These Spanish holdouts suffered a major setback in 1825 when the Mexican Army captured the key port city of Veracruz, but Spain continued to launch armed expeditions against Mexico from the nearby island of Cuba.

In early 1828 a squadron of three brigs under the command of Commodore David Porter began to sortie into the gulf, seeking to disrupt Spanish shipping.

Porter succeeded in scattering the Spanish ships, but word of his raid reached the nearby city of Havana;[5] around 5:00 in the afternoon, the heavily armedA frigate Lealtad arrived off of Mariel, and soon began to pursue the Guerrero.

Using its superior size and armament, the Spanish warship began to wear the Mexican vessel down, with Captain Porter and over eighty of Guerrero's crew being killed in action.

Eventually the Mexican brig was forced to surrender, with the ship's crew (including future US admiral David Dixon Porter) being imprisoned in Havana.