Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile (1817–1823), he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder of this title to head a fully independent Chilean state.
The Venezuelan War of Independence was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in South America fought a civil war for secession and against unity of the Spanish Empire, emboldened by Spain's troubles in the Napoleonic Wars.
Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada also known as the Liberation Campaign of 1819 was part of the Colombian and Venezuelan wars of independence and was one of the many military campaigns fought by Simón Bolívar. In 1819 Bolívar led a combined New Granadan and Venezuelan Army in a campaign to liberate New Granada which had been under Spanish control since 1816.
The Battle of Boyacá (1819), also known as the Battle of Boyacá Bridge was a decisive victory by a combined army of Venezuelan and New Granadan troops along with a British Legion led by General Simon Bolivar over the III Division of the Spanish Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme commanded by Spanish Colonel José Barreiro. This victory ensured the success of Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada. The battle of Boyaca is considered the beginning of the independence of the north of South America, and is considered important because it led to the victories of the battle of Carabobo in Venezuela, Pichincha in Ecuador, and Junín and Ayacucho in Peru. New Granada acquired its definitive independence from the Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years.
The Battle of Carabobo, on 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Venezuelan General 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 and establishment of the Republic of Gran Colombia.
The Battle of Ayacucho was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of belligerent South American states. In Peru it is considered the end of the Spanish American wars of independence in this country, although the campaign of Antonio José de Sucre continued through 1825 in Upper Peru and the siege of the fortresses Chiloé and Callao eventually ended in 1826.
Ethel Lavenu was a British stage actress. She was the mother of stage and silent screen actor Tyrone Power, Sr., and grandmother of the Hollywood film star Tyrone Power.
The Ecuadorian War of Independence, part of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early 19th century, was fought from 1809 to 1822 between Spain and several South American armies over control of the Real Audiencia of Quito, a Spanish colonial jurisdiction which later became the modern Republic of Ecuador. The war ended with the defeat of the Spanish forces at the Battle of Pichincha on May 24, 1822, which brought about the independence of all the lands of the Real Audiencia of Quito.
Lewis Henry Lavenu (1818–1859) was an English composer, conductor, musician and impresario.
The Admirable Campaign was a military action led by Simón Bolívar in which the provinces of Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo and Caracas were conquered by the Patriots. Its objective was to free Venezuela from Spanish control, which was accomplished in conjunction with Santiago Mariño's simultaneous campaign in the east.
Santiago Mariño Carige Fitzgerald, was a nineteenth-century Venezuelan revolutionary leader and hero in the Venezuelan War of Independence (1811–1823). He became an important leader of eastern Venezuela and for a short while in 1835 seized power over the new state of Venezuela.
The Irish military diaspora refers to the many people of either Irish birth or extraction who have served in overseas military forces, regardless of rank, duration of service, or success.
Brigadier-General Salomon de Blosset, Seigneur de Loche was a Huguenot army officer.
Captain Hector François Chataigner de Cramahé, Chevalier, Seigneur de Cramahé et des Rochers was a Huguenot officer who assisted William of Orange in the taking of the English throne.
The British Legion or British Legions were foreign volunteer units which fought under Simón Bolívar against Spain for the independence of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, and under José de San Martín for the independence of Peru, in the Spanish American wars of independence. Venezuelans generally called them the Albion Legion. They were composed of over seven thousand volunteers, mainly Napoleonic War 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 conviction and mercenary motives.
James Towers English was an Anglo-Irish commander of British Legions forces in the Spanish American wars of independence.
James Rooke (1770–1819) also known as Jaime Rooke or Jaime Rook was a British career soldier who fought in the Napoleonic wars and in the Venezuelan and Colombian wars of Independence.
Mariano Montilla was a major general of the Army of Venezuela in the Venezuelan War of Independence.
United Kingdom–Venezuela relations are the bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and Venezuela since 1817 when so-called "British Legions" of former British soldiers fought to defend the Third Republic of Venezuela against Spanish royalists in the Venezuelan War of Independence.
Thomas Charles Wright (1799–1868) was an Irish-born naval admiral. He was the founding-father of the Ecuadorian Navy, and a general in Simón Bolívar's army. He is regarded as a leading militarist in Ecuador's and other South American countries' struggle for independence.
