Second Battle of Nagyszeben

Second Battle of Nagyszeben
Part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
General Bem at the capture of Nagyszeben - unknown author 1849
Date 11 March 1849 Location Nagyszeben, Szeben County, Transylvania Kingdom of Hungary (now Sibiu, Romania) Result Hungarian victory the Hungarians chase the Austrian and Russian troops out of Transylvania
Belligerents
Hungarian Revolutionary Army	Russian Empire  Austrian Empire * Transylvanian Saxons
Commanders and leaders
Józef Bem	Grigory Skariatin Anton Puchner
Strength
Total: 4,674 + ? men 30–36 cannons	6,000 + ? men 29 cannons (8 field cannons[1] 21 castle cannons[2]) Did not participate: 8,676 men 36 cannons[3]
Casualties and losses
Total: 40–138 men 5–40 dead 35–98 wounded	Total: 239–401 men 99–97 dead 105–150 wounded 35–154 missing and captive 17–24 cannons[1][4]

The Second Battle of Nagyszeben (or Sibiu, or Hermannstadt) was a battle in the Hungarian war of Independence of 1848-1849 fought on 11 March 1849 between the Hungarian army led by the Polish General Józef Bem and the garrison of Nagyszeben, the Habsburg headquarters of Transylvania, composed by the Russian detachment led by Colonel Grigory Skariatin Austrian troops led by Lieutenant General Alois Pfersmann, and Transylvanian Saxon national guards. Before the battle, Bem managed to make the commander of the Austrian main Commander-in-Chief of Transylvania, Lieutenant General Anton Puchner think that he barricaded himself at Segesvár, while he escaped, heading to Nagyszeben. While Puchner was trying to encircle Segesvár where he thought that Bem was hiding, the latter headed through a quick march to Nagyszeben, where he defeated the Ruso-Austro-Saxon garrison led by General Skariatin, and captured the city. Hearing about this, Puchner suffered a mental collapse, as a result of which, the still much superior Austrian and Russian troops retreated from Transylvania. Thanks to this victory Bem reinstalled the Hungarian rule over the province. This victory was the overture of the victorious Hungarian Spring Campaign which leberated almost all the territories of Hungary from the imperial rule.