Richard Debaufre Guyon

Richard Debaufre Guyon (1813 - October 12 1856), British soldier, general in the Hungarian revolutionary army and Turkish pasha, was born at Walcot, near Bath.Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition]

After receiving a military education in England, Guyon fought against Dom Miguel in Portugal. In 1832 Guyon entered the Austrian service joining the Hungarian hussars; and on being attached as aide-de-camp to Baron Splényi, married the daughter of that general in 1838. From that time till the outbreak of the revolution, Gouyton led the life of a country gentleman on his estates near Komárom, but was one among the first to offer his services to the national government as an officer of the Hungarian Honvéds, and acted a permanent part in the struggle for independence during the Hungarian War. During the retreat of Görgei's army, Guyon carried the mountain-pass of Branyiszko, and by that daring feat of his re-established the communication with the government at Debrecen, as also with the several other Hungarian army corps. He won great distinction in the battle of Sukoro (September 29 1848) and the battle of Schwechat (October 30) and after the battle of Kapolna (February 26 and February 27 of 1849) was made a general officer."Chambers's Encyclopaedia" Published by Appleton, 1863. Article "GUYON, RICHARD DEBAUFRE" [pp. 167,168] ]

When, in April 1849, the garrison of the besieged fortress Fortress of Komárom was to be apprised of the victorious approach of the national army, Guyon, with a detachment of hussars, cut his way through the enemy's lines, and announced the approaching relief. The bloody battle of Szöreg (5 August 1849) allowed General Dembinski, protected by the self-sacrificing ten battalions of Guyon, to retire to Temesvar, where the last battle of the Hungarians was fought and lost on the 9th of August Guyon escaped to Turkey. [William Henry Stiles, "Austria in 1848-49: Being a History of the Late Political Movements in Vienna, Milan, Venice, and Prague with Details of the Campaigns of Lombardy and Novara a Full Account of the Revolution in Hungary and Historical Sketches of the Austrian Government", Adamant Media Corporation ISBN 0543943860. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mmAi8EszEmYC&pg=PA296&lpg=PA296&dq=Demhinski+polish+general+1848&source=web&ots=CgWlXRIF2U&sig=CiFg489qKpq8vXvJ-mcY9a3-828&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA179,M1 pp. 179,296] ]

In 1852 Guyon entered the service of the Sultan without being required to change his faith. Under the name of Kourahid Pasha, he, as a general of division, was governor of Damascus, and at the beginning of the Crimean war, did much to organise the army of Kars. he died of cholera at Scutari in 1856. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography he was "the first Christian to obtain the rank of pasha and a Turkish military command without being obliged to change his religion".

The 1663 Chambers Encyclopaedia states "Indomitable courage, and an incessant care for the comfort of the toops under his command, were the chief features in Guyon's character".

Notes and references

*reflist

References

*1911
*This article incorporates text from the Chambers's Encyclopaedia 1863 edition.

Further reading

* AW Kinglake, "The Patriot and the Hero General Guyon" (1856).