These were mainly London merchants who, in a grinding war of attrition, were able to roam the coast of the Spanish New World.

[7] In November 1602, at the smuggling outpost of Tortuga off the coast of northern Hispaniola, Newport had teamed up with Captain Michael Geare (another veteran of raiding the Spanish Main) who had teamed up with three French slavers to attack a pair of Spanish galleons expected soon at Puerto Caballos (modern-day Puerto Cortés, Honduras).

[3] The 300- to 350-ton English vessels – Archangel of Geare, Newport's Neptune, and Anthony Hippons in Paul Bayning's ship Phoenix—were joined by Spanish prizes to increase their fleet's size to eight.

[1] In the dark on 17 February the English ships followed by the French slavers reached the port of Puerto Caballos and detached seven boats with 200 men and light artillery.

[1] The casualties on both sides were roughly the same—around 30—but the Spanish had surrendered nearly 200 men, of which the majority consisted of the ships' complements.

The loot was considerable—200 sacks of anil (dye), 3,000 hides, and the artillery of the two captured galleons, together with the miscellaneous goods from the town.

[8] Eventually, both groups departed with San Juan Bautista as their sole prize, Rosario being left behind a stripped and burnt hulk.

Puerto Caballos had been raided a number of times, but after suffering its biggest attack was left devastated and never fully recovered.