Dobosok, trombitások és katonazenekarok alkalmazása az 1848–1849-es szabadságharc harcmezőin (original) (raw)

Hadtörténelmi Közlemények, 134 (2021):2. 383–415.

DRUMMERS, TRUMPETERS AND THE APPLICATION OF MILITARY ORCHESTRAS AT THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE WAR FOR FREEDOM IN 1848–1849 The research article introduces the application of the musicians and military orchestras serving in the Home Defence Forces of the Hungarian War for Independence of 1848–1849 at the battlefield. The Hungarian military, due to the shortness of the time, did not elaborate a new system of military tunes, but adapted the system of the Austrian Imperial Army. Indeed, the activities of the drummers and trumpeters were part of the routine so much that sources scarcely mention them. However, the contemporaries found military musicians worth mentioning when they were applied in some extraordinary situation, for example, when some confusion evolved at the battlefield. Beyond the traditional system of mediating orders or battlefield communication, drum and trumpet signs were also often used to deceive the enemy: in the case of deceiving moves, the musicians were often marching up and down the battlefield, showing a much larger number of soldiers to the enemy, but the application of false retreat or attack signs was also a very widespread method. Applying these techniques in the appropriate moment, serious tactical successes could be achieved, so the activity of the military musicians can be interpreted as a weapon in itself. In rarer cases, the activity of the musicians could even change the result of the battle, as the breakthrough of Braniskom of 5 February 1849 shows a very good example. The military orchestras encouraged the soldiers by playing the quasi-official march of the war for independence, the Rákóczi March. The drummers and trumpeters also played an important role in applying military law: they were part of the so-called process of ‘parliamenting’ to which we may also find several examples from the history of the war for freedom.