![Richard Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Richard_Church.png)
Sir Richard Church (; 23 February 1784 – 20 March 1873)
[For the date of death see relevant Section of the article explaining the discrepancy of sources] was a military officer in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and commander of the Greek forces during the last stages of the
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
after 1827. After Greek independence, he became a general in the
Hellenic Army
The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...
and a member of the
Greek Senate
The Greek Senate ( el, Γερουσία, ''Gerousia'') was the upper chamber of the parliament in Greece, extant several times in the country's history.
Local senates during the War of Independence
During the early stages of the Greek War of I ...
.
Early life and career
He was the second son of Matthew Church, a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
merchant in the North Mall area of
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
, Ireland, and Anne Dearman, originally from Braithwaith,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, England. At the age of 16, he ran away from home and enlisted in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. For this violation of its principles he was disowned by the
Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
, but his father bought him a commission, dated 3 July 1800, in the
13th (Somersetshire) Light Infantry. He served in the demonstration against
Ferrol, and in the expedition to Egypt under
Sir Ralph Abercromby
Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ire ...
in 1801, where he took part in the
Battle of Abukir and the taking of Alexandria. After the expulsion of the French from Egypt he returned home, but came back to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
in 1805 among the troops sent to defend the island of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. He accompanied the expedition which landed in
Calabria
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, and fought a successful battle against the French at the
Battle of Maida
The Battle of Maida, fought on 4 July 1806 was a battle between the British expeditionary force and a French force outside the town of Maida in Calabria, Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuart led 5,236 Anglo-Sicilian troops to victory ...
on 4 July 1806. Church was present on this occasion as captain of a recently raised company of
Royal Corsican Rangers
The Royal Corsican Rangers was a unit of the British Army, composed mainly of Émigrés, which served during the later part of the French Revolutionary Wars and throughout the Napoleonic Wars.
First embodiment
In 1794, the Corsicans under Pasqu ...
. His zeal attracted the notice of his superiors, and he had begun to show his capacity for managing and drilling foreign levies. His Corsicans formed part of the garrison of
Capri
Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...
from October 1806 till the island was taken by an expedition directed against it by
Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...
, in September 1808, at the very beginning of his reign as king of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
. Church, who had distinguished himself in the defence, returned to
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
after the capitulation.
![Richard Church Greek Light Infantry of the Duke of York 1813 by Denis Dighton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Richard_Church_Greek_Light_Infantry_of_the_Duke_of_York_1813_by_Denis_Dighton.jpg)
In the summer of 1809 he sailed with the expedition sent to occupy the
French-occupied Ionian Islands. Here he increased the reputation he had already gained by forming a Greek regiment in British pay.
On 9 September 1809 he took the position of Major in the
1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry
The 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry (1810–12) was a light infantry regiment, founded as a ''local establishment'' in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British service consisting mostly of Greek and Albanian enlisted men and Greek and ...
. On 19 November 1812 he became Lieutenant-Colonel of the unit, by then renamed The Duke of York's Greek Light Infantry Regiment (1811 – 24 February 1816).
Having got the experience of managing foreign troops, he commanded the regiments made up from Greeks he recruited himself in 1813, when he formed a second regiment composed of 454 Greeks (
2nd Regiment Greek Light Infantry) to occupy Paxoi islands. These regiments included many of the men who were afterwards among the leaders of the Greeks in the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List of o ...
including
Theodoros Kolokotronis
Theodoros Kolokotronis ( el, Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης; 3 April 1770 – 4 February 1843) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. Kolokotronis's g ...
, with whom he kept a friendship and correspondence. Church commanded this regiment at the taking of the island of
Santa Maura
Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of ...
(Lefkada), on which occasion his left arm was shattered by a bullet.
During his slow recovery he travelled in northern Greece, in
Macedonia, and to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. In the years of the fall of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
(1813 and 1814) he was present as British military representative with the Austrian troops until the campaign which terminated in the expulsion of
Murat Murat may refer to:
Places Australia
* Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia
* Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area
France
* Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier
* Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal
Elsewhe ...
from
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
. He drew up a report on the Ionian Islands for the
congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
, in which he argued in support, not only of the retention of the islands under the British flag, but of the permanent occupation by Britain of
Parga
Parga ( el, Πάργα ) is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the regional unit of Preveza in Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on the Ionian coast between the ...
and of other formerly Venetian coastal towns on the mainland, then in the possession of
Ali Pasha of Yanina
Ali Pasha of Ioannina (1740 – 24 January 1822), was an Albanians, Albanian ruler who served as pasha of a large part of western Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territories, which was referred to as the Pashalik of Yanina. His court was i ...
. The peace and the disbanding of his Greek regiment left him without employment, though his reputation was high at the war office, and his services were recognized by the grant of a
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Companion may refer to:
Relationships Currently
* Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance
* A domestic partner, akin to a spouse
* Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach
* Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...
.
In 1817, he entered the service of
King Ferdinand of Naples
Ferdinand I (12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand I ...
as lieutenant-general, with a commission to suppress the brigandage then rampant in
Apulia
it, Pugliese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographic ...
. Ample powers were given him, and he attained a full measure of success. In 1820 he was appointed governor of
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
and commander-in-chief of the troops in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. The revolution which broke out in that year led to the termination of his services in Naples. He escaped from violence in Sicily with some difficulty. At Naples he was imprisoned and put on his trial by the government, but was acquitted and released in January 1821; and
King George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
conferred on him a
Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...
in 1822.
He was further promoted to Knight Grand Cross by
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
in 1837.
Role in the Greek War of Independence
The rising of the Greeks against the
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...
