James Rooke | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Bust_of_James_Rooke_-_photo_by_Malcolm_McCausland.jpg) A bust of Rooke located in the central plaza of Paipa. | |
| Born | 1770 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | July 28, 1819 Tunja Province, Viceroyalty of New Granada |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Great Britain United Kingdom Venezuela |
| Service | British Army Liberator Army of Venezuela of New Granada |
| Years of service | 1791–1802 1813–1816 1817–1819 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Cavalry Staff Corps |
| Commands | 1st Regiment of Hussars of Venezuela British Legion |
| Battles / wars | |
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.
Born in Dublin to a retired British army general, he joined the British army in 1791 fighting in the French Revolutionary Wars and later joined the Duke of Wellington's allied army in Spain in 1813. Rooke would also participate in the Waterloo.
After the end of the Napoleonic wars he traveled to South America and joined General Simon Bolivar's army in Venezuela where he became the commander of the British Legions during the South American wars of independence fighting in the inconclusive 1818 Center campaign. He took part in the New Granadan Campaign of 1819 when Bolivar invaded from Venezuela in an effort to liberate New Granada from Spanish control.
Rooke was mortally wounded at the Battle of Vargas Swamp on July 25, 1819, when he valiantly led his battalion in an uphill bayonet charge against Spanish forces on Picacho hill, army doctors desperately tried to save him however he died of gangrene 3 days later.
He is remembered today in both Colombia and Venezuela as a hero of the Independence wars.