The island, claimed by Spain since Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, lies a few hundred miles east of Puerto Rico.

The Dutch Republic had been fighting Spain for its independence since the outbreak of the Eighty Years War in 1568, a conflict which extended into the Spanish Americas.

[1] Cadreita sent an emissary ashore from the Spanish flagship Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu, to demand the garrison's surrender but although courteously received, their commander van Campen rejected the offer.

However, van Campen was also injured in the assault and asked for terms of surrender the next day; Cadreita ignored orders to put the garrison to the sword and agreed to take them to the nearest Dutch possession.

[6] Cadreita occupied the fortress the next day, strengthening its defenses by adding four 24-pounders, four 18-pound demi-culverins, and five 12-to ten-pounders to its armament, plus a permanent garrison of 250 Spanish soldiers and 50 auxiliaries under Captain Cebrián de Lizarazu.