Magyar News, 2000. szeptember-2001. augusztus (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2001-03-01 / 7. szám
From Komárom to !§>an Antonio László Újházi States. Újházi thought that Kossuth will establish an exclusive Hungarain "state" and from this base he will prepare for a renewal of the Hungarian War of Independence with American aid. László Újházi, in September of 1849, while under parole pending the completion of negotiation for the surrender of Komárom, recruited 96 officers to help him form an organization to promote mass A contemporary drawing depicting the trenches at the battle of Komárom The incredible series of historical circumstances leading up to the start of the founding of the Hungarian community at San Antonio, Texas, also reveals the "story-behindthe-story" of Louis Kossuth. He visited the United States (1851-1852), and during his tour he also contacted Hungarian groups that were already here. The story is traceable back to before the surrender of the fortress of Komárom and to the talks and correspondence between Louis Kossuth and his closest aides. After the defeat by the combined forces of Austria and Russia, Kossuth was trying to keep his options open. He did not reveal his intentions prematurely, which resulted in a misinterpretation by László Újházi, the commissioner of Komárom. Újházi formed what could be called an "American Emigrant Society". Evidently having some reason to believe that Louis Kossuth's real intentions Hungarian emigration to the United States and there "to form a united agricultural colony". Moreover, by the time he and some of the members of his " American Emigration Society" managed to escape to the port of Hamburg in October of 1849, Újházi had somehow obtained assurances from American President Zachary Taylor of a warm welcome and of the -ibility of obtaining land for the establishment of a Hungarian colony. Consequently, before embarking for the "Promised Land", the small party of colonists, not one among whom was a farmer, sat down together and mapped out a plan of action with the assistance of an unusual doctor from Boston, a Dr. Károly Kreitsir, who had previously been instrumental in helping to resettle some Polish refugees in America. Up to this point in time, of course, they hadn’t the slightest idea of what Kossuth intended to do. They simply assumed that they were the vanguard for carrying out his intentions. When Újházi and his entourage, among whom was Apollonia Jagelló, arrived in New York, they were lionized by the press, city officials, politicians, and high society. Apollonia Jagelló, in particular, was singled out by the American press. She was sensationalized as the "Hungarian Heroine of the Revolution", which immediately planted the "seed-of-resentment" among Hungarian refugees that not much later flowered into factional "warfare". But, in spite of the press and public furors San Antonio outskirts at the time Page 4
