein the next night, & to Banffy Hunyad the night after. Here the old Kovacs so strongly recom- mended us to stay, as the Wallacks often came out during the night to rob & might catch us on the road, in fact he was afraid for his horses. We got here the next morning by nine, & the first person I saw after Jozo56 was Szilvasy with a dreadfully long face and a sad enough story. The Russians have entered the country by Bistritz [Beszterce] & Kron- stadt [Brass6], and have forced our troops to retire in both instances. By Kronstadt the first attack we beat them back, but the second we were beaten, & now Kiss57 is fallen, a great loss in our present poverty of good officers. Sandor,58 who had gone to Bethlen to divide the stud, came back in the afternoon and said that our Army had retired as far as Bethlen, and the Russians were in Bistritz, but did not seem inclined to follow very rapidly. They had had three attacks, in all of which the Russians retreated, but we had only 3000 against some I2,000. Little

s2 Baron Julius Jakob Haynau (1786-1853), Austrian general. 53 Count Maurice Palffy-Erdod, officer in the imperial army in 1849, adjutant

to Haynau. 54 Probably Count Maurice Almasy, later a member of the Austrian Reichsrat

(I860). 55 Count Louis Batthyany (I806-I849), first constitutional Premier of Hungary.

Arrested 8 Jan. and executed 6 Oct., I849. b6 Countess Alexander Bethlen, nee Baroness Josepha Banffy, daughter of

Mrs. Paget by her first husband. 67 Possibly Alexander Kiss, Honved officer. b6 Count Alexander Bethlen (I823-I884), husband of John Paget's step-daughter.

Q 2




Dobos,59 who commands, hopes to be able to hold Bethlen if he gets ammunition. Some 30 Honved officers have run away to Dees [Des], where the Platz Commandant has declared that he will have them all shut up if they dont return to the Army tomorrow. Bem arrived here this evening, after reviewing the troops here started for Dees, taking 5 Companies with him and 2 guns. The people here are naturally enough in the greatest allarm lest the Wallacks should come & attack Klausen- burg before the Russians come. In fact the Russians will be looked on as Saviours, if they save the town from the Wallacks. The Banffy Miklos,60 Teleki Miklos and in fact all those stupid women who have been trying to play a part the last month or two are going tomorrow. They seem to think themselves particularly compromised by having been made love to by the Honveds. I dont think myself that there is so much danger, tho' it is very difficult to say. Marie & Jozo dont wish to go, but I suspect they must do so at last. I dont even know what to do myself. I dont like to join Bem, and Czecz is so ill that I doubt if he can command & I dont like to remain idle.

25. Lali sent for me at eight oclock yesterday morning to pay her the half of the £Ioo bill which I had given her, for the poor creature is frightened out of her senses and wishes to go away in all haste. She has been sent back once already from Monostor, because she was going with Vorspann, the magistrates having determined that no one can go but with their own horses. In consequence she paid 500 f.l.m. for 5 horses & I gave her the money & a bill for £50, she promising to destroy the other for £Ioo, which is packed up & which she cannot get at. Even after this she was sent back, and eventually did not get away till after dinner & with the aid of Grois. The stupid attempts at tyranny of these miserable Biirgers is insupportable, but if Bem is as they say Military and civil governor of Transylvania, he will soon set such matters to rights. We had nothing but bad news the whole day of our troops having left Bethlen & being already in Dees, of no reserve in Vasarhely [Marosvasarhely] &c., but in the Evening a courier arrived with the news that our troops had beaten back the Russians from Dees, before Bem got up to them, so that little Dobai turns up trumps. The battle by Tom6ser pass must have been desperate. We were behind ditches and did not lose a man till the Russians got behind us & then it was a sauve qui peut. We lost I40 men and 22 officers. Jozo, Marie, and Rosalie6l seem at last determined to go eventually if not at the present moment. I dont think there is the same dangeF as in the first attack, for there are no Wallacks with the enemy, & those in the mountains are still surrounded, Bem having promised that he would not remove a man

59 Paget probably refers to Joseph Dobay (I820-I898), writer on military subjects, and active in the campaigns of 1848-49.

6o Baroness Nicholas Banffy and Countess Nicholas Teleki (born I807), nee Clara Simen.

el Probably Countess Farkas Bethlen (born I822), daughter of Count John Teleki.




from there, but on the contrary send more. His orders-die Operationen gegen die Wallachen sollen fortgesetzt werden, Karlsburg [Gyulafehervar] soil bombardirt werden, mit den Russen werde ich gleich fertig werden. It is quite certain that the old fellow will defend the country to the last, and I think he will be able in the end to hold it, but in the mean time how often Klausenburg may be taken & retaken is very uncertain, and it is therefore no place for women and children . . .

26. The whole town was full of good news yesterday; the Russians had all left the country, Poland was in Revolution, the Wallacks were giving in their arms &c. till towards evening when the truth was known. It seems that the Russians in fact never advanced beyond Borgo [Borg6 pass], except by Patrols who were in Bistritz, but that Dobai retired because he heard that Naszod was already in the hands of the enemy, and he feared they would take him in the rear. Bem however has dismissed him because he did not remain in Bethlen, which commanded the two points, but went on to Dees, & he will be tried for it. Damascene was offered the command, but declined it. It appears nothing certain is known of a Polish revolution. Dembinsky has left the army, not to go into Poland but out of disgust. The Wallacks in the neighbourhood of Klausenburg have received orders to rise in three days, thro' their priests, so that I think the sooner the women leave the better. Old Bem told Kemeny Farkas62 that if he had not finished with the Wallacks & taken Karlsburg in a week, he might seek himself another situation, for he was not fit for that one. They say his army had literally nothing to eat for eight days, & numbers died from hunger & fatigue. Bem has advanced to Bistritz and is himself gone on in a Carriage with the avant- garde, to see what the enemy is doing, so that a Company of Cavalry may take him without difficulty. His presence of mind will not always get him off so well as in Szasz Varos, where when our troops had gone off & left two Cannons which the enemy's skirmishers came up & took, the old fellow rode at them & shaking his whip-fort, Canaille, die Canonen geh6ren mir-and the men were so astonished that they took to their heels and gave time for some of our troops to come up & carry the guns -the only ones we had-off. It was then he lost his finger, which he did not remark till they got out of the town when he turned round to Czetz & observed, "Ich habe einen iiberfliissigen Finger verloren, schneiden Sie es mir ab Herr Oberstlieutenant." He was so glad when he heard that the Russians were here that he almost danced for joy. It seems there are but few Russians, the greater part of the Army being the Austrians who went out with Urban.63 A Diet has been called together in Presburg and the Emperor crowned. There were 260 Hungarian Magnates & Regalists present & some few deputies. [Opposite the two preceding sentences are two marginal notations: " false."] It is no wonder

6' Baron Farkas Kemeny (I796-x852), Colonel of Honveds. 's Baron Karl Urban (I802-1877), Austrian General in the Transylvanian

campaign.




after this if the magnates are looked down upon & hated by the people. They deserve the fate Szemere prepared for them-Chassed without ceremony. Those of Hungary have joined the enemy & those of here who were in Debreczen were low enough to take their 6 f.l.m., some for the sake of the money, some out of fear of being accused of Aristocratic pride. Szemere thinks probably that he has a right to discharge those he pays as soon as he has no longer need of their services.

