Spanish Americans of the early 19th century were eager to institute self-government and open their ports to foreign commerce. During the years 1810-14 two men of outstanding ability appeared in the front ranks of the Republican cause: Simon Bolivar, the greatest of all South American soldiers, and José de San Martin. These two men would achieve the destruction of the southern Spanish American empire as they fought to establish nations shaped and governed 'by Americans, for Americans'.This book details their military campaigns to free South America from the grip of Imperial Spain, including descriptions of their equipment, uniforms, weaponry and enemies.