Battle of Lechfeld

Battle of Lechfeld
Part of the Magyar incursions
Date August 10, 955 Location Lechfeld plain, near Augsburg Result Decisive German victory
Belligerents
East Francia	Magyars
Commanders and leaders
Otto the Great	harka Bulcsú; chieftains Lél and Súr
Strength
10,000 heavy cavalry	50,000 light cavalry
Casualties and losses
about 3,500	about 30,000 fell in the battle about 5,000 killed by local farmers maybe 5,000 fleeing Magyars killed by German reserve-troops all in all: between 35,000 and 40,000 killed, most of the rest wounded

The Battle of Lechfeld (10 August 955), perhaps the defining event for holding off the incursions of the Magyars into Central Europe, was a decisive victory by Otto I the Great, King of the Germans, over the Magyar leaders, the harka (military leader) Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél (Lehel) and Súr. Located south of Augsburg, the Lechfeld is the flood plain that lies along the Lech River. The battle appears as the "Battle of Augsburg" in Hungarian historiography. It was followed up by the Battle of Recknitz in October.

Background

Otto's victory came at a critical time. Many decades of Magyar raiding had highlighted the inability of the later Carolingian kings of Germany to demonstrate that they were more than kings in name. Moreover, by using siege engines to attack the walls of Augsburg on August 8 – 9, the Magyars demonstrated a partial adoption of advanced western techniques of war. A victory at Augsburg would open a new and fearful phase of the conflict where walled cities would no longer be safe.

The Magyar invasion came at a time when Otto had just put down a revolt in Franconia. There were some stirrings of unrest among the Slavs on the lower Elbe, so Otto would have to leave most of his Saxons at home. Otto called up about 8,000 men to fight off the invasion. The eight 1,000-strong legiones (divisions) included three from Bavaria, two from Swabia, one from Franconia and one from Bohemia under Prince Boleslav. The eighth division, commanded by Otto and slightly larger than the others, included Saxons, Thuringians and the king's personal guard. In an apparent move to block the Magyar retreat route, Otto crossed the Lech north of Augsburg and moved down the east bank to put himself between the Magyar horde and Hungary.

Today, historians still call the military campaigns of the Magyars against Otto and the German States "robbery campaigns". How could these campaigns be "robbery campaigns" when the German princes themselves, including Otto's son and his brother, his relatives and vassals requested the aid of the Magyars and even led them to the territories they planned to attack? The purpose of the Magyar campaigns was to repossess the Avar treasures and weaken the enemy. Therefore, the accusation that the Magyars committed devastation purely for the sake of robbery and looting is unjust. Their campaigns were strategically planned and the devastation and looting were a result of planned attacks.

Battle at Lechfeld

According to the chronicler Widukind of Corvey, Otto "pitched his camp in the territory of the city of Augsburg and joined there the forces of Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, who was himself lying mortally ill nearby, and by duke Conrad with a large following of Franconian knights. Conrad's unexpected arrival so encouraged the warriors that they wished to attack the enemy immediately." [1]. Conrad's arrival was particularly heartening because the exiled duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine) and Otto's son-in-law, had recently thrown in his lot with the Magyars, but now returned to fight under Otto; in the ensuing battle he lost his life. A legion of Swabians were commanded by duke Burchard, who had married Hedwig, the daughter of Henry, the brother of Otto. Also among those fighting under Otto was Boleslav I of Bohemia. And of course about 3,000 Saxons were commanded by Otto himself.

With his in-laws and allies, Otto had managed to gather around him approximately 10,000 heavy cavalry ("eight legions in all" being Widukind's figure), in order to fight against the 50,000 or so Magyar light cavalry, according to chroniclers; modern historians assess the forces at figures that range as low as about a tenth of these figures. After Otto approached the Magyar force, their horsemen crossed the Lech unexpectedly; he was suddenly outflanked by a number of Magyar cavalry, so that his smaller force was caught in between two much larger forces, which should have led to his encirclement and defeat. However, the flanking Magyar force dismounted to loot the German baggage train; Otto was able to send part of his force to sweep over these dismounted troops, resulting in their annihilation.

