1848 Hungarian War in 15mm

[Swampking]

Geetings Gents,

I decided to take pics of all my projects and this is one of the ongoing ones - meaning, I'll post pics as I finish off the units.

First up are the Serbs. The Hungarians were a very busy lot - fighting Austrians (and Croats), Russians and Serbs. While the Serbian army wasn't very strong at the time, it imported a lot of material from Russia and raised a lot of militia. I decided to add a few ficticious units to the mix and I still have to get to the Serbian grenzers but the army is more or less finished.

Artillery and Brigadiers

Death Riders (Jahaci Smrti)

1st Brigade

2nd Brigade

3rd Brigade

4th Brigade

5th (Mountain Militia) Brigade

Serbian General

[Battle Brush Sigur]

Very interesting project, and starting right away with a bunch of fellas I did not expect to see in here. Very cool. 1848 was a pretty crucial thing; great to see somebody put it on a wargames table!

[ChrisBBB]

Very nice! Looking forward to seeing more pics as your project develops.

[Swampking]

Thanks, Gents!

I'll post some pics of the Hungarians tomorrow. I need to paint up a lot more infantry, cavalry and artillery but, I think it's a great start. 

[Freddy]

Nice project and some nicely painted figs!

Worth to mention though that Hungarians did not fight actual Serbia (after half a millennia of Ottoman occupation Serbia started to regain its independence from the early 19th century, but did not became fully independent until 1878) but the Serbian minorities in Southern Hungary. These were organized as border guards against the Ottomans (every man had to serve as a soldier basically, in return for the fields they were farming on), but the Habsburgs used them to combat the Hungarians as they were ,,the" Habsburg army in Hungary after the April Laws placed all army units in Hungary under the Hungarian government with the blessing of Wien (which made even the most aulistic ones at least confused, in general it took some months till every part of the former Imperial army deserted to under the desired banner ).
Grenzers (Croats and Serbs, but also the Transsylvanian Hungarians who of course joined Hungary) were though and well trained soldiers in general, their tragedy regarding the Hungarian revolution was that their best units were fighting in Italy, the Hungarians faced mostly their mobilized reserve and sometimes simply just agitated rabble what the aulistic commanders hastily scrapped up to fill their ranks. They did not use any Russian war material (the Russians helped Serbia, but no Serbs north of the Hungarian-Ottoman border), they were equipped by the Habsburg army, and in many cases on their own expenses but this meant Ottoman stlye pistols and rifles.

[Swampking]

Hey Freddy,

You are correct, in general.

According to the sources I consulted before painting the Serbs (for sake of clarity, we can say 'Banat Serbs' if you wish), they did receive help from Serbia proper (or, to be more precise, the Principality of Serbia) - this help included officers and bits of kit and uniforms (mostly sent from Russia - pants and coats - hence, the Serbian artillery in green coats). Admittedly, the Banat Serbian force wasn't as big or as organized as I've made it; however, I wanted the Banat Serbs to be a major threat. Some of the sources I consulted are listed below. Let me know if you want the rest (I hope you can read Serbian and Hungarian).

According to the book The Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence, 1848-1849: A Military History, edited by Gabor Bona and translated by Nora Arato (Columbia University Press, 1999), chapter 7: "The Serbian Insurrection in the Summer of 1848 and Military Operations in the Southern Region until the Withdrawal of the Honved Troops" and Az 1848-1849-es szabadsagharc nagy csatai [English: The Major Battles of the 1848-1849 War of Independence (forthcoming by Helion in Fall, 2025) by Hermann Robert (various chapters); you'll see that the Serbian Insurrection against Hungarian rule included the Serbian National Guard, which was established after the Serbian Uprisings against the Turks - the First (1804-1813) and the Second (1814-1815). Admittedly, the Serbian National Guard was a collection of units along the border with Hungary; however, they were organized, equipped and officered by Serbia proper (again, the Principality of Serbia). The Principality of Serbia, in turn, received most of its military kit from Russia. It would stand to reason that the Serbs would not allow their brethern in the Banat and Batscka to be armed with inferior weapons - supplied by the Austrians or Ottomans. Also, to make things more confusing, there was the Hungarian National Guard which established units in Serbian-majority towns. In fact, these units (equipped by the Austrians) proved to be the most fanatical in their hatred of the Hungarians. These two 'National Guard' units intermingled to form the Serbian 'Rebel' army of 1848.

