British Legions

The British Legion (Spanish: Legión británica) or British Legions (Legiones británicas) 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.

Their greatest achievements were at the Boyacá (1819), Carabobo (1821), Pichincha (1822) and Battle of Ayacucho (1824) which secured independence for Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru from Spanish rule respectively.