, which began at this time, had his full sympathy from the first. But for some years he had to act only as the friend of the insurgents in England. In 1827 he took the honourable but unfortunate step of accepting the commandership-in-chief of the Greek army. At the point of anarchy and indiscipline to which they had now fallen, the Greeks could no longer form an efficient army, and could look for salvation only to foreign intervention. Sir Richard Church, who landed in March, was sworn ''archistrategos'' on 15 April 1827. But he could not secure loyal co-operation or obedience. The rout of his army in an attempt to relieve the
acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, then besieged by the Ottomans, proved that it was incapable of conducting regular operations. The acropolis capitulated, and Sir Richard turned to partisan warfare in western Greece.
After the Battle of Navarino, and during the
Capodistrias period, he was placed commander-in-chief of the Greek regular forces in Central Greece, together with
Demetrios Ypsilantis
Demetrios Ypsilantis (alternatively spelled Demetrius Ypsilanti; el, Δημήτριος Υψηλάντης, ; ro, Dumitru Ipsilanti; 1793August 16, 1832) was a Greek army officer who served in both the Hellenic Army and the Imperial Russian Ar ...
.
Church, however, surrendered his commission, as a protest against the unfriendly government of Capodistrias, on 25 August 1829. He lived for the rest of his life in Greece.
Role in independent Greece
His activity had beneficial results and led to a rectification in 1832, in a sense favourable to Greece, of the frontier drawn by the Great Powers in the
London Protocol (1830)
The 1830 Protocol of London was a treaty signed between the Kingdom of France, the Russian Empire, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on February 3, 1830. It was the first official, international diplomatic act recognizing Greec ...
(see his ''Observations on an Eligible Line of Frontier for Greece'', London, 1830).
Under King
Otto
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded fro ...
, he occupied senior military positions. On 3 October 1833, he was promoted to lieutenant general in the Hellenic Army, and in January 1835 became commander of the forces in
Continental Greece
Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Greece. In English, the a ...
. On 10 June 1835 he was appointed head of the Secretariat of State for Military Affairs (Army Minister), becoming Inspector-General of the Army on 28 October 1836. In 1844–45 he was a
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
He was promoted to full general—the grade being established for the first time for this purpose in the Hellenic Army—in February 1854, and died at Athens in 1873.
Family
Sir Richard Church married Marie-Anne, daughter of
Sir Robert Wilmot, 2nd Baronet
Sir Robert Wilmot, 2nd Baronet (c. 1752 – 23 July 1834) was the natural son of Sir Robert Wilmot the first baronet of Osmaston Hall, who was the Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
Biography
Robert Wilmot was born the natural son of ...
of Osmaston in Worthing, on 17 Aug 1826
He was the uncle of English churchman and writer
Richard William Church
Richard William Church (25 April 1815 – 6 December 1890) was an English churchman and writer, known latterly as Dean Church. He was a close friend of John Henry Newman and allied with the Tractarian movement. Later he moved from Oxford academi ...
.
Death
![Grave of Sir Richard Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Grave_of_Sir_Richard_Church.jpg)
He died after an illness on Thursday, and he was buried at the
First Cemetery of Athens
The First Cemetery of Athens ( el, Πρώτο Νεκροταφείο Αθηνών, ''Próto Nekrotafeío Athinón'') is the official cemetery of the City of Athens and the first to be built. It opened in 1837 and soon became a prestigious ceme ...
at public expense on .
[''Alitheia'', 9 March 1873](_blank)
(digital page 1122) The funeral took place after a delay in waiting for his nephew, who was expected to come from England.
The funeral service took place in the Anglican Church in Filellinon Street in the presence of King
George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria ( fl. 621–631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dolgoruk ...
and a large numbers of official guests. The funeral monument is at the First Cemetery of Athens, opposite the Church of St. Lazarus, and it has an inscription in English on the front ("Richard Church, General, who having given himself and all he had, to rescue a Christian race from oppression, and to make Greece a nation, lived for her service, and died among her people, rests here in peace and faith") and Greek on the back. On 15 March, the
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
,
Panagiotis Chalkiopoulos, gave the funeral speech in Greek,
while gave a speech in English.
Alitheia, issue 1842, Friday, 16 March 1873
(digital page 1132)
Notes
Sources
References
* Stanley Lane Poole,
Sir Richard Church
' (London, 1890)
* E. M. Church,
Chapters in an Adventurous Life: Sir Richard Church in Italy and Greece
' (Edinburgh, 1895) based on family papers (an Italian version, ''Brigantaggio e societé segrete nelle Fugue'', 1817–28, executed under the direction of Carlo Lacaita, appeared at Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
in 1899).
*''The Manuscripts Correspondence and Papers of Sir Richard Church'', in 29 vols, now in the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
(Add MSS 36543-36571), contain invaluable material for the history of the War of Greek Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
, including a narrative of the war during Church's tenure of the command, which corrects many errors in the published accounts and successfully vindicates Church's reputation against the strictures of Finlay
Finlay is a masculine given name, and also a surname. The given name is represented in Scottish Gaelic as Fionnlagh.
Given name Finlay
*Finlay Mickel, Scottish skier
*Finlay Currie (1878–1968), Scottish actor
*Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby play ...
, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, and other historians of the war (see ''Cam. Mod. Hist.'' x. p. 804).
* Moises Enrique Rodriguez, ''Under the Flags of Freedom: British Mercenaries in the War of the Two Brothers, the First Carlist War, and the Greek War of Independence (1821-1840)'' (Lanham, Maryland, 2009)
Attribution:
*
External link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Richard
1784 births
1873 deaths
19th-century Anglo-Irish people
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Hellenic Army generals
Greek people of Irish descent
People from County Cork
Irish generals
Irish Anglicans
Irish knights
British philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence
Somerset Light Infantry officers
Naturalized citizens of Greece
Members of the Greek Senate
Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens
1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry officers
History of Greece (1832–1862)
British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars