In September 1849, Béni Egressy was among the defenders of the Komárno Fortress, serving as lieutenant general. It was here that he wrote the Klapka March (Klapka-induló). After the War of Independence he was released under György Klapka’s asylum and returned to the stage.
On the occasion of the 170th anniversary of the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848/1849, a nearly three-metre statue of Béni Egressy – the work of sculptor János Nagy – was solemnly unveiled next to the Komárno Fortress on 15 September 2018.
The erection of the statue was initiated by the Jókai General Education and Museum Association and supported by the Circle of Friends of Old Students and Teachers of the Hungarian Grammar School in Komárno. The bronze statue is one and a quarter times life-size and was cast in the Hungarian town of Mór.