27. It appears we rejoiced rather too soon yesterday. There has been no battle near Bethlen. The Russians are in Jad near Bistritz, and Bem is advancing to attack them with 6,ooo men, which he says is more than he requires. The Russians are in the North of Hungary, united to the Austrians under the Command of Paskewitch.64 . . .

28. Bethlen Oliver65 has been sent back by Bem to take the Command of the troops at Gyalu against the Wallacks. He left the old man at Bistritz, from which he had driven a battalion of Russians. Their force-8 battallions of Russians and 3 of Austrians, with 12 escadrons of Cavalry & 20 guns, are at Jad. Bem has about 6,ooo men, 2 squadrons of Cavalry & 12 guns. He meant to attack them during the night, because the valley was too wide & would give them too great an advantage with their Cavalry ....

29. Bad news. Bem marched out from Bistritz to attack the enemy, but was received with a discharge of 20 Cannon & either from the superiority of force or position was obliged to retire. His retreat was harassed by two regiments of lancers with his cannon drove them off. The whole town is disconsolate. It is said he will take up a position at Bethlen. ...

30. Town full of all sort of news. In one moment we were victorious, 1,500 Russians prisoners & 6 cannon on the road to Dees.66 In the next Bem was lost, the army en deroute and the enemy on the road here. At last it seems that Bem has retired towards Deckendorf probably meaning to take the enemy in the rear should he have to advance. I was patrolling till 2 this morning, hitherto they have left me quiet, but I must now begin again.

June [sic; July is correct] 3. ... Yesterday we had all manner of good news. The enemy had retired from Bistritz & it is said quitted the country, old Bem being close at his heels. From the South too they are said to have retreated to Feketehlom, while in Hungary they have been beaten by Kapka67 & are retreating there too. . . . There has been a great fright in Gross Wardein that the Russians were approach- ing Debretzen, a rising of the people was ordered & 4,000 waggons were sent off to Pest with all manner of stores &c. Another Kunststiick of our friend Cserei.

64 Count Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich (1782-I856), commander of Russian troops in Hungary.

65 Count Oliver Bethlen (I826-I892), Honved officer. 66 Decse (Detschendorf) near Nagyenyed. 67 George Klapka (I820-I892), Hungarian General.




4. Ber is really in Bistritz, where he says he will maintain himself till he receives further aid. He came back from Deckendorff over the hills, that the enemy's Cavalry might not be able to annoy him. ... I spoke with the Major of the Karoly Hussars, who is just come from Karlsburg. He was sent in as Parlementaire a few days ago, but all he got was an answer that they would defend themselves to the last man. There is no breach, tho' a good deal of mischief has been done in the Cidadel by the bombs. We have only one eighteen pounder, but now that Arad has given in, if it has done so, we shall have plenty. The Austrians have plenty of corn, but little flour or meat. I was again ordered to patrol last night, but as none of the others came I went quietly home & to bed.

5. A quiet day .... 7. On the 5th as we were at dinner at Francis68 a corporal came to

order me & Francis out to Gyalu directly. We started with Sandor, Dipsy & Josika Leo to Gyalu, & after waiting half an hour Iranyos came up in a waggon with some other National guards as Begleitung, and we were then to accompany him to Kapus. The idea of galloping before the waggon of Iranyos galled poor Ferentz sadly, & he kicked & pulled his horse about in the worst possible humour. At Kapus however we soon made friends with Iranyos, who is a jolly old fellow as ever lived, and even Ferentz was reconciled. He found no soldiers in Kapus, and we waited till 5 in the morning in expectation of a company from Banffy Hunyad, but none came and he was obliged to return to Klausenburg. The old fellow drank & told us stories the whole night thro'. He was in the French war & has a wound still below the navel with a fistulous opening into the gut, which he shewed us. How it is possible for a man of 60 with such a wound to have gone thro' the whole of this Campaign is to me incomprehensible, but he is immensely strong & full of energy. At the battle of Moor [M6r] he lost the whole of his battallion except 320 men. He says the whole fault was Perczel's who is a vain self- sufficient ass, who loses his head in the moment of danger & takes no precautions whatever. Iranyos was the man who arrested Zichy Odon69 & his brother Pal, or rather his forepost. They found two bundles of despatches on them, and a letter of Jellachich70 on Odon addressed to the Austrian commanders, ordering them to give him all such assistance as he might require for matters which he would personally explain. Iranyos took him to the Army & gave him over to Gorgei, with the under- standing that he would be sent to Pest, & then [Iranyos] set off to return to his detachment. He found the road occupied however by the Red Mantels & was obliged to return, and when he reached the army he met Gorgei, who said he had just signed the death warrant of Odon, and told

G8 Probably Count Francis Bethlen. ' Count Odo Zichy (I809-I848), executed 30 September, 1848, for traitorous

correspondence with Jelacic. 70 Baron Joseph Jelacic (I80o-I859), Ban of Croatia.




Iranyos to remain till the execution was over. Zichy was left a short time with the priest and was then brought out and made, Iranyos says, a most eloquent speech, in which he said that if his life could in any way aid his country he offered it with pleasure. He mounted the ladder with the greatest coolness, joked with the Gipsy on the thickness of the cord and died with the greatest courage and self possession. Iranyos was quite near & G6rgei behind him the whole time. Iranyos speaks very highly of Gorgei. .. . Yesterday all manner of news good & bad were circulating. According to some the Russians are in Debretzen and Szolnok, & it is certain the post from neither is arrived. A courier from Pest, however, passed thro yesterday from Bem. Gal Sandor71 has driven the Russians from the Szeklerland [Szekelyf6ld] back nearly to Kronstadt. Kemeny Farkas has beaten the Wallacks, & Moga, if not Jank [Iancu], are taken prisoners. By Banffy Hunyad however the Wallacks have beaten our troops back, and one Company they say is surrounded in the mountains.

8. Brassai72 left Pest on Monday the 2nd & brings the news that the

ministry is dissolved, the bureaux all closed, the entire personale dismissed and the whole government in the hands of Kossuth & the Ministers of War & Finance, who are to go to the Army & remain there. All those at all comprised [compromised] have left Pest for the Country. Near the great Wood at Debretzen 6,000 Russian Cavalry are encamped who receive bread & provisions from the town. There are no troops to

oppose to them, but between there & Gr. Wardein are 20,000 Nepfelkeles [general levy]-insurgents-everybody, even the Transylvanians who had left here for safety, Kornis Feri73 &c. being pressed into the service. Bethlen Farkas's coachman who left Szolnok on Thursday says that we gained a great victory near Miskolcz, and in consequence the Ministry who were going to Szegedin [Szeged] returned to Pest.

9. Czecz & the two Huszars are come back from Somlyo. The Russians being at Leitha74 within a days march . .. Gal Sandor it is said has been beaten in the Haromszek, where the Russians drive away all the horses & cattle, and it is said take all the men between 17 & 40. Some add murder all the women & children.

Io. Dined with Farkas. We had news from Pest that Gorgei has beaten the Austro-Russian Army oppos. to Comorn, & that the Russians have retreated from Debretzen. Saw Czecz, who is much the same state as Farkas, & the Drs. do nothing but bathe him.

