This is, firstly, the story of Richard Longfield Vowell, an audacious and intrepid young English adventurer who abandoned his studies at Oxford in 1817 to fight against the Spanish Empire that had ruled Latin America for 300 years. It is also the story of the little known British Legion, formed of English and Irish volunteers, which became an integral part of Simon Bolivar's patriot army. The British Legion played a crucial role in training the patriot forces to face Spanish troops battle-hardened in the Peninsular Wars. With the words 'Liberty or Death!' emblazoned on a black banner, Bolivar set out to liberate Venezuela, and indeed, South America. For the bold and the idealistic, his quest was the stuff of dreams, and in England there had never before been such intense interest in the destiny of the Spanish colonies. Bolivar's exploits were reported assiduously in the English press, so much so that the Spanish authorities called it 'a South American mania.' Bolivar lacked a modern army and with England awash with officers and soldiers demobilized from the Peninsular Wars, he took the opportunity to obtain campaign-seasoned fighting men. So it was that in distant Venezuela, Vowell and fewer than 2,000 other British volunteers, distinguished themselves in battle. In Chile too there was a desperate need for a navy to counter Spanish warships and so Bernardo O'Higgins sought British officers to help form the celebrated First Chilean Squadron. Richard Vowell was recruited by the British naval hero, Admiral Lord Thomas Cochrane, to sail with the Chilean Squadron, and he became Commander of the Infantry Marines. SELLING POINTS: ? This absorbing account sheds light on a lost but fascinating episode of British endeavour and valour and its contribution to the shaping of the modern Americas. Illustrations and maps