The aforementioned uprisings [against the Ottomans] established a semi-autonomous principality which had its own army (according to the Serbian military museum) and the books mentioned above, as well as the book Uniforms of the Serbian Army, 1808-1918 (published by the Serbian Military Museum (written in Serbian and never translated. Belgrade, 1985), you'll see that the miniatures are close (maybe the colors are a bit off for some units but again, I did say that I had some 'ficticious' units in the army) to what is described and what is shown according to the prints, photos of uniforms in the museum and the way that the units are described. I wrote to the Serbian Military Museum and received a reply that indeed, the Serbian Principality did help their compatriots in the Banat, Batschka and Slavonia; this help included arms, kit, uniforms and weapons.

I'm not trying to be difficult and I do appreciate the feedback. However, with my rusty Serbian (I learned Serbian in college but I don't want to offend any Croats or Serbs by using the designation 'Serbo-Croatian') and limited Hungarian, I tried to be as accurate as possible in depicting the Serbian Insurrectionists.

[Swampking]

Greetings Gents,

Here are pics of the Hungarian units that have been finished. You might notice that the Tyrolean Jaegers don't have the flowers on their hats, and there are some minor adjustments that have been left off (feathers on hats, for instance).

Enjoy!

Tyrolean Jaegers

38th Honved (Jaegers)

1st Brigade

2nd Brigade

3rd Brigade

If you want the actual names of the Honved units in the brigades, let me know.

[Freddy]

[...] I'm not trying to be difficult and I do appreciate the feedback. However, with my rusty Serbian (I learned Serbian in college but I don't want to offend any Croats or Serbs by using the designation 'Serbo-Croatian') and limited Hungarian, I tried to be as accurate as possible in depicting the Serbian Insurrectionists.

It is true that the revolting Banat  (Bánság in Hungarian) Serbs got a lot of help from down South, but it was in the form of "smuggling" (as the grenzers did not really guard the boarder against it ) small arms, ammo and volunteers, so do not imagine it as sharply dressed regular army units marching in with proudly waving banners. (Contemporary pictures show the Serbian resurrectionists wearing civilian clothes, so not even grenzer uniform) They caused a lot of trouble as Serbs and Hungarians lived together more or less peacefully before, but the newcomers introduced the concept of ethnic cleansing which quickly escalated the matters and made this part of the war really ugly. Austrian consul in Belgrade was the main organizer of the influx of these volunteers which was a pretty strange situation diplomatically. The Habsburgs loved the Serbian grenzers only until they fought for them, the thought of an independent Serbia reaching for Hungarian territories was just as repulsive for Wien as it was for Hungary.  (In fact, the Ottoman Empire was more sympathetic to the Hungarian cause, after 1849 lots of former Hungarian Army officers fled there, even entered the Ottoman army)

Nice work of the Hungarians, especially for the jaegers. A lots of Hungarian volunteer units (including the later 38th battalion) called themselves jaegers, but it was mostly for coolnes, the only actual jaeger battalion was the Tyroleans (who had only one company of actual Tyroleans who sided with Hungary, the other three were Hungarians). On the other hand, in these times regular infantry was also often used in the role of the jaegers, foreshadowing the changes in infantry tactics for the oncoming decades.

[Swampking]

Yo Freddy,

I know that one of Poland's heroes - Jozef Bem - entered Turkish service after the Hungarian War. I live in Poland and when I started painting miniatures for this conflict; my father-in-law told me to paint Bem or else!  . Of course, I never got around to it but will in the future.

The Hungarian Honved are actually very easy to paint. Great info about the 38th! I guess I'll have to rebase the little buggers!