11. Again on Patrol last night with Ferentz. Firing was heard yesterday morning by many persons on the Felek & coming from the Mez6seg, but as yet we have no information from whence it came, tho' it was probably from Bistritz. . . . The post to Pest is again open.

71 Alexander Gaal (I817-I866), colonel of Honveds. 72 Samuel Brassai (1800-1897), professor in the military school in Pest, 1848. 73 Francis Kornis. 74 Unidentified; not to.be confused with the river in western Hungary.



THE DIARY OF JOHN PAGET, 1849. 249

2. . . . The town full of good news towards evening. Bem, they say, has driven the Russians beyond the frontiers. It is certain there was a battle somewhere on the Io, and if we have lost, we should have seen runaways enough before this. The Russians have left Debretzen & are said to have been terribly beaten at Kapolna. If only half is true, it is enough.

I2 [sic]. It is certain that Bem has beaten the Russians and is now gone to help Gal Sandor with 6 battallions. . . . Dined at Farkas [Bethlen] to meet Karolyi, who is a quiet gentlemanly man, the only one of our officers who is so.

I5. .... About 1 past Io on the I3th a great fire burst out in the K6zep Utza [Middle Street]. Luckily it was raining, or the whole town nmight have been burnt down, for in a few minutes 4 houses were in flames. The Thoroczkai's were a good deal frightened, but no harm done. Bem is gone to the Szeklers, who have been completely dispersed, so that Gal remained with only 3 officers & 6 men. Luckily the enemy did not follow him, & in 24 hours 2 battallions had come together again, & I have no doubt ere this the greater part of his Army is reassembled. Szent Kereszty75 has let himself be taken prisoner-I am not surprised. A man who sells himself to get a rich wife is capable of any other meanness. Our troops are now under the command of Damascene at Szeretfalva, the enemy at Kiralyi Nemethi & Mayaros [probably Mogyoros], that is between our troops & Klausenburg, so that they may come here any day they like.

I6. Perczel with 6,00o regulars & some 20,000 Landsturm has beaten the Russians at Szolnok. There are reports that G6rgei has taken Presburg, and that the Cossaks have visited Buda. The Colera is not very severe here, tho' some cases occur every day. Ugron has had a severe attack, and they fear it will end as with Splenyi76 in Typhus. Dr. [sic] said the other day that the Cholera cases treated with bleeding almost all recovered. It is probably a form of Gastro Enterite. The Russians are said to have feared being poisoned in Debretzen, & in consequence devoured all kinds of raw fruit & vegetables with a due proportion of tallow candles, Wagen Schmir &c. They passed thro' Teglas. I wonder whether the Degenfeld77 is still so furiously patriotic & liberal as she was.

17. We had all manner of good news yesterday. . . . The Emperor they say has sent a parlementaire to Gorgei to make peace on the basis of '48. It is I fear too good to be true. The victory of Szolnok is certain. The enemy has retired beyond Bistritz, & 4000 men under

75 Probably Baron Stephen Szent-Kereszti. 76 Possibly either Baron Michael Spleny (d. 1849) or Baron Joseph Spl6ny

(I78I-I849). 77 Probably Countess August Franz Josef Christoph Degenfeld, nee Elizabeth

Watson of Clonbrogan (born I808).




Inczedi78 are collected in Szasz Regen. Bem has written from Szeklerland that he has Io,000 & 40,000 Landsturm, & that the Szeklers are again in good spirits. It has been raining so hard for some days that we have not been able to do anything. ...

9. .... We have been beaten at Szeretfalva, tho' without great loss. The enemy attacked us during the night in the flank and one wing took to flight at once. Damascene with the other retired in order towards the Mez6seg. 40 Hussars with 2 guns arrived on the I7th having been cut off and were obliged to make their way under the fire of 2 battallions. Bem has ordered the 31st batn, which has just arrived from the Havas, to proceed straight to Vasarhely. Bethlen Miklos79 who has come with it, says it is almost impossible to do anything against the Wallacks without at least I2,000 men, their numbers are so great & the nature of the ground so difficult. In open Country they wont stand fire at all, but here they hide themselves behind every bush & stone & our troops find themselves at once exposed to a fire on every side without being able to seize the enemy. He says the officers never come into fire, and Jank himself (who is always drunk) has never yet been in battle. Jank keeps up the greatest discipline amongst his men, & often has them shot for disobedience. Five deserters, recruits, were condemned to be shot yesterday, but Kemeny Farkas pardoned them. He plagued Mary, who went to ask for pardon, sadly and let her even go away with the belief that they would be shot. I heard a good trait of Farkas during the retreat from Abrud Banya. The troops tired, famished, & in low spirits, had left Io guns with train & ammunition and were all waiting to hurry over a bridge not yet finished, when Farkas called on the ii Batn to rescue them. " Two companies of the IIth to the front " -not a man stirred & 3 times he called on them without effect. " Good," said Farkas " you see these orders, I gained them by no merit of my own, your courage gave them me, take them back. I trample them in the mud before you, for I should be ashamed to owe anything to such cowards. I go alone." The men were on their feet in a moment, they drove the enemy back at the point of the bayonet, saved their guns & ammunition, defended the passage of bridge and all escaped safely. Thank God, I know at last what has become of my wife & child. Lieder- mann has written to say that he could not pay her the money, because she had already left Vienna with her brother-in-law about the 6th of June. By this time they are quietly established somewhere in England, and tho' they may be anxious, they are at least safe & will not suffer for want of money. Now they may send me to England as soon as they like, at least I shall not be the cause of their being detained longer. I suspect they will send for me before long, for the Diet is called together in Szegedin and it is reported in Pest that propositions for a peace are to be made. ..

78 Samuel Inczedy (I8II--893), revolutionary soldier. 79 Count Nicholas Bethlen (1820-1900), Honved officer.




20. Patrolled with Ferentz till I past 3 this morning on the Dees road as far as Dezmely [Dezmer]. Suffered most infernally from a boil, so that I must keep my bed today, but did not like to refuse, as there might be danger & if we dont do our duty, it is certain no body else will. All manner of reports that Buda is taken. The Bornemissa Claire wrote from Pest on the IIth that Io,ooo Austrians were in Buda, and that

they had sent for Clarke and ordered him to render the bridge passable &c. The whole is a complete falsehood, for Kemeny Pali80 received a letter from his son dated Buda 13th in which not a word of anything of the kind appears. Our troops seem to be between Szasz Regen & Vasarhely, at least so said a Wallack peasant who had just come from Szasz Regen. The Enemy he had not seen. We are expecting Io guns and some troops from Hungary. Kemeny Farkas does not know where the enemy is but thinks they have retired to Bistritz.

21. In bed all yesterday. 23. Got up today. . . . All manner of good news, but without any

foundation. It is certain that the Russians are or have been both in Pest & Buda, & no post has come since the I2th, so Kemeny Pali's letter must be a mistake. The people have got hold of all manner of silly reports from Szegedin, that English French & Turkish Consuls are there and have agreed that Hungary, Poland, Wallachia & Turkey shall form one great Kingdom &c. My Wallack friend who was in Pest is here with some others, as it is said, to conclude a peace with Jank and form a Wallack legion, with which they are to begin again the revolution in Wallachia. I met him yesterday with the Commissaire Botzko, & is to call on me.

