My new book: "Liberty or Death"

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Due Summer 2013

Liberty or Death!

The Life and Campaigns of Richard L. Vowell

British Legionnaire and Commander – Hero and Patriot of the Americas

Maria Páez Victor

ISBN: 978-0-9543115-8-2

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 Simón Bolívar’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, Bolívar 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. Bolívar’s exploits were reported assiduously in the English press, so much so that the Spanish authorities called it ‘a South American mania’.

Bolívar 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.

Crossing the Andes with Bolivar:

Such as have never felt the sensation of extreme thirst, cannot possibly form an idea of the welcome refreshment the first long draught of water affords, although the tepid fluid in these pools would disgust any person who was not really and painfully thirsty. It is, in general, of a greenish colour, swarming with insects, and frequently containing the bodies of horses, and other animals, that have just had strength sufficient to reach the water and die….

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. He took part in the final naval battle that vanquished forever the Spanish Navy in the Americas.

After the wars in Latin America ended, Vowell returned to England and wrote a seminal book on the campaigns in Venezuela, New Grenada and the Pacific Ocean. Though not well known in the English-speaking world, he is considered to be a heroic figure and an insightful historian among Latin American scholars who frequently cite his work.

It is not difficult to find the way; for it is strewed (strewn) with the bones of men and animals that have perished in attempting to cross the Páramos in unfavourable weather. Multitudes of small crosses are fixed in the rocks, by some pious hands, in memory of former travellers who have died here; and along the path are strewed fragments of saddlery, trunks, and various articles that have been abandoned and resemble the traces of a routed army. Huge pinnacles of granite overhang many parts of these passes, apparently tottering, and on the point of overwhelming the daring traveller, while terrific chasms that are appalling to the sight, yawn far beneath, as if to receive him. A sense of extreme loneliness, and remoteness from the world seizes on his mind, and is heightened by the dead silence that prevails; not a sound being heard, but the scream of the condor.

This important first biography is based on extensive research undertaken in three continents. It uncovers information previously unknown about Vowell’s exciting life and daring exploits – from his birth in a genteel English country town, to his campaigns in the far-off Americas, and to his period in the harsh landscape of Australia, where he confronted another empire and was subsequently and unjustly imprisoned on a remote Pacific island.

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.

The Author

Maria Páez Victor is a sociologist, born in Caracas, Venezuela where she obtained her first degree. She has an MA from the University of Kent at Canterbury and a Ph.D. from York University, Canada. She lives in Toronto, and travels regularly to Venezuela and Britain. A life-long enthusiast of Latin American and British history and politics, she participates regularly on Canadian and Venezuelan television, radio, and at public events, and has published numerous articles on recent and historical topics in both English and Spanish. As a curious anecdote, while researching for this book, a remote personal connection surfaced with Richard Vowell, who served under three revolutionary generals who are in the author’s family tree, among them José Antonio Páez, leader of the Llanero cavalry and later President of Venezuela.