After his retreat, between 17 and 29 July on the rout Vác-Balassagyarmat-Losonc-Rimaszombat-Miskolc-Tokaj, defeating in several defensive battles the Russian main forces,[2] Czar, Nicholas I of Russia was impressed by Görgei's brilliant manoeuvers, comparing him twice to Napoleon,[3] writing this to Paskevich: The fact that Görgei, after retreating from Komárom, got first around our right then around our left-wing, making such a huge circle, then he arrived south and united with the main troops, blows my mind.

[4]During Görgei's daring march eastwards towards the Tisza, on the left bank of the river, the detachment of Colonel János Korponay tried to protect it from the eventual Russian attempts to cross it.

[9] After arriving to Hajdúhadház General Nagysándor received the notification from Colonel János Korponay, the leader of the Hungarian irregular forces from Tiszántúl, that he had to retreat to Debrecen after the Russians attacked him with 15,000 soldiers.

[9] Nagysándor sent a strong cavalry unit to Debrecen, to move from there towards Balmazújváros, and find the enemy, but to avoid any direct confrontation with the Russians, instead of this to keep an eye on them, and send him reports about their movements.

[6] The Central Operations Bureau agreed to Pongrácz's proposal, adding that after the I. corps repulse the Russians, they must continue their retreat on the designated rout.

[6] At 8 a.m. on 2 August Pongrácz reported to the Central Operations Bureau that the I. corps arrived to Debrecen, and they are prepared to fight the 15,000 strong Russian troops, then, on the next day, to march towards Derecske.

[11] On 1 August Paskevich with his troops gathered at Csege, departed to Balmazújváros, after sending at Haynau's demand 4 companies of Uhlans with 50 Cossacks and 4 cannons towards Törökszentmiklós in order to threaten the back and side of the Hungarians.

[13] Although he heard some reports that the Russians were much more numerous than this, around 30,000, he renounced sending another reconnaissance units to make sure about the strength of the enemy, which in reality was more than 62,000 soldiers and 298 guns.

[21] On the right flank the Korponay division was placed from Kokasló to the Nyulas taproom with around 2,500 weak infantry, which partially lacked firearms, supported by the newly formed 96.

[11][21] In front of his lines the cornfield blocked his view, while on the right flank he left the Debrecen woods (called Nagyerdő) almost completely unoccupied, which enabled the Russians to deploy their troops and encircle the right wing undetected.

[6] When the Russian army arrived to the high cornfields in front of Debrecen, Paskevich ordered his troops in marching formation, with the 3. light cavalry division as vanguard.

[22] In front of Debrecen the Russians were facing the tall cornfield on both sides of the road, so they were forced to "dismantle" their battle formation, and enter form marching columns.

(Grand Duke Konstantin of Volhynia) uhlan regiment to attack them, but the hussars retreated behind the Hungarian lines, to cover the Bobich division.

(Austrian Duke Albrecht) Lithuanian uhlan regiment, unlimbered and started to shoot rapidly towards the supposed positions of the Hungarian artillery and infantry.

[23] The Hungarian artillery did an excellent job, causing important losses to the two Russian cavalry batteries and to the uhlans, destroying many guns, and killing many horses,[24] repulseing the attack of the 3.

Russian light cavalry regiment,[11] making Paskevich think that the Hungarians have large caliber (12-pounder) cannons, from which he took the wrong conclusion that he faced Görgei's full army.

Jäger regiment from Ladoga, with the 2. light and 2. heavy artillery batteries and the 2. sapper battalion from the adjacent units of the corps, remaining behind them as reserves.

[24] Another important Russian officer, Major General Ivan Petrovich Miller, the commander of the 3. artillery division, was also wounded: a bullet entered his chest and shoulder.

[29] Taking notice of the retreat of the Hungarian right wing, Paskevich wanted to send his cavalry around the Nagyerdő forest, and to attack the Korponay division from the side and from behind.

Máriássy finally obeyed the order, his battalions starting their advance in echelon formation, under the cover of the cavalry of the left wing, sent 1,200 paces ahead of the infantry.

"Imperial" Hussar Regiment, but when they saw the overwhelming numerical superiority of the attacking Russian troops, they confined themselves to save the cannons, abandoning the infantry to their fate.

Hungarian infantry battalion, which suffered heavy casualties, including its commander Major Arnold Balka, who was mortally wounded, retreated through the city towards Nagyléta.

Russian light cavalry division led by Lieutenant General Glazenap, sent to encircle the Hungarian left flank, got lost in the high cornfield, arriving on the battlefield only after the battle ended.

[32] Besides the enemy's superiority, there were other causes of the Hungarian defeat too, like their poor reconnaissance, the chief of staff of the I. corps, after gathering the information he received, believed that the Russian troops are only 15,000 strong, while in reality, they were 4 times more numerous.

[32] But the task of the I. corps was to defend from the side the army of Görgei, and if he would have marched from Vámospércs towards Debrecen to help Nagysándor, then he himself would had break his own orders issued before.

[32] If Görgei would have decided, at 1:55 p.m. when he first heard the sound of the cannons, to march from Vámospércs to Debrecen, lying at 25 km distance, his troops would have arrived only 6-6,30 hours later there; around 8:30-9:00 p.m., much later then 4:30-5:00 p.m., when the battle ended.

corps, continued their march towards Arad, gaining several days distance from the Russian army, whose delay was augmented also by supply difficulties.

[37] Although the Russians were thinking about pursuing the retreating Hungarians, Paskevich decided not to proceed, because the food supplies of his army were low, and they had to be extracted from the city of Debrecen, which took them several days.

[37] The cannons of the Hungarian right wing were saved by the "Imperial" hussars, who broke with them through the Cossacks lines, and retreated towards the eastern edge of Debrecen.

[43] They reached Berettyóújfalu on 3 August, where they joined the rest of the army, then, Nagysándor, considering that the shallow water of the Berettyó river cannot provide enough defense against a renewed Russian attack, ordered his troops to continue their march towards Nagyvárad, followed only by a couple of companies of cossacks, which observed them from the distance.