24. Balchesco came yesterday and we had a long conversation. He describes the consternation at Pest to have been immense, and it was very nearly all over with the Revolution, for Kossuth & all the rest of them were on the point of taking refuge in Turkey. G6rgei's conduct is quite inexplicable. When Dembinsky arrived, he at once explained to Kossuth his opinion, and at the same time was about to leave the country if he found he could not do any good. Kossuth, however, was ready to enter into all his views, begged him & after seeing G6rgei, asked him if he would receive G6rgei, who was anxious to visit him and to adopt his plans. Dembinski said in a moment like that it was no time to indulge in private resentment, and he should be happy to receive G6rgei with every politeness & to act with him. In the mean time however set off for the army, & Szabo8l, the head of the war ministry under G6rgei, came to Dembinski and said it was impossible to carry on the war against Austria & Russia together, & it would be better to yield to Russia at once! Dembinski told this to Balchesco immediately, and at the same time wrote to Kossuth to know if such was the intention of Government, as in that case he should go off, for he [had] no wish to fall into the hands

80 Probably Baron Paul Kemeny, father of Baron Louis Kemeny. *1 Imre Szab6 (I820-I865), Honved Colonel, and war minister ad interim.




of the Russians. Kossuth assured him they were determined to carry the war on & under his directions. Dembinsky immediately began to act. He determined to defend the line of the Maros & Theiss [Tiszal in conjunction with Transylvania, which he says he can hold for 6 months to come. He has 28,000 men at Szolnok & 20,000 under Vetter. G6rgei is now with 40,000 or more at Comorn, with the Austrians behind him and the Russians before him at Pest. He seems determined not to submit to Dembinsky. It was nearly fixed that Bem should be called out of Transylvania with all his army, & the country left open to the Russians and Wallacks, but Dembinsky determined the contrary, & it was feared that the Szeklers would not leave the country. It is not true that the ministry is broken up; they are all together at Szegedin and in full activity. ... It is true that there is an Englishman at Szegedin, a Mr. Longward82 an agent of Sir Stratford Canning's and sent by him, probably to enquire into the state of affairs here & report thereon. Balchesco says there are going to form a Wallack Legion and if Bem drives the Russians out, he will follow them & raise the revolt in Wallachia. With Jank he hopes that peace will be made, but he seems still to stick to the idea that they will have their language in the Committats.

25. Huszar Karoly83 tells me that Inczedi has returned very much disgusted with Bem, who ordered him to march across the mountains from Szasz Regen occupy the pass of Borgo & allow himself to be cut to pieces rather than retreat. For this expedition he gave him I,ooo soldiers & I5,000 with Lances, who would of course run away at the first shot. Inczedi declined the honour & left him. It appears that Damas- cene has only 2,500 men left, and with these he is between Szasz Regen & Vasarhely. The enemy has not retired to Bistritz, tho exactly where he is nobody seems to know ....

26. ... Plenty of good news if only a quarter were true, victory at

Sz6ny [Szony], at Szolnok &c., English intervention & offers of peace ..

27. Sent Johann84 to patrol instead of me, as I have again a bad boil. Had a long talk with Inczedi, who is uncommonly disgusted with the old gentleman. Bem sent him from Vasarhely to Szasz Regen with the promise that he would find there 6,000 men, all armed, and with these he was to operate in the flank of the enemy. He found however only 2 companies, but in some days I battallion and a number of lance men arrived, and with these he was about to advance when Damascene sent word to say he was attacked & must retreat. Damascene joined him the next day and they advanced, but were again driven back. Inczedi wrote to Bem to ask him for more troops, stating that the lancemen were of no use as they would run at the first shot, to which Bem answered he had not given him men to run away with, but ordered him to defend

82 Possibly J. A. Longworth, appointed British Consul at Monastir, October, 1851. da Baron Charles Huszar (I829-1895), soldier in I848. 84 Apparently Johann was Paget's manservant.




Szasz Regen if it cost him every man he had. Inczedi resigned his commission. Damascene has retreated beyond Vasarhely, but in all pro- bability the Russians are not there, for the Post is arrived as usual. The troops from Szamos Ujvar have returned to Apahida & Szamosfalva & Kemeny Farkas talks of defending the town, but Inczedi says it is impossible. The siege of Karlsburg is raised & Stein85 is gone towards Deva [Deva]. The Wallacks have already made an attack on our troops near Borbant [Borband]. Makrai86 is here with all his men from Mediasch [Medgyes]. We have news of a victory in Hungary it is said that G6rgei is at Kitsee [K6pcseny] and will march on Vienna, but if some thing is not done before long Transylvania is lost.

28. Yesterday was a day of bad news again. Our troops left in Hermannstadt came in. The Russians are said to have returned to Deckendorff. Kemeny Farkas says he will not defend the town, but take up a position at Gyalu .... Pallfy Janos87 is arrived from

Szegedin. He says there is no idea of peace, Austria has never made a single step towards it. G6rgei, he says, is the only man who can save us. Kossuth is losing his popularity fast. The Russians seem unwilling to fight & do not advance as they might do. Pallfy says the feeling is strong in favour of a Russian alliance, in preference to an Austrian one. The fools would cut their own noses off to spite their enemies.

29. In bed all yesterday with another confounded boil. The horse fair has begun, & there are some horses here, but very dear. Zeyk Miklos88 writes from Hungary that 40,000 muskets are arrived but without stocks.

30. In bed again. Old Bem has made an excursion into Moldavia, licked the Russians & taken a lot of prisoners &c.

August i. I was in bed again the day before yesterday, but yesterday I got up glad enough to enjoy my liberty. The force under Kemeny Farkas which was already in Thorda [Torda] en sortie towards Vasarhely, was ordered back to Bistritz, but again commanded forward to Vasarhely, Bem himself being there and meaning to attack the Russians who are in Szasz Regen. ...

2. The K6zlony [official gazette] has brought us a speech of Szemere's, in which he gives us up to the Wallacks & Racz [i.e. Serbians]. The language of the majority is to be adopted in Communities and Courts of Justice, but the Hungarian is to remain the language of the Diet & Central Courts. The consequence will be that all the employes of the Committats will be Wallack, and all our property at their mercy. Such a state of things, in which ignorance & brute force is opposed to civilisa- tion, poverty is set over property and edged on to violence by hatred of race & difference of language, must lead to injustice &. . . . at every

86 Baron Miksa Stein (I8Io or I8II-I860), Honved colonel. 86 Ladislas Makray (I815-I876), Lieutenant-Colonel of Honveds. 87 Count John Palffy (born I797), second vice-president of the lower chamber. 88 Nicholas Zeyk (I8Io-I854), natural scientist; his manuscripts were destroyed

by the burning of Nagenyed.




hand. The only consolation we can draw from the news is that for the future it is just the same to us whether the Austrians beat us or we the Austrians, in every case Transylvania is lost for us & for Hungary. The Diet is again on the wing, and it is said are to settle in Gros Wardein- before long they will be here.

