Heinrich Hentzi, a budavári Leonidász
Heinrich Hentzi, the Leonidas of Buda Castle

Summary/Abstract: Major general Heinrich Hentzi von Arthurm, who defended the castle of Buda during the siege of the honvéd army, was born in Debrecen on 24 October 1785 into a family of Swiss origin. He entered the imperial and royal army as a cadet in 1804, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1805. He participated in the campaigns against Napoleon in 1805, 1809 and 1813-1815, then he was promoted to major in 1828, lieutenant-colonel in 1834 and colonel in 1841. He was advanced to commandant of the imperial and royal pioneer corps in 1842, was granted title of nobility in 1844, then promoted to major general in 1847. He was a hard soldier, not too popular, but an expert in his field. In 1848, he became the commander of the garrison in Pétervárad, but when he was suspected of planning to hand over the fortress to the Serbian rebels, he was arrested in the middle of December 1848, sent to Pest and kept in home detention. At the beginning of January 1849, he remained in town after the evacuation of the capital. After the imperial and royal armies entered the town in January 1849, he reported for military service before field-marshal Alfred zu Windisch-Grätz, the commander in chief of the imperial and royal army, and the prince promoted him to commander of the castle of Buda. In 1848-1849, Buda could not be regarded as a state of the art fortress, but Hentzi did his best to make it defensible. The castle was connected to the Chain Bridge through a wooden fortress, which protected the water pump that provided water supply for the defenders in the castle. Between 4 and 21 August 1849, Hentzi could quite vigorously defend Buda against Görgei's armies, but his decision to bombard Pest was completely unjustifiable. On 21 May, he was fatally wounded during the decisive assault, and died on 21 May. Even though after the capture of Buda, first it was suspected that it was the commander's treason that lead to the fall of the castle, his death was in itself a clear denial of this theory. Franz Joseph I posthumously awarded him with the cross of the Order of Maria Theresa, and made his son a baron.

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