The French Army attacked the Austrian advance guard at 11AM. Austrian artillery fire forced the French to retreat. The French cavalry of the left wing turned right wanting to cross the river Panzsa, but Austrian infantry fire stopped them. There was the possibility of a counterattack by the Austrian insurrectional cavalry but their horses became unmanageable under their baptism of gunfire and it did not materialize.
Next, the infantry of the French center twice attacked the Kismegyer Farm, while the cavalry of the right wing tried to move around the Austrian left aided by intense artillery fire. They were driven back by the Hussars of Ott and the cavalry of Pest. The main French attack began at 1PM. The right wing was sent to encircle the Austrians, but Mecsery advanced with his cavalry to the Vicznay Canal and prevented the movement. Meanwhile the French center and left attacked straight ahead.
At 2:30PM, Montbrun again attacked, this time with heavy artillery preparation which caused much disorderamong the undisciplined horses. The insurgents wanted to counterattack anyway, but Mecsery decided against it because of their lack of skill and his inferior artillery (2 guns against 24).
The second attack went in against the farmhouse which the French succeeded in occupying. However at 4PM, the insurgents pushed the French out and reoccupied it.
Attacking with the right wing, Montbrun wanted to turn into Mecsery's flank with his whole force, while, for his part, Mecsery decided to cross over the Viczay Canal. The Austrian cavalry advanced but only the 3rd Squadron of theGyulay Hussar Rgt. reached the enemy. The whole French cavalry swept down on this squadron. Their only way was back, but their poor training revealed itself and they were destroyed. Austrian reinforcements were stopped by heavy artillery fire and their whole cavalry fled back 3 kilometers to Mount Sor.
At 4PM, the Austrian left was withdrawn and the French reached the hilltop, bringing up their guns. The French 3rd line again attacked the bridge over the Panzsa, but it took three tries before they were able to drive the Austrian infantry back. The French 3rd line marched toward Mount Szabad.
The French center attacked the Kismegyer farmouse a fourth time. The Austrians defended for an hour but even with the help of the Zemplen cavalry Rgt. sent by the Palatine, they were unable to hold.
The second French column attacked Dellachich and occupied it but they were stopped there by the Rgt. Alvinczy. The insurgent cavalry retreated further toward Komarom. Those occupying Mount Szabad were faced with encirclement, so the Austrian right wing retreated. At 5PM, the Archduke Johann gave the order to retreat, the right wing toward Gonyo, the left toward St. Ivan and the center toward Acs. All reached this line at 9PM.
The French Army did not persue. The City of Gyor was defended by General Meske, the garrison breaking out at 10:30PM. The French occupied the city on June 23 and advanced to Tata and Mor.
The armistice was signed in July, The demarcation line was: The Holic River at Pozsony then along the Danube to Gyor, along the Raba to the border of Stiria.
The causes of the Austrian defeat at Gyor depended on the commanders and on the army as well. The insurgents fought bravely, although they were poorly trained and their armament was not complete (some Hussar regiments contained only squadrons of 25 men and the artillery was very weak).
In the earlier insurrections, the soldiers fought individually, but now there was the need to make coordinated movements; the insufficient skill showed itself. This was the last insurrection of the Hungarian nobility.
Losses in the battle were quite high and quite lopsided. The Austrians lost over 5000 men out of 30,000 (16,000 insurgents), while the French lost 2,000 out of 55,000.
More French Campaign in Hungary 1809
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