3.... Bem has been playing the fool again, & very nearly for the last time. He attacked the Russians I6,ooo strong, with 3,000 in Schaesburg [Segesvar] and was beaten after a tremendous battle which lasted many hours. At last the Russians charged with 600 Cossacks & put us quite to route. Bem was surrounded, knocked off his horse, his clothes pierced in 20 places by the lances of the Cossacks, and left for dead, he escaped with 8 hussars & 4 cannon. What has become of the rest of the Army no one knows. The man is stark staring mad. Kemeny Istvan9 tells me that the Diet, or rather the Government, is gone to Arad, & not to Gros Wardein. The Wallack Committee, Laureani &c., are again at Hermannstadt and have sent out their orders that the Wallacks should again rise, but they do not seem to have much taste for the matter. Our offers of peace dont seem to have much effect on Jank, for he has burnt Carlsburg to the ground, & they say Thoroczko [Toroczko] too. [Opposite the preceding sentence is the marginal notation: " not true."]

6. Went out with Francis to Drag to see the remains of my poor stud, and a melancholy sight it is. The Wallacks are beginning to hold their heads higher and talk of the Russians as their deliverers. Several of those compromised in a murder at Drag are now come back again, and nobody ventures to arrest them. Francis has suffered very little damage except in his sheep, his house and stud are nearly as he left them, and his barnyard is as full of hay and corn as ever. A great deal of hay and corn is still uncut between here & Drag. . . . The news is just come that Jank has accepted the amnesty & is to join Bem with Io,ooo and the rank of General. With these Bem is about to march into Wallachia. He is now near Mediasch with I2,000 men. Various bad reports arrived yesterday from Hungary, that Debretzen was taken, Nagy Sandor90 beaten &c., but it seems without foundation. The Diet is still at Szegedin. It is not true that the Wallacks have burnt Karlsburg & Thoroczko- 2 or 3 houses have been burnt at Karlsburg by accident, and S' Gy6rgy [Sepsi-Szentgyorgy] has been burnt down by a neighbouring village out of spite. Poor Thoroczkai's house & buildings are completely destroyed ...

II. ... The Russians are already in Gros Wardein, the government dissolved & the Cause all but lost, so that the Russians may enter the Szilagsag [Szilagysag] & cut off our road to Klausenburg when they please. . . . The cholera has been tremendously severe there [Nagyfalu], no less than 5 or 6 deaths every day. In Hunyad there are I2 or 14.

89 Baron Stephen Kem6ny (I8II-I88I), High Sheriff. 90 General Alexander Nagy (I804-I849), executed at Arad 6 October.




It is attended with very little pain, but with great prostration.. Near Kraszna we met Doboczy, who was going to Klausenburg but heard on his road that the Russians were there and turned tail, he is evidently frightened out of his senses. Soon after we met Simonyi9l out of uniform & runing away from Arad where he says the Russians are as well as in Gros Wardein. Gorgei is with his army at Szalontha, but completely surrounded. Kossuth, he says, is in Lugos on his way probably to Turkey. The whole Government has dispersed, & every member is trying to hide himself where it is the least likely he will be looked for. He is horribly disgusted with the whole army in Hungary and says he would rather be Bem's boot cleaner as Major among such a set .... We got to Hunyad to Dinner, where we found lots of officers running away from Gros Wardein with ammunition & stores of all kinds. Arrived at Klausenburg at 8 at night. . . . Everybody is in great consternation in Klausenburg. Gal Sandor has arrived with 1,200 men & 21 guns, the sole remains of his army. The greater part of his officers, all his staff except little Dobai are gone over to the enemy, with Szabo Ferdinand at their head. Bem has made another Vizakna affair at Hermannstadt, from which he has escaped with only 8 Hussars-all his -cannon &c. is left there, and his army killed or dispersed. We have here 4,000 men who are in the greatest quandary as to what they are to do. Bethlen Ferry is making preparations to run away. Simonyi & poor Baumgarten are here. I am afraid all is up at last.

12. Kazinsky has written to Kemeny Farkas that he is coming with a considerable force from Hungary thro' Nagy Banya to attack Naszod. Kemeny Farkas means to join him and attack the enemy by Bistritz & Vasarhely .... Kemeny Farkas says he has got a letter from the Ministry, that the Wallacks would not attack us if we did not them, but on account of the Russians they would not join us. Bethlen Josi is gone with Gen' Poltenberg92 to parley with the Russians in Debretzin.

I4. Bethlen Feri has been sent to Somlyo, to see if the Russians advance in that direction, and has come back, no Russians being there. He took a Jew at Hunyad, who was carrying a letter from the Russian General at Debretzin to those here. The letter says that G6rgei had sent a Parlementaire with propositions, but he had refered them to the Austrians. So that it appears we have been stupid enough to offer the Crown to the Russians, & have not found them rogues enough to accept it. He writes that he has beaten the Hungarians in every battle they have been engaged in yet. The Russians are now at Mocs and the neighbourhood, one day's march from here. It is determined that our troops remain here till the enemy come nearer, so as to assure the town from the Wallacks. Everybody is sad and seems to think that at last all is really lost. For the first time I have no more hope. I have got

*1 Perhaps Baron Louis Simonyi (b. I824), member of revolutionary Diet. 92 Ernst Polt von Poltenberg (I804-I849), general in the Hungarian army,

formerly an officer in the imperial army; executed at Arad on 6 October, 1849.




letters from Polyxene and Arthur93 as well as one from Brown, probably thro' Mrs. Longward, who has been sent from Colquhoun to Szegedin. An officer whom I did not know met me in the street & gave it me .... There is a sad confusion here with the bank notes, everybody is paying their debts off as fast as they can, and the Creditors are shutting their doors to avoid being paid. The shops are mostly shut, to avoid being obliged to sell. Brown is very indignant at the treatment he has met with, Andrassy having been sent to displace him without a word being said to him about the matter. Sr Stratford Canning would not receive Andrassy at all, and the Porte and the other Missions followed his example.

I5. Our lot is decided-today the Russians enter. All was quiet yesterday till about 5 o'clock, when 2 Hussars arrived with the news that Makrai, who had been sent out to reconnoitre with a division of Hussars and 2 cannons, was surrounded and required aid. These however were only Runaways, but at 6 Josika Geysa94 came in full gallop up to Kemeny Farkas, who was already on horseback and had ordered alarm to be beaten, to say that Makray after beating back the Avant Garde had been forced to retire and was now between Apahida [and] Szamosfalva, the enemy having already taken possession of the former place. The whole town was of course on foot, but much quieter than the first time. Botzko will not allow the National Guard to turn out, as he says Debretzin has been plundered on that account. I got on old Leaper and rode out to our Vorposts to see how the matters really stood, but they were Poles and it was too dark to see anything. I heard a couple of Cannon Shots on the other side of Szamosfalva. Saw that Joso was quiet & Sandor at home, & then went & supped quietly with Francis. As I came back I found all the military had left with cannon amunition &c., and I doubt if 20 soldiers are left in the town. I hear the town is given up & probably they will take possession tomorrow. Many of our officers were gambling all the night and till dinner time yesterday without moving. Men who had never a sixpence throw down their Hundreds without a thought. Harai lost in one night Io,ooo f.l.m., more than all the Harais had ever before possessed. Nobody knows what to do with his money, or whether it is money he has.

