'''James Towers English''' (22 February 1782 – 26 September 1819) was an [[Anglo-Irish]] commander of [[British Legions]] forces in the [[Spanish American wars of independence]].
== Biography == James Towers English was the son of a well-to-do Dublin merchant. He went into business supplying horses to the British Army until his company went bankrupt, then took a job with the army Commissariat as a clerk.<ref name=SILAS> {{cite web |url=http://www.irlandeses.org/dilab_englishjt.htm |title=Dictionary of Irish Latin American Biography - English, James Towers |publisher=Society for Irish Latin American Studies |accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref> In May 1817 he met [[:es:Luis López Méndez|Luis López Méndez]], the representative of [[Simon Bolívar]] in London. Claiming to have been a cavalry lieutenant, he was made a captain in the '1st Venezuelan Hussars' and sailed for South America in December 1817. He fought with distinction at the battle of [[Ortiz, Guárico|Ortiz]] on 26 March 1818, and was promoted to full colonel and appointed second-in-command of the British Guard of Honor led by [[James Rooke (British Army officer, born 1770)|James Rooke]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ifbt.co.uk/bolivar.htm |title=Bolivar's British Legion |publisher=Ian Fletcher Battlefield Tours |accessdate=2009-05-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120015408/http://www.ifbt.co.uk/bolivar.htm |archivedate=November 20, 2008 }} </ref>
In May 1818, he signed a contract with the Patriot government to recruit and equip a British force of 1,000 men, in return for which he was promised £50 per head and a General's commission. By painting a rosy picture of pay and conditions in South America, he succeeded in recruiting between 1,000 and 2,000 mercenaries, who sailed during the following months. English returned to Venezuela and landed on Margarita Island in mid-April, 1819 where he was confirmed in the rank of Brigadier General and was given command of all the foreign mercenaries, as subordinate to Venezuelan General [[Rafael Urdaneta]].<ref> {{cite book |title=The Armies of Bolivar and San Martin |author=Terry Hooker, Ron Poulter |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=1991 |page=7ff |ISBN=1-85532-128-9}} </ref>
In July 1819 he participated in storming the fortress of El Morro, which guarded the city [[Barcelona, Anzoátegui|Barcelona]]. His troops looted the city, drank all the alcohol they could find and devastated their section of the town. On August 7 1819 Urdaneta's army attempted to storm [[Maturín]] but failed after grievous losses in their assault against Fort Agua Santa, while General English remained in the rear pleading sickness.<ref name=SILAS/> With his authority destroyed, English was replaced as leader of the British Legion by Colonel [[John Blossett]]. English retired to [[Margarita Island]] where he died of illness on 26 September 1819 and is buried in a cemetery overlooking Juan Griego Bay.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} His wife, Mary, remained in Colombia and married the English trader William Greenup.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://redmuseo.javeriana.edu.co/inbox/files/docs/cartadepetra07.pdf |title=Carta de Petra Vergara Santander a su esposa Santiago Fraser |publisher=Museo Nacional de Colombia |language=Spanish |accessdate=2009-05-09 }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} </ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:English, James Towers}} [[Category:1819 deaths]] [[Category:1782 births]] [[Category:People of the Spanish American wars of independence]] [[Category:Venezuelan people of Irish descent]]