Rooke left the British army in 1816 and made a trip to
St. Kitts in the
Caribbean to visit his sister Eleanor, who was wife of Thomas Probyn, the Governor of the colony.
Venezuela In September 1817, Rooke sailed to Angostura (now
Ciudad Bolívar) in
Venezuela and enrolled in General Simón Bolivar's Liberator army , that was fighting for Venezuelan independence from Spain. Rooke was given the rank of lieutenant colonel, and organized and commanded an Anglo-Venezuelan unit, the 1st Regiment of Hussars of Venezuela. With this unit, he fought in several battles during the inconclusive Venezuelan campaign of 1818 and was wounded twice. In March 1819, Bolívar consolidated most of his foreign volunteers into a brigade of 250 men, named the British Legion, and appointed Rooke as its commander. He was also promoted to the rank of Colonel.
New Granada Campaign of 1819 In a bold attempt to break the stalemate with the
Spanish forces, Bolivar decided to move west, ascend the
Andes and seize the high ground to
liberate New Granada. The march began in the height of the rainy season with Bolivar marching from the plains of Venezuela in early May 1819 later reaching
Tame in the eastern plains of
Casanare in
New Granada to join with the other portion of the army that had been raised there by Brigadier General
Francisco de Paula Santander. Bolivar's army arrived on June 15, 1819, he would spend the next few days organizing the army. At Tame, Rooke's British Legion was composed 200 men with Sergeant Major John Mackintosh as his second in command, the Legion was part of the 2nd Regiment of Brigadier General
José Antonio Anzoátegui's rearguard division marching at the very back of the army. The army soon left Tame for the Eastern Andes, since the early hours had a more tolerable climate troops were awaken around 4am and formed up by 4:30am and marching by 5am. During the crossing the Andes through the Paramo Pisba, the rest of the army would cross between the days of July 1 to the 6 taking many losses, the British Legion would not cross until July 13 to 14, the crossing was gruelling and the entire army had lost around 300 men en route, of whom 60 were from the British Legion. After their difficult crossing, the Legion rested at the town of
Socha and would rejoin the army by July 22 at Bonza where their presence was greatly needed. At his camp in Bonza, Bolivar planned to cross the
Chicamocha River in order to reach the provincial capital of Tunja which would allow his army to cut off the Royalist Army's and Supply and communication lines to the viceregal capital of
Santa Fe. On July 25, 1819, he crossed the river, and was blocked by Royalists while on the
Tibasosa to
Paipa road which resulted in he
Battle of Vargas Swamp, near the town of Paipa. In the initial stages of the battle, the British Legion was kept in the reserve, however as the
Cazadores battalion of the Vanguard division under the command of General
Francisco de Paula Santander were pushed back by the Spanish 1st Rey Battalion who occupied Picacho Hill, Bolívar ordered the British Legion into the battle to support them. It would be here where Rooke fought with distinction, as he led his legion in a bayonet charge storming uphill against the Spanish defences. During this action both Rooke and
Daniel Florence O'Leary were wounded, with Rooke's being of grave concern which led to the amputation of his left arm. However his efforts were vital in contributing to the Patriot victory which was finally achieved after 5 hours of gruelling combat which saw both sides taking heavy losses. == Death and legacy ==