I6. A sad sad day was yesterday. As I was at Breakfast, Johanns wife ran in crying the Cossacks are here ! I finished my tea, dressed and went over to Farkas; where I found Rosalie not a little excited. The Magistrates had sent for her horses to take out the deputation to meet the Russians & give up the town, when she told them no! seek for the horses of those who have the same opinions as yourselves, I always gave my horses to our friends, but for our enemies never." As she was telling me this, Farkas & Vass 95 both appealed to me to say it would have been

93 Possibly John Paget's brother, Edmund Arthur (born I8IO). 94 Baron Geza, son of Baron Nicholas J6sika. 96 Possibly Baron Imre Vass (d. I854), or Baron Samuel Vass (1814-1879).




better &c &c. " What, are you still frightened, cowards! no Paget says I'm right, and if nobody else has courage, at least I have "-Bravo little Tiger ! As I went out two carriages were just going off with the white flag, containing Nemes Janko,96 Grois &c. As I went down the Magyar Utza, 5 Cossacks had just taken an officer of the Jagers prisoner, the rascal was walking about in full uniform in hopes of being taken. A quantity of Cossacks have passed thro' the town & gone on towards Monostor, no doubt as eclaireurs. . . . About Io o'clock the mass of the troops began to enter, Urban (as I heard afterwards) at their head. He stopped opposite Joso's & joked with a girl who had been Cafe Magd at Biasini's.97 A battalion of Grenzers with a battery of 6 guns came directly after the Chevaux Legers, and were followed by a battallion of Russian Infantry. Such horrid caricatures of men in their showy helmets and ragged long greatcoats, suffering awfully from the tremendous heat & dust. The main body consisted of 4 batallions of Infantry, 2 Austrian & 2 Russian & 2 divisions of superb Lancers, a division of Chevaux Legers & the Arriere guard of I battalion of Russians and 2 divisions of Lancers. The Lancers are a superb body of troops & their horses all large and strong and in excellent condition. The Cossacks are not ugly, but very miserable looking, ill mounted savages. About 12 I went down to Francis'. The Arriere guard is encamped on the Square & the Lancers before the barracks, all the rest are gone on to Monoster. Soon after some Cossacks brought in some stragglers whom they had taken prisoners. They did not ill treat them, or the people who flocked round to see them. They asked for water & were very thankful if a bit of bread was given them. Some of our Poles, who seem to have staid behind, entered at once to the Austrian service. . . . In the Evening I went to Christine,98 who is ill in bed, very desirous of being murdered by the Cossacks, but very much annoyed that she must lose her bank notes, for the proclamation of Heynau at Pest has been stuck up, demanding under pain of death that all arms and all the Kossuth banknotes should be given up in 48 hours. All Commissaires & all such as have taken part in the Revolution are to give themselves up to be hanged. Lazar Moritz99 and his wife too are by no means so confidant as they were. Supped at the Aunts as usual, & went home at ½ past Io, everything as quiet as possible. The Russians sleep under the Gateways in the Square with their Arms piled. I could hardly pass, for under the Aunts they lie in double rows and I had hard work to pick my road over their legs-they seem civil and quiet. Almost everybody has brought out an old fashioned hat, under the idea that the broad brims are forbidden, but as yet no one has interfered with mine. They have

96 Count John Nemes (I79I-I868), vice-president of the senate of the Transyl- vanian Gubernium.

97 A hotel in Kolozsvar. 98 Perhaps Christine Zeyk (born 1803), daughter of Count Dominik Teleki. 99 Count Maurice Lazar, husband of Apollonia Barcsai.

R




promised security to property & life, and that very few soldiers will be

quartered in the town. 17. Yesterday they came in again to disturb my breakfast, with the

report that the town was given up to plunder by Urban & that it was already begun in the Hidelve. I dressed and went out, but found it

only so far true as that some excesses had been committed but very trifling ones, & those immediately stopped. Excepting Rosalie Marie &

Joso everybody in the town had got Schwartz Gelb flags and they were obliged to put them out later by order of the town. [Opposite the- preceding sentence is the marginal notation: I did not put one out the whole time, and unless the soldiers quartered on me & an attempt to take my rooms away were in consequence I experienced no other incon- venience.] It appears that Grois went to Urban to beg him to allow the Kossuth banknotes to circulate, as many had no other means to live, but he answered that nothing could be yielded till Wohlgemuth100' arrived. At the same time he complained that there were no flags out, and that if there were not he could not answer that they would not be

plundered, & it was accordingly ordered by the Magistrates. Little Pataki has a Russian Col. in the house and as he told him he put the

flag out to prevent being plundered, the Col. said ' take it away, and fear nothing, as long as I am here not a soul shall enter to injure anything here, but if you prefer it put out your flag, only dont think it is necessary as a protection.' He assured Pataki the Russians were no enemies to the Hungarians, but liked them better than the Austrians. He asked why the Hungarians had not asked Leuchtenberg°0l to be their King, the country would then be the Happiest in the world. The Lazar Moritz received a visit from an officer who is living in the house, and who spoke in no more friendly terms of the Austrians. An Aide-de- Camp of the Russian General's told Bethlen Farkas that as they were marching into the town Urban saw some poor people carrying away their bedding, when he at once ordered some Grenzers to seize it and

carry it to the hospital, abusing the people that they [were] doing it to avoid giving it to the soldiers. As the Russian Gen' came up he ordered the men to carry it back, and as they demurred, saying it was the command of their Col1, he desired Urban to give the order in his presence, with the remark you know, Col', that without the Command of the General-in-Chief it is forbidden to touch the property of the civilians. Russian music in the square and a forced illumination at night . . The servant of Czetz has come back and says Czetz sent him away, he & Simony having given in their desmission, laid down their uniform and

gone off to hide at Nagy Banya. That Kemeny Farkas has hidden at Vasarhely and that all the officers have gone off, one one way & another another. I cannot believe anything so disgraceful.

100 Baron Ludwig Wohlgemuth (I788-I85I), Austrian general. 101 Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg (1817-1852), son of Eugene de Beauhar-

nais and Princess Augusta Amalia of Bavaria. He married Grand Duchess Marie, eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas I in 1839.




I8. Kemeny Istvan has just come in (at 6 a.m.) out of breatlh, to say that G6rgei has laid down his arms and all is over. Ber marched into the Banat and has been completely beaten as well as Vetter, Guyon &c. Kornis Karoly102 has arrived as Courier with the news. He says the road from here to Csusa [Csucsal is strewed with dead. Our troops have dismissed Kemeny Farkas and chosen Gal Sandor commander. They are now about to join Kazinsky at Dees. As we were at supper last night at the Aunt's, the Lazar Moritz came in to say her husband was just arrested. They had been spending the evening there, when Moritz was called out to go to the Generals about some horses they had stolen from him, & when he got there he found himself a prisoner. The poor woman is quite stupified by the blow, but the worst she expects is the prison. What they accuse him of I dont know, but I fear the burning of Sasz Regen will be laid at his door, & then, poor fellow, he has no chance. Urban too is his personal enemy. I took her home, and on coming back met a Russian officer who said, " C'est un triste metier pour nous de faire la police, ce n'est pas comme cela que je comprends la guerre." On the Square I met a Cossack in full gallop followed by a waggon in which was poor Moritz, & I heard afterwards that they had taken him to the Josika's, given him a good room, his pipe, books &c. Farkas has a Russian Col. quartered in his house, and after quarrelling in the beginning, at last gave way to everything & invited him to supper. . . . Every day we hear more tales of the little sympathy which exists between the Austrians & Russians, and it is certain that one never sees the officers together. Kemeny Gy6rgy103 has a young cousin, a Honved, in his house and would have given him up from pure fear, but luckily they did not want him. Those Kemenys are a miserable set.