Yeah, it seems that the Serbian Grenzers conveniently forgot to 'guard' the border against smugglers. And, you're correct, the Serbian insurrectionists were a very motly dressed group. Although, I have seen many contemporary prints in what appears to be uniforms. It's hard to tell if this is the imagination of the artist or if there was some sort of informal uniform (basically, an ACW Zouave uniform with the addition of the fez). My sources at the Serbian Military Museum didn't answer this question - my guess is because they couldn't or didn't have enough information.

Still, it's a neat little army and it was a joy to paint. It was also fun collecting all the books on the conflict - I've got about 30 in total in a few languages - English, Croatian, German, Hungarian, Polish, and Serbian. I'd love to get the one Russian book about the Russian involvement in the Hungarian conflict but with the current war, my Russian sources have gone dark.

[Freddy]

Yo Freddy,I know that one of Poland's heroes - Jozef Bem - entered Turkish service after the Hungarian War. I live in Poland and when I started painting miniatures for this conflict; my father-in-law told me to paint Bem or else!  . Of course, I never got around to it but will in the future.

Yes, he also fought some battles in Syria. An interesting whatif if he hid not die in 1850 and the Turkish had one of the most capable military leaders of this age on their side in their Russian wars. He was already a living legend in Poland when he arrived in Hungary and, commanding the Hungarian army in Transylvania, he became one of the greatest heroes of the Hungarian freedom war too. In Turkey he became Muslim called Pasha Murad, when his body returned to Poland in 1929, the Church did not let him buried in Christian soil- so his sarcophagus stands atop 6 columns in a lake- a grave fit for a national hero yet technically not in Christian soil

The Hungarian Honved are actually very easy to paint. Great info about the 38th! I guess I'll have to rebase the little buggers!

Honvéd uniform is relatively easy, but there were lot of minor and major variations for some battalions, also in the Hungarian National Guard there were lot of battalions with unique uniforms, being a territorial force. An interesting subject for modeling, I also have a 28mm Hungary1848 project somewhere here.

Yeah, it seems that the Serbian Grenzers conveniently forgot to 'guard' the border against smugglers. And, you're correct, the Serbian insurrectionists were a very motly dressed group. Although, I have seen many contemporary prints in what appears to be uniforms. It's hard to tell if this is the imagination of the artist or if there was some sort of informal uniform (basically, an ACW Zouave uniform with the addition of the fez). My sources at the Serbian Military Museum didn't answer this question - my guess is because they couldn't or didn't have enough information.

Back in the 18-19th century Hungary civilian clothing was not that varied as today, it was pretty uniform, every region and usually every settlement having their own distinctive style, embroidery and colour combinations, in a large event like a county market, you could tell most of the folks which town they are from just by looking at their clothes- sometimes even just by looking at their hat! ,,Zouave clothing", the fez-like cap and the Turkish baggy trousers was simply just how Serbian men dressed, with more and more Hungarian stlye embroidery added as one went towards Hungary. So, yes, most of them looked alike each other and pretty different from Hungarian soldiers, but it was just their clothing, not an uniform. (This also applied to Hungarian National Guard though, not every soldier had a full set of uniform, they partially just used the civilian clothing characteristic for the county the battalion was raised from. To return to Bem, his honvéds and even he himself liked to wear the "székelyharisnya", the embroidered/striped slim fit trousers of the Hungarians in Eastern Transylvania, with its thick woolen material practical in the cold Transylvanian weather.)

Still, it's a neat little army and it was a joy to paint. It was also fun collecting all the books on the conflict - I've got about 30 in total in a few languages - English, Croatian, German, Hungarian, Polish, and Serbian. I'd love to get the one Russian book about the Russian involvement in the Hungarian conflict but with the current war, my Russian sources have gone dark.

Yes, I also try to collect the books in the topic (I even have some from the XIX. century ), there is a rich Hungarian literature about it, being a really popular topic in our history, also a popular wargame subject here.