Francisco de Miranda

Francisco de Miranda was a Venezuelan revolutionary who is widely considered a precursor to the successful Spanish American wars of independence. He advocated for the liberation of Spain's American colonies long before the successful military campaigns of the early 19th century.

Yes, before returning to South America, Miranda served as a general in the French Revolutionary Army. His service was so distinguished that his name is actually engraved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Miranda led an unsuccessful military expedition to Venezuela in 1806 in an attempt to spark an uprising against Spanish rule. The invasion failed to gain local support, and he was forced to retreat to the Caribbean and Britain.

After eventually returning to Venezuela to help lead the independence movement, Miranda was betrayed by his own allies, including Simón Bolívar, during a royalist attack in 1812. He died in a Spanish prison in Cádiz four years later in 1816.