The Glorioso, carrying four million silver dollars from the Americas, was able to repel two British attacks off the Azores and Cape Finisterre, successfully landing her cargo at the port of Corcubión, Spain.

Several days after unloading the cargo, while sailing to Cadiz for repairs, Glorioso was attacked successively near Cape St Vincent by four British privateer frigates and the ships of the line HMS Dartmouth and HMS Russell from Admiral John Byng's fleet.

Pedro Messía de la Cerda and his men were taken to Great Britain as prisoners of war, but were considered heroes in Spain and gained the admiration of the British.

Arriving with him was the physician and botanist José Celestino Mutis, later head of the royal botanical expedition that investigated the flora and fauna of the colony.

He reorganized the treasury, reinforced the fortifications of Cartagena, and promoted public works, such as the road from Bogotá to Caracas.

He also faced an Indian attack on the town of Coyaima, where the rebels killed some people, burned some buildings and forced the corregidor to flee.

Many of the individuals expelled took up residence in Urbino, Italy, where a number of them, through their writings, supplied European scholars with more information about the Americas.

In 1771 the king approved his request to return to Spain, pending the arrival of his successor, Manuel de Guirior.