Richard Debaufre Guyon was born in 1803 in Walcot, England, the third son of John Guyon and his wife Elizabeth Guyon. His father was an officer in the English navy who, after seeing much service and receiving many wounds, retired with the rank of commander.
Richard received a military education in England and in Austria.
In 1823 Guyon entered the Hungarian Hussars. At the outbreak of the Hungarian War in 1848, he re-entered active service as an officer of the Hungarian Honveds, and he won great distinction in the action of Sukoro (September 29, 1848) and the battle of Schwechat (October 30). He added to his reputation as a leader in various actions in the winter of 1848-1849, and after the battle of Kapolna was made a general officer.
Guyon served in important and sometimes independent commands to the end of the war, after which he escaped to Turkey. In 1852 he entered the service of the sultan. He was made a pasha and lieutenant-general without being required to change his faith, and rendered distinguished service in the campaign against the Russians in Asia Minor (1854 - 1855). He died of cholera in Scutari (now Üsküdar, Istanbul) on October 12, 1856.
At the battle of Schewechat Guyon led the advance-guard of the right of the Hungarian army, where he three times repulsed the serezans of Jellachich, and after a sanguinary struggle by a brilliant charge drove the Austrians from the village of Mannsworth. For this feat of arms he was made a colonel on the field, and put in command of the 1st division, which formed the advance-guard of the upper army, then led by Görgey. Here he again distinguished himself by storming the pass of Branitzko, which was defended by General Schlick, one of the ablest of the Austrian generals. This victory, which he obtained with only ten thousand men against twenty-five thousand, made the union of the upper forces and the Theiss army possible. For these services the Hungarian diet decreed that his name should be inscribed on a bronze pillar. He was present with his detachment at the battle of Kapolna (February 26, 1849), where he covered Dembrinski's corps as they retired on the second day of the engagement.
In 1838 Guyon married a daughter of Baron Spleny, a general officer in the imperial service.