19. The Russians are gone to Dees & take Kornis with them. If our troops lay down their arms good, if not they attack. Banffy Hunyad has been plundered. We are now left here at the mercy of Urban and some Austrian troops & I should not at all wonder if he lets the Wallacks plunder the town. There was a duel yesterday between a Russian and Austrian officer. The Russians will not eat at the same table with the Austrians, and flatter us more & more every day. Quantities of prisoners are brought in from the Csusa road every day, the greater part are set at liberty. I saw the Lazar, who complains bitterly of the insolence of the Austrian officers, whereas the Russians do everything they can for her. Moritz is kept shut up & will remain so till Clam104 or Wohlgemuth arrive. Kornis is so stupid that he can give no account of who gave him the letter or of anything else, so that many begin to doubt if it is not a trap. He says Gorgei is in Gr. Wardein, not a prisoner but under Aufsicht. Everybody is frightened, & not without cause, at the idea

102 Charles Kornis (1822-I863). 103 Baron George Kemeny, son of Baron Simon Kemeny (b. I826). 104 Count Edward Clam-Gallas (I803--89I), Austrian general.

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of being left to the mercy of Urban, and the Russians are now as much wished for as they were feared a week ago ....

20. The report got abroad yesterday that the town was to be entered & plundered by the Wallacks during the night, but all has passed quietly, and altho' the Russians have all left & nothing but Austrians remain, I dont think there is any danger. There is not however a soul in the place who does not look up to the Russians as friends, & many have already made acquaintance with the officers. A Kossuth Hussar officer came in yesterday from 'Sibo [Zsib6], where the troops who left here now are with a letter for the Russian General, probably they have heard of G6rgei's surrender & offer to do the same. Karoly is said to have behaved very well in the last affair at Hunyad or wherever it was, and the enemy lost a considerable number of men. Above a hundred of our wounded have been brought in here .... The Wallacks sent to Olah Fenes on SatY to say that if the people did not send them 2,000 f.l.m. they would burn the village. The proprietors demanded protection from the Austrian officer, and he ordered that no damage should be done, especially to the property of the Barna Josika, as they had remained always true to the Emperor-nearly as much as to say we dont care much about the rest. The Tribunes, I hear, are beginning to shew themselves in the town, armed up to the teeth, and two of them attempted to rob Streicher the Apothecary. We are in the greatest difficulty for money, Kossuth notes are not taken and even Austrian nctes & zwanzigers they will not change.

21. Some 7,000 Austrians & Russians are said to be encamped on the Felek & are to enter today with Clam-Gallas & Wohlgemuth. They have ordered 500 waggons to be ready [with] 32,000 portions of bread. This looks as if they were about to march forward. It can not be possible that the whole story of G6rgei's surrender is false. Some Hussars & Szeklers have arrived from the Hungarian Army and say that all is lost & the army dispersed. At least so says Kemeny Gy6rgy. He says that the Hussars & Artillery would not surrender till G6rgei himself had explained it to them, and that the Hussars then shot their horses & broke their sabres & the artillery spiked all their guns. Lazar is still a prisoner & has now 4 soldiers in the room with him.

22. A bad day again. Early this morning the Austrian troops came in great numbers with Clam. To me it was ten times more painful to see these people than the Russians. Every house in the principal streets is full of soldiers. The Szekler Hussars are piquetted in the Riding School and the Infantry lie under the gateways with arms piled. The promenade too is occupied as a Camp. Souvigne is in quarter at Sandor's. He cries, laments his unhappy fate, says his feeling of duty drove him to it, that he has been cursed by his own mother &c. The fellow is a hypocrite! He praises Bem & our troops. Weston & Truskalafsky have quitted the Army as well as many others while it was in Wallachia. He says if we had not chassed the Emperor we should




have won. He speaks in high terms of Clam. The Wallacks are in Olah Fenes, encamped in Farkas' garden. They seem not to be willing to lay down their arms, & it is not impossible that some of them will be punished. Our troops which were in Dees have gone towards 'Sibo and will ere this be united to those which marched from here. Thoroczkai Pali is a prisoner in Hermanstadt. Bem is said to have escaped, his troops having refused to fight. Stein laid down his arms. There are fresh reports every day that G6rgei has not laid down his arms, but as I never see or speak to any one who knows any thing of the matter, I know nothing for certain.

23. There must be something wrong with these gentry somewhere or other. The greater part of the troops have left this morning towards Sibo. Kazinsky & Gal Sandor are there united. It is said they demanded & obtained an armistice, till they could send some one to Arad to know whether G6rgei had really laid down his arms or not. The march of these troops from here looks very much as if it were not so. Yesterday a despatch arrived for Clam at the Confectioner's, and after reading it aloud he said, " if that is true, we stand very badly," and the whole party immediately went off. There was a considerable movement among the troops in the evening, & now almost all are gone. There are reports of French & English assistance of Turks at Hermannstadt, of the retreat of the Russians, but nobody knows anything for certain. Clam went out to Fenes yesterday, and is very angry that some of Mikes'105 horses have been stolen, & damage done there. The Wallacks are said to have returned to their hills, not willing to lay down their arms. It is said that letters from Jank & Axintze106 were found in the Carriage of Bem taken at Schaesburg, in which they are so compromised that it is very probable the heroes will be hanged. Sonini, who seems rather playing the shy & who is pumping my intelligent son-in-law, speaks with no friendly feeling of the Russians, & observed, " would to God they would only go out of the country as easily as they came in," to which Sandor answered, " Oh if they wont, we shall be all on their side." Sonini was or affected to be exceedingly astonished. He praises Clam and evidently wishes that we should go and pay our court to him, under the excuse of explaining the state of country, pointing out honest men to be employed &c, but I am glad to say except Nemes no one goes near him. Kemeny Feri is their medium of communication, but he seems to act only in the line of his business, Nemes however is quite theirs. Sonini pretends to be quite melancholy that his old friends turn their backs on him, & he claims more consideration on account of the number of Hungarians he has served & defended. A Mr. Sebes is one of these, but unfortunately for Sonini's humanity he has a very pretty wife with him. This Sebes told Sandor that the army of Puchner from I5,000 was

105 Probably Count Clement Mikes (d. 1849), officer killed near Brass6 in battle. 106 Severu Axentie (I820-1906), leader of the Roumanian insurgents and member

of the National Committee. He was responsible for the burning of Nagyenyed.



THE SLAVONIC YEAR-BOOK.

reduced by sickness and desertion to 5,000 and it was with the greatest difficulty they could get back here. Sonini says Master Weston was not "ziemlich aber sehr ziemlich."

