The Battle of Kápolna was one of the decisive battles of the Hungarian war of Independence of 1848-1849, fought on 26 and 27 February 1849 between the Hungarian revolutionary army led by Lieutenant General Henryk Dembiński and the Austrian main army operating in Hungary Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz. After the Austrian offensive from the winter of 1848-1849, which resulted in losing the Western part of the country, the Hungarian army tried its first major counter-attack, but due to the disastrous leadership of the Polish Henryk Dembiński, the battle ended with an Austrian victory, and this did not influence only the military situation, but also the politics of central Europe: Franz Joseph I announced the March Constitution of Austria on 4 March 1849.
Background
With the breakthrough at Branyiszkó on 5 February 1849 by the Corps of the Upper Danube led by General Artúr Görgei, the concentration of the Hungarian armies against the invading Austrian troops became possible. A commander-in-chief had to be found to lead the Hungarian main army. The chairman of the Commission of National Defence (the de facto Hungarian Government after the resignation of the Batthyány Government), Lajos Kossuth, was angered by General Artúr Görgei's (the most capable general of the Hungarian army) Declaration of Vác from 5 January 1849, their relations deteriorated, and so he invited Lieutenant General Henryk Dembiński, who was then living in French exile, to Hungary and appointed him commander-in-chief on 29 January 1849. The Polish general "imported" from France, Dembiński, one of the former commanders-in-chief of the Polish War of Independence of 1830-31, who was invited to Hungary from Paris by László Teleki in early January, seemed a convenient choice for Kossuth, who in this way prevented Görgei to take over the command of the Hungarian main army. His former activity as a military leader also seemed promising. The general became famous in Europe with his successful retreat from Lithuania in 1831, and his name was obviously not unknown to Kossuth, who had followed the events of the Polish War of Independence of 1830-1831 in his youth.
Immediately after the Polish general was assigned as commander-in-chief, Lajos Kossuth and the Commission of National Defence (OHB) began to urge Dembiński to launch an attack in order to drive the Austrian troops out of Hungary, but the latter kept postponing the attack, citing various unfounded reasons (such as the fear of a combined attack of the Serbian forces from the South with the Austrian main army from the West). Finally, upon Kossuth's constant urging, he decided to launch the attack on 22 February.
Despite his promising past as a military commander, the appointment of Dembiński proved to be an unfortunate choice. He had no experience conducting an offensive campaign or battle because he only led defensive and retreat operations during his time as a commander. The Lieutenant General's secretive, distrustful nature, and his impulsive, impetuous behavior were not suitable for winning the sympathy of the Hungarian corps commanders. First, he had a quarrel with General Mór Perczel, then he complained about Colonel György Klapka to Kossuth, and then he got into a heated argument with Artur Görgei.
On the other side of the frontline the situation was the following. On 5 January 1849 the Austrian imperial army (K.u.K.) led by Field Marshal Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz entered the Hungarian capitals Buda and Pest, the occupied the western, northwestern and central parts of Hungary. Being followed by Austrian forces, the Hungarian Corps of the Upper Danube led by General Artúr Görgei retreated through Northern Hungary, in order to join with the rest of the forces, which tried to defend Eastern Hungary across the left banks of the Tisza river.
But the attack against Hungary was not only from the west. From the north an Austrian corps led by Lieutenant General Franz Schlik entered the country from Galicia at the beginning of December and pushed forward rapidly, soon capturing the important city of Kassa. The Hungarians tried to stop Schlik, but the newly formed Upper Tisza Corps led by the minister of defence, Major General Lázár Mészáros suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Kassa from Schlik, who had his way open towards Debrecen, where the Hungarian government retreated. In this very desperate situation, György Klapka took command of the demoralized troops. The Hungarian general broke the Austrians' momentum in the battles of Tokaj and Tarcal, forcing Schlik to retreat to Kassa. At the same time, Dembiński was put in charge of the Upper Danube and the former Bácska and Bánság corps, becoming the new commander-in-chief.