Conquer or Die!

The true 'Boy's Own' adventure of the British volunteers who survived shipwreck, duels, mutinies, wild animals and malaria to fight with Simon Bolivar, 1815-21.
In the aftermath of Waterloo, over 6,000 British volunteers sailed across the Atlantic to aid Simon Bolivar in his liberation of Gran Columbia from her oppressors in Madrid. The expeditions were plagued with disaster from the start, one ship sank shortly after leaving Portsmouth with the loss of almost 200 lives. Those who reached the New World faced disease, wild animals, mutiny and desertion.
Conditions on campaign were appalling, massacres were commonplace, rations crude, pay infrequent and supplies insufficient. Nevertheless, those who endured made key contributions to Bolivar's success.

Ben Hughes is an ESOL and EFL Lecturer. After graduating from Leeds University in 1997, he spent several years teaching and travelling throughout South America. His passion for the continent and a lifelong interest in the Napoleonic era led him to this project. He now lives in North London with his Colombian wife.

Maps and Battleplans
Dramatis Personae
Preface
Prologue

Part One: RAMBLING BROTHERS O' THE BLADE 1815-1818
Chapter 1 'Flags, Banners, Glory and Riches!'
Chapter 2 'Proceed to Sea, be the Wind and Weather as they Might'
Chapter 3 'A Few Bands of Itinerant Freebooters'

Part Two: INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS 1818-1819
Chapter 4 'The Vast Howling Wilderness'
Chapter 5 'Captain Grant's Prize Clarionet'
Chapter 6 A Nameless Grave
Chapter 7 'A Lock of ... Auburn Hair'
Chapter 8 'General Wilson for Ever!'
Chapter 9 Mr Dewey's Fatal Premonition
Chapter 10 The Second Wave
Chapter 11 'Prisoner to a Horde of Barbarians'
Chapter 12 The Black Rifles' Baptism of Fire
Chapter 13 Fiasco at Portobelo
Part Three: THE TIPPING POINT 1819-1820
Chapter 14 The Paramo of Pisba
Chapter 15 The Return of General English
Chapter 16 The Battle of Vargas
Chapter 17 'A Place Called Boyacá'
Chapter 18 The Siege of Agua Santa
Chapter 19 Santafé de Bogotá
Chapter 20 The Third Wave
Chapter 21 Disaster at Rio de la Hacha
Chapter 22 'I am Going the Way of all Flesh, Sir!'
Chapter 23 'A Dreadful Service' - The British Legion in Maturín
Chapter 24 The Black Rifles Move North
Chapter 25 The Albion March South
Chapter 26 A 'Series of Surreptitious Assaults'
Chapter 27 Mutiny!
Chapter 28 The Eve of Saint Simón
Chapter 29 The Fall of Santa Marta
Part Four: VICTORY!
Chapter 30 The Armistice of Santa Ana and the Battle of Genoy
Chapter 31 Captive!
Chapter 32 The Battle of Carabobo
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index