24. Yesterday the whole.town had a more cheerful appearance, and many a face was seen which had been carefully hidden for the last 3 or 4 days. Almost all the Military has marched towards Sibo. Query, will Drag and the remains of my poor stud be robbed or not ? Urban was here during the night to ask for aid; it is said he has been beaten & lost Io cannon, the Russians having stood still to look on, or as others say, having fired on the Austrians. It is certain they are in an awful funk. Clam called Grois to him before he left & promised not to require the 200,000 f.l.m. which had been ordered for tomorrow under pain of fire & plunder. It is said that the Austrians disarmed the Russians left here before they started. The Austrians have taken all their wounded and baggage with them. It is said our troops have advanced towards Drag. Thoroczkai says the march has only been made because our troops demanded an armistice of 3 weeks before laying down their arms, which the Russians refused. Today or tomorrow will shew who is right. It is said that G6rgei has become General in the Russian service, and that the Turks are in Hermanstadt with Hungarian flags. A pretty confusion if true. I went to see Lazar. He is not by any means strictly watched, & any one can go in who likes. He says the whole affair is a piece of malice of Urban's, and the Adjutant who examined him said it must be some mistake. He was not even in Szasz Regen when it was burnt. In fact he says Szasz Regen was burnt by order of Betzmann & Dorsner,107 and that Betzmann in person ordered the houses which were not burning to be set on fire. He begged me not to tell this to any one, but if true it is a pity that these fine fellows should not pay for their sport. ... In the room where Lazar is confined I found a quantity of my furniture.

25. Everybody was in consternation yesterday. It seems that Clam only put off the period at which the Brandschatzung was to be paid in as well as the principal of its distribution. He said not only those who possessed houses here should be taxed, he did not wish that "ruhige Biirger" should be troubled, but such as had taken an active part in the Revolution. So a committee has been named by the town, and while they have put no more than 200 f.l.m. on, they have taxed Wesselenyi,l08 who is absent & has no property here, 5,000 f.l.m., Bethlen Janos the Younger 7,000 &c. &c. The same Burgers who a few days ago accused us of being Pecsovics, are now the first to call us Radicals. Such Infamy I expected of them, it is of a piece with all the rest of their conduct, but I should hardly have expected that the model Aristocrat Clam would have encouraged it. All the Kossuth notes are to be given in today, whether we shall get anything more than a receipt for them is un-

107 V. Dorsner, Colonel in Austrian army, imperial commissary in Transylvania. 108 Baron Nicholas Wesselenzi (1796-I850).

262



THE DIARY OF JOHN PAGET, 1849. 263

certain. . . . Banffy Josi109 and Beldovics are come back. Beldovics is become Schwarz Gelb to the very backbone, and relates with considerable unction that some of the Hungarians are already condemned to six & eight years of prison and immense fines, even a lady for merely giving money & encouraging them. . . . The town is illuminated every night, I suppose in case of alarm.

26. Several squadrons of chevaux legers came in yesterday from Gallicia. It appears that the army now at Dees & Sibo will go forwards & others take their place here. The Wallacks are by no means quiet. The soldiers ordered 300 waggons from Thorda where the Vice Ispan [alispdn, Vice-Sheriff] sent them in answer an order from some Wallack Prefect that Thorda should be ready to receive the Wallack Army by such a day, and must obey some blaguard whom they call the Prefect of the Thorda Committat. As an Austrian officer [inserted here: Nerok] was coming thro' the Mezoseg yesterday, he was robbed by some of Jank's men, two of whom are now in prison here. The stupid asses think because we did not beat them, that no one can, tho' it was entirely our own fault & for want of combination that they were not completely exterminated. At least it is some consolation that Enyed will be avenged and these wretches will now hardly be placed over our heads. It is said that Josika Samull° & Lajoslll have both refused to take any office here and that Janko has returned. . . . Ferentz came in . . . to tell us that

Fiilep, the former preceptor of the Hussars, was arrested. . . . Fulep is probably arrested for the condemnation of Roth112 and if that is the case, God help him. I hear more terrible cases of ruin every day. The Kossuth banknotes are all given in, for our cause is now hopeless, and the only chance of getting anything for them is to give them in. There is no danger in keeping them, but there is no use in it. Poor old Bethlen Sandor has only 15 f.l.m..in the world after he has given in his notes, & none of his children except Janos, who is not here, have the means of helping him. The Bethlen Feri has not even 50 f.l.m. Thoroczkai has some Ducats & has offered to divide to the last with the poor old people. ... I hear hundreds of poor creatures are in the same case. They seem determined to ruin the country by every possible contrivance. It is a mockery to talk of extracting a Brandschatzung from such people.

27. The Brandschatzung they say is given up, or rather the form of it desired by the honest Biirgers. I must get the names of those who have formed the commission for its repartition, they must not be forgotten. Our poor fellows in Sibo have laid down their arms and the officers are all detained there, and it is said are to be sent to Gros Wardein. The roads are every where covered with the Honveds

109 Baron Joseph Banffy. 110 Baron Samuel J6sika (I805-I860), Transylvanian Aulic Chancellor before

the outbreak of the Revolution. 111 Baron Louis J6sika, Samuel's young brother. 112 Stephen Ludwig Roth (I769-I849), Lutheran Pastor of Muzsna, condemned

to death by a Magyar tribunal as an enemy of the fatherland.




returning home without money or food, and as may be supposed, robbing everybody & everything they can find. I have heard of 6 who returned to their village after passing three days on unripe plums and Kukurutz [Indian corn]. They have just given soldiers in the house whom we must lodge and feed. As I have neither cook nor kitchen, it is rather a difficult matter, but Szilvasy has promised to take the cooking part off my hands. There are upwards of 40 prisoners in the Lyceum, and the town has received orders to prepare more rooms. Beldovics has promised to get me a book published by Sagunall3 in German, and containing an account of all the horrors committed by the Hungarians on the Wallacks. Caricatures were published in Vienna in which Teleki Sandorll4 and Katona Miklos15 were represented hanging the peasants and burning the villages in the K6var district. Baldovics saw Richardsonll6 in Csernovics [Czernowitz]. He said he was going from there to Lemberg & thence to Comorn, to direct the guns against the fortress. He had written in the Wiener Zeitung an account of his journey to Vasarhely & the horrors he saw committed on the road. He has published in the English papers too against us. He had plenty of money, which was quite enough to make Christine at once exclaim that he was a spy. He had been at Jassy. Ld Palmerston had been asked in the House for satisfaction for the sale of Lady Horatia Weston's effects in Klausenburg, but he answered as soon as she married an Austrian officer she lost all right to British protection.17"

113 Andreiu Saguna (I809-I873), Metropolitan of the Roumanian Orthodox church in Transylvania.

114 Count Alexander Teleki (182I-1892), Honv6d officer. 115 Nicholas Katona (d. I886), leader of a'corps of volunteers in I848-I849. 116 On 29 March, I849, a Captain Richardson, R.N., was in Jassy. 117 Lady Horatia was detained at Gyulafeh6rvar for safe keeping from January

to April 1849. Captain Weston went to Bucharest to intercede with Colquhoun to secure her release; the latter dispatched a courier to Ber at Szaszsebes, who acquiesced in the request on 5 April, 1849.



the slavonic year-book || the diary of john paget, 1849

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