Richard de Beaufré comte de Guyon (1813 – 12 October 1856) was a

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-born Hungarian soldier, general in the Hungarian revolutionary army and Ottoman

pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

(Kurshid Pasha).

Biography

Early life

He was born at Walcot, near

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,Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition the son of Commander John Guyon RN (1767–1844), a shipmate and friend of the

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence was a substantive title created three times in the Peerage of England. The title Duke of Clarence and St Andrews has also been created in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Prince Leopold, Duke ...

(later William IV of Britain), and descended from a French noble family. After receiving a military education in England, Guyon fought against Dom Miguel in the Liberal Wars in Portugal. In 1832 Guyon entered the Austrian service joining the Hungarian Hussars; and was attached as aide-de-camp to General Baron Ignác Splényi (1772–1840), who had served at the Battle of Marengo and was captain-in-chief of the Hungarian noble bodyguard, and Standard Bearer of Hungary. Guyon married Baron Splényi's daughter, Baroness Marie, on 22 November 1838. They had two sons and a daughter together: Victor, Edgar and Marie Anne. Until the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution, Guyon led the life of a country gentleman on his estates near Komárom.

Hungarian Revolution

At the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution, Guyon was among the first to offer his services to the national government as an officer of the

Royal Hungarian Army The Royal Hungarian Army (, ) was the name given to the land forces of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary in the period from 1922 to 1945. Its name was inherited from the Royal Hungarian Honvéd which went under the same Hu ...

, and played a prominent part in the struggle for independence during the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

. He won great distinction in the Battle of Pákozd (29 September 1848) and the Battle of Schwechat (30 October) and after the Battle of Kapolna (26 and 27 February 1849) was made a general. During the retreat of Artúr Görgey's army in the winter of 1848–1849, Guyon carried the mountain-pass of Branyiszkó on 5 February 1849, and by that daring feat of his re-established the communication with the government at

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

, as also with the several other Hungarian army corps. When, in April 1849, the garrison of the besieged 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. On 14 July 1849, Guyon defeated the imperial army led by Josip Jelačić in the Battle of Hegyes, one of the last Hungarian victories of the freedom war, which assured Southern Hungary for the revolutionary army keeping the road open for the leaders of the revolution to escape in the Ottoman Empire. The bloody Battle of Szőreg (5 August 1849) allowed General Henryk Dembiński, protected by the self-sacrificing ten battalions of Guyon, to retire to Temesvár, where the Battle of Temesvár, the last in the campaign, was fought and lost on 9 August. Guyon escaped to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Two streets in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

are named after Count Guyon: Guyon Richárd Utca, and Guyon Kőz. Guyon's Hussar uniform is preserved on display at the Museum of Military History in the Buda Castle Quarter.

Ottoman Empire

In 1852 Guyon entered the service of the

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without being required to change his faith. Under the name of Kourshid 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. Guyon died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

at Scutari in 1856. According to the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' he was "the first Christian to obtain the rank of pasha and a Turkish military command without being obliged to change his religion". The 1863 ''

Chambers Encyclopaedia ''Chambers's Encyclopaedia'' was founded in 1859Chambers, W. & R"Concluding Notice"in ''Chambers's Encyclopaedia''. London: W. & R. Chambers, 1868, Vol. 10, pp. v–viii. by William Chambers (publisher), William and Robert Chambers (publisher, ...

'' states "Indomitable courage, and an incessant care for the comfort of the troops under his command, were the chief features in Guyon's character". The Istanbul Military Museum holds a memorial bust of Guyon together with other Hungarian artifacts.

Notes and references

References