Martin_George_Guisse

Martin George Guisse

Martin George Guisse

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Martin George Guisse, born Martin George Guise (12 March 1780 – 23 November 1828), and later known as Jorge Martín Guisse in Spanish, was a British naval officer who served in Royal Navy in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He later served in the Chilean Navy during the Peruvian War of Independence and, as Vice-Admiral, in the Peruvian Navy in the Gran Colombia–Peru War, during which he was killed.

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Biography

He was a younger son of Sir John Guise, 1st Baronet, of Elmore Court, Gloucester, and Elizabeth Wright,[1] and joined the Royal Navy, receiving a commission as a lieutenant on 6 March 1801,[2] and taking part in the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805.[3] He commanded the 14-gun brig Liberty between 1811 and 1813,[4] which captured the American ship Freeman on 29 July 1812.[5] Guisse was promoted to commander 29 March 1815.[2]

When Guisse heard of the South American wars of independence he resigned from the Navy, bought his own ship, HMS Hecate, and set sail never to return to Britain. He arrived in Buenos Aires and quickly came to an agreement with Lord Cochrane to join the Chilean Navy. Guisse's role in the battles that followed was significant, in spite of frequent, bitter disagreements with Cochrane.[note 1] It was his contribution to the attack on the Spanish Esmeralda in Callao that made its capture possible.[3]

After the war and in poor health, he retired to Miraflores, Lima where he married the young Limenian, Juana Valle Riestra. But his civilian life was short. When Gran Colombia–Peru War broke out in 1829, he was asked to take command of the Peruvian Navy. Appointed Vice-Admiral, his fleet captured Guayaquil but he was killed by a sniper during the battle.[3]

His body was brought to Callao in honour and he was buried there in the clothes of a Franciscan friar. In 1926 his remains were transferred to the Panteón de los Próceres.[3][7]

One of the four houses of Markham College, Lima, is named in his honour,[3] as is Liceo Naval Almirante Guisse, a school founded in 1964 for the children of Peruvian naval officers.[8]

Guisse was the grandfather of Peruvian aviator George Chavez.

See also

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    Cochrane is highly critical of Guisse, once accusing him, along with Captains Spry and Worcester, of forming a "cabal" against him.[6]

References

  1. [1]
    Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Vol. 2 (107th ed.). Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. p. 1702.
  2. [2]
    Smith, David Bonner (2013). "Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy".
  3. [3]
    "Vice Admiral Martin Guisse". Markham College. 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013.
  4. [4]
    Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
  5. [5]
    "No. 17318". The London Gazette. 30 December 1817. p. 2683.
  6. [6]
    Cochrane, Thomas (1859). "Chapter I". Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil, from Spanish and Portuguese Domination. London: James Ridgway.
  7. [7]
    Independence Archived 8 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  8. [8]
    "Historica". Liceo Naval 'Almirante Guisse' (in Spanish). 2012. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012.
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