José and Francisco Díaz

They were both Sergeants in the Toa Alta Militia, and with their unit were sent to defend San Juan upon the attempted invasion of the island by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.

[1] On February 17, 1797, the appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Brigadier Ramón de Castro, received the news that the British had captured the island of Trinidad.

Believing that Puerto Rico would be the next British objective, he decided to put the local militia on alert and to prepare the island's forts against any military action.

[2] On April 17, 1797, British ships under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby were unable to penetrate the defenses of "El Morro" and opted to make their attack from the coastal town of Loíza, to the east of San Juan.

At daybreak they set out in pirogues (a small, flat-bottomed boat), supported by two gunboats, passing down the San Antonio Channel and landed close to the enemy trenches and batteries.

[2][3] Unable to penetrate the firepower of El Morro and the other fortresses, the British twice tried to take the Martín Peña Bridge, a key passage to the San Juan islet.

The right small shield with the star and eight rays, represent Francisco Díaz and his cousin José, who gave his life in the defense of the Martín Peña bridge.