It was fought between pro-independence Republican revolutionaries led by Francisco Esteban Gómez and Spanish Royalist forces under the command of Pablo Morillo.

[4] The Spanish general Pablo Morillo returned to Venezuela in December 1816, and decided to first take Margarita, then move on to Guayana Province, both important Republican bases.

[4] After some difficulties in collecting supplies and troops, Morillo sailed to Margarita in late June 1817, where he steadily gained control in a hard-fought campaign.

[6] On 24 July 1817 Morillo occupied the San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress at Pampatar, at the southeast tip of the island a few miles from Asunción.

[8] The approach to the town was difficult, however, due to the rugged terrain that the defenders had fortified with redoubts, moats and parapets.

[1] In his later report on the battle, Morillo paid tribute to the stubborn courage of the Republicans, who repelled repeated cavalry charges.

[10] During the course of the fighting, many unarmed men and women from the town joined the defenders, taking up the arms of those who had been killed or wounded.