With this accomplished, his combined force charged at the Magyar line. Despite a volley of arrows from the Magyars (which were mainly deflected by the German shields), Otto's army smashed into the Magyar line, and began to sweep over it. The Germans were able to fight hand-to-hand with the Magyars, giving the nomads no room to use their favorite shoot-and-run tactics. Bulcsú feigned retreat with part of his force, in an attempt to lure Otto's men into breaking their line in pursuit, but to no avail. The German line maintained formation and routed the Magyars from the field. The German forces maintained discipline and methodically pursued the Magyars for the next couple of days, rather than dispersing jubilantly, as German forces had been known to do. [2] "Some of the enemy sought refuge in nearby villages, their horses being worn out; these were surrounded and burnt to death within the walls." The captured Magyars were either executed, or sent back to their ruling prince, Taksony missing their ears and noses; on their return the Hungarian dukes Lél, Bulcsú and Sur, who were not Árpáds, were executed. "Never was so bloody a victory gained over so savage a people," was Widukind's conclusion. This is not true. The Magyar retaliation after the Battle of Lechfeld was three times as devastating as their defeat at Lechfeld. In their warring campaigns, the Magyars always deployed three separate armies. Two were always on the offensive and the third was the defending army. Historians, writing about the Battle of Lechfeld, for some reason do not mention the third Magyar army. They only mention the armies of Bulcsu and Lehel, yet Anonymus, in two complete chapters, clearly describes the role of the third army under the leadership of Botond.[11] Botond fulfilled his duty with great success. It is true that he was unable to intervene in time to save his comrades but afterwards he took a severe revenge. Anonymus states: "The remaining Magyar warriors, when they saw their comrades fall into a difficult situation because of the cunning of their enemies, bravely and heroically stayed at their posts. They did not abandon each other but did all in their power to help those who were in trouble. Like injured lions, they ran shouting between the weapons and they put down the enemy with horrifying killings. Although, the armies of Bulcsu and Lehel were defeated, the Magyars of Botond ran down those who had defeated Bulcsu and Lehel and killed them all in a horrifying manner." "The larger part of the German army, which was headed toward the river Rhine, was followed by Botond's army. When the Magyar army caught up with them on the plains, the Germans closed ranks like a swarm of bees because the Magyars, with their arrows would not allow them either to retreat or to advance. The Germans, frightened to death, surrendered to the Magyars. When the Magyars captured them, they decapitated them all. They killed them in revenge for their comrades who were killed by the Germans. The German soldiers and the standard-bearers numbered eight thousand.[12] That was not enough. Under the leadership of Botond, they devastated the German states. The Hungarian chronicler, Simon Kézai, states "... they crossed the river Danube at Ulm and when they reached the Monastery at Fulda, they took enormous treasures and destroyed the entire Schwabenland. At the city of Worms, they crossed the river Rhine. There they met two armies, the armies of the Prince of Lotharingia and the Prince of the Schwabs. After defeating and routing these armies, the Magyars entered the land of France and made enormous destruction among the Christians and the monks. From here, they went to the river Rhone as far as Raguza. They destroyed two cities, Susa and Turin and opened the route to Italy. When they came to the flatlands of Lotharingia, they crossed them on horseback at a fast speed and took large booty with them. After this, they returned home."[13] The Magyars still could not overcome the loss of the battle of Lechfeld. It was not that losing a battle caused them great distress, but the reason that they were so upset was that Lehel and Bulcsu were hanged. This was not a fitting execution for courageous soldiers. "Prince Zolta and his men were extremely upset by the dishonorable execution of Lehel and Bulcsu and the other Magyar soldiers and they became real enemies of the Germans. Prince Zolta and his knights, because of the offence caused by the enemy, wanted to take revenge and they did not make a secret of the methods they wanted to use in revenge."[14] The Hungarian Prince Zolta organized a second revenge after the Hungarian defeat at Lechfeld. "Prince Zolta, fired with anger and supported financially by some Germans who asked his help and because he was so upset by the death of Lehel and Bulcsu, sent a huge army against King Otto. He named Botond the captain of one army, Szabolcs as captain of the second army and Orkony as captain of the third." This is another example of the Magyar custom of always sending three armies to a campaign.

Tactical details

King Otto I deployed his divisions in a single line, without reserves. From right to left the line was held by Duke Conrad's Franconians, three Bavarian divisions, Otto's division and two Swabian divisions. The Bohemian division defended the camp. The Magyars mounted a rapid frontal attack in a typical horse archer swarm, raining arrows among the German knights. But this was only a feint. The main attack circled behind Otto's host and struck the camp, routing Prince Boleslav's knights. The Magyar flanking force then attacked the two Swabian divisions from the rear while their compatriots attacked in front.

The Swabians were disordered by the double attack, but they did not panic. Instead, they fell back fighting toward the king's division. Otto ordered Conrad to pull his division out from the extreme right and bring it behind the German line to help the Swabians on the enveloped left flank. Conrad brilliantly executed the difficult maneuver and his knights charged the Magyar flanking force. Pinned between Conrad and the Swabians, these horsemen were cut to pieces. Meanwhile, Otto and the Bavarians had been successfully holding off the enemy frontal attack. Once Conrad disposed of the flanking force, Otto led a general advance. The better-armored German knights drove the Magyars inexorably back toward the Lech. Conrad was killed by an arrow.

Seeing the day going against them, the Magyars bolted for their camp, fleeing across the river. Many were caught and killed as they urged their tired horses up the steep and slippery west bank of the Lech. After the Germans stormed and plundered the Magyar camp, the raiders set out for Hungary. They had to swing a long detour south and east, during which a number of the smaller war parties were overtaken and slaughtered by the enraged local people.

Aftermath

On the field of battle the great German lords raised Otto on their shields in the Germanic manner and proclaimed him Emperor. A few years later, on the strength of it, Otto went to Rome and had himself crowned emperor by the Pope. The Magyars retreated to the Carpathian Basin, where they settled into a more agricultural way of life and were eventually Christianized. There was no further threat to Europe from the Eurasian steppes until the Mongols swept in during the 13th century (Genghis Khan).

Commentary

Medieval numbers should be taken with a large dose of salt. The 8,000 German and Czech knights cited by Beeler are close to the maximum that could be supplied by tenth century logistics in sparsely populated central Europe. It is quite possible that the Magyar horde and Otto's army were of a similar size. The 50,000 given by the chroniclers is ridiculous. Otto was a shrewd general and it would have been reckless for him to take on an army five times larger than his own. The 35,000 Magyar dead is also preposterous. The Magyars rode faster horses than the more heavily encumbered German knights and could easily escape in a normal situation. When large numbers of Magyars were killed it was because they were caught between Conrad and the Swabians, trapped by the steep river bank or surprised by the local militias. The casualties stated for both sides may be too large by a factor of ten.

Sources

• Beeler, John. Warfare in Feudal Europe 730-1200. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1971. ISBN 0-0814-9120-7
• Monk Widukind of Corvey's account
• Weir, William. 50 Battles That Changed the World: The Conflicts That Most Influenced the Course of History. Savage, Md: Barnes and Noble Books. ISBN 0-7607-6609-6.