However, Vécsey's siege corps ran out of artillery ammunition early on, as Dembiński had previously sent it ahead to Lugos and failed to inform Bem.

In order to avoid further bloodshed, the Hungarian council of war decided on 11 August to surrender to Russian troops (which had entered the conflict on the side of the Austrians).

[citation needed] After his defeat at the Battle of Szőreg on 5 August 1849, the Hungarian government ordered Lieutenant General Henryk Dembiński to march toward Arad to join his troops with the Army of the Upper Danube led by General Artúr Görgei, after which they would be able to fight a decisive battle against the army of Field Marshal Julius Jacob von Haynau.

corps marched to Óbesenyő, where they entered in battle with the Hungarian cavalry of Dembiński's army led by Major General Arisztid Dessewffy.

[6] On 7 August, the bulk of the Austrian I. corps, led by General Franz Schlik, crossed the Maros river and advanced to Ráccsanád and Németcsanád.

[5] On the same day, Haynau learned about the defeat of Austrian siege corps at Komárom by Hungarian forces under the command of General György Klapka, which endangered his supply and communication lines with Vienna.

The fortress of Temesvár was surrounded by the V. corps, led by Major General Károly Vécsey, from which Bem had transferred a couple of infantry battalions to Guyon's IV.

Simultaneously, he ordered a brigade led by Colonel Sartori to march along the right bank of the river to Magyarfalva, then to Pécska to keep an eye on the Arad fortress and Görgei's troops.

The Reserve Corps (eleven infantry battalions, eight cavalry companies, fifty-four cannons) led by Franz Liechtenstein were ordered to occupy Hodony and send a vanguard to Mercifalva.

Bem, unlike the defensive Dembiński, was an offensive general, and instead of retreating, responded to Haynau's movements by sending more batteries to support his artillery and a couple of cavalry units to defend them.

[6] At the same time, Haynau ordered Lieutenant General Franz von Liechtenstein to march with the reserve corps to Szentandrás and attack the Hungarian right flank.

Believing the Austrian relief army to be near, the commander of the fortress, Lieutenant General Baron Juraj Rukavina Vidovgradski ordered Colonel Blomberg[who?]

Initially, Blomberg managed to break the defense line of the besiegers, but Vécsey quickly sent reinforcements, which pushed his troops back into the fortress.

[6] Bem, who was a general who relied heavily on artillery, ordered a heavy cannonade against the deploying Austrian troops, but he quickly ran out of ammunition.

[12] In order to counter them, Wallmoden sent the Auersperg cuirassier regiment, which attacked the hussars' vanguard as they were crossing the Nyárád and Beregszó creeks at Szakállháza, repulsing them and capturing three cannons.

However, another hussar platoon and a battery crossed the creeks and attacked the Austrians from the side, forcing them to retreat in haste and abandon the captured cannons.

[6] At this point, the Hungarian cannon fire grew increasingly sparse due to their ammunition running out, which led to the battlefield being completely dominated by the Austrian artillery.

He was transported away from the battlefield by the officers from his entourage, leaving his army effectively leaderless between 4:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.[12] At 5 p.m., the Austrian divisions pushed ahead with their artillery and started to fire at the IX.

corps to attack the high ground which lay in front of Óbesenyő, but they quickly retreated to behind the Nyárád creek after being bombarded by the Austrian artillery.

[12] Herzinger and his divisions tried to cross the Nyárád at a point southwest of Szentandrás, but marshy riverbanks forced him to use a bridge situated east of the village, where he positioned his artillery on both of its sides.

[6] This caused the inexperienced Hungarian rookies and irregulars — equipped only with scythes — to rout and attempt to hide in the Vadász forest,[12] but the battle continued to hardened and soon the depleted infantry battalions of the IV.

[12] They were able to discouraged Siegenthal's brigade from crossing the Nyárád creek to pursue the fleeing Hungarian infantry, allowing Guyon's corps to seek protection in the Vadász forest.

(Reserve) corps able to cross the Nyárád to pursue the retreating Hungarians, who, due to disorder and panic, were unable to occupy favorable defensive positions along the Beregszó creek.

[6] While the Austrian left and center had managed to cross the Nyárád without any opposition, the right flank was still menaced by the Kmety division, which was advancing from the direction of Szakállháza, threatening the III.

[6] Despite the fact that Haynau's exaggerated precaution gave most of the Hungarians troops time to retreat, many were still running around the Csóka and Vadász forests in a state of panic.

[6] While the Hungarian troops were running around uncontrollably in the Vadász forest, Dembiński and Mészáros found Bem in a hunting lodge, where he had been brought to be bandaged.

Finally, Bem named General Richard Guyon as chief of staff and ordered Kmety and Vécsey to remain in the rearguard and repulse any eventual Austrian attack so the remnants of the Hungarian army could start to march toward Lugos.

[6] Haynau himself decided to do the risky job of galloping forward with a company of the Sunstenau cuirassiers, a platoon of the imperial uhlans, and a cavalry battery to Temesvár, in order to personally inform the garrison of the victory.

[12] Bem has also been considered guilty for not attacking right wing, which may have been able to break the Austrian encirclement and allow a rendezvous with Görgei's Army of the Upper Danube.

[13] Due to the overwhelming superiority of the Austro-Russian armies, there had already been little chance of a Hungarian victory in the war, but after this defeat the last hopes of a conditioned surrender were lost.