Martin George Guisse

{{Short description|British naval officer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox military person |name = Martin George Guisse |image = Guisse.jpg |image_size = 200px |alt = Vicealmirante Guisse |caption = Vicealmirante Guisse |birth_date = {{Birth date|1780|3|12|df=yes}} |death_date = {{Death date and age|1828|11|23|1780|3|12|df=yes}} |birth_place = Gloucestershire, England |death_place = Guayaquil, Ecuador |burial_place = Panteón de los Próceres, Lima, Peru |burial_label = |burial_coordinates =  |nickname = |birth_name = Martin George Guise |allegiance = United Kingdom<br/>Republic of Chile<br/>Republic of Peru |branch = Royal Navy<br/>Chilean Navy<br/>Peruvian Navy |service_years = |rank = |service_number = |unit = |commands = |battles = {{tree list}} * French Revolutionary Wars * Napoleonic Wars ** Battle of Trafalgar * War of 1812 * Peruvian War of Independence * Gran Colombia–Peru War {{tree list/end}} |awards = |relations = |other_work = }} '''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.

==Biography== He was a younger son of Sir John Guise, 1st Baronet, of Elmore Court, Gloucester, and Elizabeth Wright,<ref>{{Cite book|editor-first=Charles |editor-last=Mosley |title=Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage |edition=107th |volume=2 |location=Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A. |publisher=Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. |year=2003 |page=1702 |url= http://www.thepeerage.com/p42825.htm#i428244 }}</ref> and joined the Royal Navy, receiving a commission as a lieutenant on 6 March 1801,<ref name="DBS">{{Cite web |first=David Bonner |last=Smith |title=Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy |url= http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=7492 |year=2013 }}</ref> and taking part in the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805.<ref name="markham">{{cite web |url=http://www.markham.edu.pe/student.cfm?p=student_houses_guise.html&m=student_houses.html |title=Vice Admiral Martin Guisse |work=Markham College |year=2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216190431/http://www.markham.edu.pe/student.cfm?p=student_houses_guise.html&m=student_houses.html |archive-date=16 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He commanded the 14-gun brig {{HMS|Liberty|1779|2}} between 1811 and 1813,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Winfield |first1=Rif |title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792 |year=2007 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-84415-700-6 }}</ref> which captured the American ship ''Freeman'' on 29 July 1812.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=17318 |date=30 December 1817 |page=2683 }}</ref> Guisse was promoted to commander 29 March 1815.<ref name="DBS"/>

When Guisse heard of the South American wars of independence he resigned from the Navy, bought his own ship, HMS {{HMS|Hecate|1809|2}}, 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.{{refn|group=note|Cochrane is highly critical of Guisse, once accusing him, along with Captains Spry and Worcester, of forming a "cabal" against him.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Thomas |last=Cochrane |title=Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil, from Spanish and Portuguese Domination |chapter=Chapter I |location=London |publisher=James Ridgway |year=1859 |url= http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14914 }}</ref>}} It was his contribution to the attack on the Spanish ''Esmeralda'' in Callao that made its capture possible.<ref name="markham"/>

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 1828, 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.<ref name="markham"/>

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.<ref name="markham"/><ref>[http://www.hammond.swayne.com/independ.htm#Admiral%20Martin%20George%20Guise Independence] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208072338/http://www.hammond.swayne.com/independ.htm#Admiral%20Martin%20George%20Guise |date=8 December 2006 }}</ref>

One of the four houses of Markham College, Lima, is named in his honour,<ref name="markham"/> as is ''Liceo Naval Almirante Guisse'', a school founded in 1964 for the children of Peruvian naval officers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lnag.edu.pe/inf_general/res_historica.html |title=Historica |work=Liceo Naval 'Almirante Guisse' |year=2012 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512111616/http://www.lnag.edu.pe/inf_general/res_historica.html |archive-date=12 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Guisse was the grandfather of Peruvian aviator George Chavez.

==See also== * Guise baronets

==Notes== {{Reflist|group=note}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guise, Martin}} Category:1780 births Category:1829 deaths Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Category:British emigrants to Peru Category:Peruvian Navy admirals Category:Military personnel killed in action Category:People of the Peruvian War of Independence Category:People of the Chilean War of Independence