Simón Bolívar, the vaunted “Libertador” of South America, was in serious trouble. Outflanked on the left by Spanish royalists at Vargas Swamp in New Granada (present-day Colombia), his troops had withdrawn in disorder, threatening Bolívar’s patriot army with collapse. The situation called for immediate action. Without hesitation James Rooke led his battalion of 2nd Rifles in a desperate bayonet charge to drive the menacing enemy from the heights. Fighting the royalists uphill toe to toe, the patriots suffered horrendous losses before additional reserves turned the tide. By the time the firing stopped, Rooke and his second-in-command, Arthur Sandes, were seriously wounded. Losing his shattered left arm to amputation, Rooke died a few days later.
Rooke was no ordinary commander, and his 2nd Rifles no ordinary battalion. They were an element of the British Legions, recruited by Bolívar amid the 1808–33 South American wars of independence to provide the combat experience many of his native troops lacked. The battalion was a hodgepodge of primarily British and Irish veterans of the Napoléonic and North American wars. In time they were joined by Germans and even a scattering of Bengalis, West Indians and Americans. The volunteers ranged from adventurers and mercenaries, to criminals, deserters and scallywags. Many simply absconded with Bolívar’s money. Those who did show up to fight, however, played a key role in the various fights for independence. Some remained in South America to become leaders and heroes in the new republics.
from Spanish rule, Bolívar nevertheless realized his revolutionary army lacked experienced, professional soldiers. Thus in 1817 he made a concerted effort through agents in London to recruit those officers and noncommissioned officers who had found themselves
