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. 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.
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 from which he made a dramatic escape. 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.