The encounter took place when the British warship, assisted by two armed boats, was searching for Spanish shipping off Punta Gorda, in the mouth of the Uruguay river.

The British naval presence in the River Plate during the invasions of 1806-1807 was permanent since the arrival of Admiral Home Popham forces in June 1806 until January 1808, well after the withdrawal of the officially sanctioned expedition led by General John Whitelocke.

[1] As a countermeasure to the blockade, the Cabildo of Buenos Aires agreed with Liniers that all the merchant shipping, national and foreign, should be redeployed from their moorings at Ensenada, Riachuelo and Balizas to the mouth of the Paraná river.

[4] The legislative body later decided the internment of all foreign ships, particularly French and American, at the port of Las Conchas, north of San Isidro.

One of these privateers was Maltese seaman Juan Bautista Azopardo, commander of the schooner Mosca de Buenos Aires, whose owner was Anselmo Sáenz Valiente, a prominent member of the Cabildo.

The Spanish and creole sailors riddled the apparel and sails with round shot and grape, breaking the main topsail and shooting away the foretopsail braces and the bowsprit.

Dolores fired back with musketry and pistols at the San Antonio, because the low air draught of the falucca prevented Douglas to bear his main guns.

Douglas dropped anchor to prevent drifting towards a sandbar and at dawn, after spotting the Spanish sailing the Paraná river for Buenos Aires, ordered the two boats to chase them, but these were eventually outrun.

[4] After being routed by Denis Pack forces on 7 June 1807 at San Pedro, near Colonia, some 400 milicias under the command of Javier de Elio, including several companies of Patricians, managed to cross the river back and return to Buenos Aires, in time to prepare the defense of the city.