Battle of Rika

Battle of Rika
Part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Date13 December 1848
Location
Result Székely-Hungarian victory.
Belligerents
  Székelys from Háromszék Seat

 Austrian Empire

Commanders and leaders
  Sándor Gál
  Ignác Horváth
  Áron Gábor
August von Heydte
Strength
Total: 1,480
270 riflemen
900 spearmen
310 hussars
2 cannons (the 310 hussars and the 2 cannons participated effectively in the battle )
2,600+ ? men
2 doppelhakens
Casualties and losses
A couple of wounded Hussars Total: 297 killed
600 cattle
300 kg gunpowder
Heydte's official correspondence

The Battle of Rika or Battle of Felsőrákos-Rika-Vargyas was a battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, fought on 13 December 1848 at Felsőrákos, Vargyas the valley of the Rika stream Háromszék County in southeastern Transylvania. The Székelys from Háromszék, sustaining the Hungarian revolution, led by Captain Sándor Gál, Captain Ignác Horváth Kovachich and Áron Gábor defeated the troops of the Habsburg Empire Captain August von Heydte reinforced by Transylvanian Romanian and Saxon militias and national guards. This victory forced the Austrian commander with the mission to crush the resistance of the Székelys of Háromszék, Lieutenant General Joseph Gedeon, was forced to ask reinforcements from the Austrian commandement of Transylvania, which weakened in a decisive way the Austrian troops right before the start of their fight with the Army of Transylvania led by General Józef Bem.