The British Legion or British Legions were foreign volunteer

Foreign volunteers

The armed forces of many nations have, at one time or another, used foreign volunteers who are motivated by political, ideological or other considerations to join a foreign army. These may be formed into units of a given nationality or may be formed into mixed nationality foreign units. Sometimes...

 units that fought under Simón Bolívar against Spain for the independence of Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, and Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. The Venezuelans called them the Albion Legion

Albion

Albion is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. Today, it is still sometimes used poetically to refer to the island or England in particular. It is also the basis of the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba...

. They were composed of over seven thousand volunteers, mainly Napoleonic War

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 veterans from Great Britain and Ireland, as well as some German veterans and some locals recruited after arriving in South America. Volunteers in the British Legion were motivated by a combination of both genuine political and mercenary

Mercenary

A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...

 motives.

Their greatest achievements were at Boyacá

Battle of Boyacá

The Battle of Boyacá in Colombia, then known as New Granada, was the battle in which Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years....

 (1819), Carabobo

Battle of Carabobo

The Battle of Carabobo, 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Simón Bolívar, and the Royalist forces, led by Spanish Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre. Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo led to the independence of Venezuela....

 (1821), and Pichincha

Battle of Pichincha

The Battle of Pichincha took place on 24 May 1822, on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, 3,500 meters above sea-level, right next to the city of Quito, in modern Ecuador....

 (1822), which secured independence for Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, and during the last great campaign, culminating in the Battle of Ayacucho

Battle of Ayacucho

The Battle of Ayacucho was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. It was the battle that sealed the independence of Peru, as well as the victory that ensured independence for the rest of South America...

 in Peru (1824), which destroyed Spanish rule in South America forever. The British Legions fought until the end of the wars, their number much depleted.

Background

In March 1819, Bolivar combined most of his foreign volunteers into a brigade of 250 men named the British Legions, with James Rooke

James Rooke

James Rooke was a British career soldier in the Napoleonic wars. He became commander under Simon Bolivar of the British Legions during the South American wars of independence....

 as commander. The British Legions consisted of the 1st British Legion led by Colonel James Towers English

James Towers English

James Towers English was an Irish commander of British Legions forces in the South American wars of independence....

, the 2nd British Legion led by Colonel John Blossett

John Blossett

Colonel John Blossett was a British soldier who led the second British Legionto aid Simon Bolivar in the wars of independence against Spain.Born in Ireland, the great-grandson of Huguenot Brigadier-General Salomon Blosset de Loche who had assisted William of Orange in the taking of the British...

, and the Irish Legion, led by Colonel William Aylmer

William Aylmer

William Aylmer from Painstown, County Kildare, Ireland was a leader of the United Irishmen in the 1798 Rebellion against the British government. At the Battle of Ovidstown on 19 June 1798 he led a fierce battle against superior forces in which 200 insurgents died. Aylmer retreated into the...

 (1772–1820).

The British Legions were an important part of Bolívar's army. They played a pivotal role in the Vargas Swamp Battle

Vargas Swamp Battle

Vargas Swamp Battle was an armed conflict that occurred near Paipa, on July 25, 1819. The joint Venezuelan and Neogranadan army commanded by Simón Bolívar was trying to prevent the Spanish forces from arriving at Santafe de Bogotá, which was lightly defended, before they did...

 on July 25, 1819, and Bolivar credited them with the victory at the subsequent Battle of Boyacá

Battle of Boyacá

The Battle of Boyacá in Colombia, then known as New Granada, was the battle in which Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years....

 on August 7, 1819, saying "those soldier-liberators are the men who deserve these laurels." At the victory at Carabobo

Battle of Carabobo

The Battle of Carabobo, 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Simón Bolívar, and the Royalist forces, led by Spanish Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre. Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo led to the independence of Venezuela....

 Bolívar describing them as "the saviours of my country". Nonetheless, they have been largely forgotten in the countries in which they fought: Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador and Peru.

Motivation

The motivations of volunteers for the British Legions were mixed. Many Britons were still concerned by the threat that Spain, as a restored world power, potentially posed to Britain. Despite Spain and Britain having been allies in the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

 just a few years before, many Britons' image of the Spanish in America was influenced by the now-disputed Black Legend

Black Legend

The Black Legend refers to a style of historical writing that demonizes Spain and in particular the Spanish Empire in a politically motivated attempt to morally disqualify Spain and its people, and to incite animosity against Spanish rule...

. Volunteers were also motivated by the liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 propaganda of Bolívar's supporters that portrayed the war as bringing freedom and rights to people under Spanish tyranny. For these reasons, particularly the former, the recruiting of British volunteers received tacit government support, even if in principle the British Crown discontinued its support to the insurgents after the Congress of Vienna

Congress of Vienna

The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...

 in 1814.

However mercenary

Mercenary

A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...

 interests also played a large part in motivating potential recruits, who were often unemployed, and who perceived South America as a land of immense wealth of which they would be able to have a share. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars the British Empire no longer required a large standing army. In April, 1817, The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

calculated that there were 500,000 ex-soldiers in a British population of 25 million. After a quarter-century of Continental wars—both the wars against Revolutionary France

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 and the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

—these men had no other employment history or trade and, therefore, often found themselves in poverty. South America's wars of independence provided many of them with an opportunity to continue their military careers and escape from the prospect of inactivity and poverty at home.

See also

• Spanish American wars of independence
• Latin American wars of independence
• James Towers English
  James Towers English
  James Towers English was an Irish commander of British Legions forces in the South American wars of independence....
  
  
• John Blossett
  John Blossett
  Colonel John Blossett was a British soldier who led the second British Legionto aid Simon Bolivar in the wars of independence against Spain.Born in Ireland, the great-grandson of Huguenot Brigadier-General Salomon Blosset de Loche who had assisted William of Orange in the taking of the British...
  
  

Further reading

• Brown, Matthew. Adventuring through Spanish Colonies: Simón Bolívar, Foreign Mercenaries and the Birth of New Nations (Liverpool University Press, 2006). ISBN 184631044X
• Hasbrouck, Alfred. Foreign Legionnaires in the Liberation of Spanish South America (Columbia University Press: New York, 1928; and New York: Octagon Books, 1969).
• Hughes, Ben, Conquer or Die!: British Volunteers in Bolivar's War of Extermination 1817-21 Osprey (2010) ISBN: - 1849081832
• Lambert, Eric. Voluntarios británicos e irlandeses en la gesta bolivariana, 3 vols. (Caracas: Ministerio de Defensa, 1980 and 1993).
• Rodríguez, Moises Enrique. Freedom's Mercenaries: British Volunteers in the Wars of Independence of Latin America, 2 vols. (Lanham MD: Hamilton Books, University Press of America, 2006). ISBN 9780761834380

External links

• Ian Fletcher. Bolivar's British Legion (1999).
• Lino Duarte Level. "El motín de la Legión Británica" (The Mutiny of the British Legion) from Historia patria. Caracas, H. Pérez Marchelli, 1995. ISBN 9789800726075
• Moises Enrique Rodríguez. "English, James Towers (1782-1819)" in "Irish Migration Studies in Latin America" (2007).