The Preston–Somers expedition, or the Capture of Caracas, was a series of military actions that took place from late May until the end of July 1595 during the Anglo-Spanish War.

[7] After failing to meet, the expedition went on their own venture along the coast of the Spanish Province of Venezuela and captured the fort at La Guaira before they headed south, inland.

[2] After making an arduous trek through the mountains the English were able to outmanoeuvre the waiting Spanish force and captured the colonial city of Caracas.

[11][12] England's war with Spain had been going on for nearly ten years; Spanish colonies, warships, and merchants were subject to attacks by English privateers.

[12] In 1595 one such expedition was that of Amyas Preston and George Sommers with their privateer ships Ascension, Gift, Julian and Darling (owned by Sir Walter Raleigh), Angel, and a pinnace called Delight.

[13] The expedition's purpose was to cooperate with Raleigh's work of exploration in the same year at Trinidad and Guiana in the hope of finding El Dorado, as well as to commit to amphibious descents throughout the Spanish Main with them.

Somers first sailed into the public eye when, heading toward Spain in command of the Flibcote, and in the company of three other vessels, he brought home Spanish prizes worth more than £8,000.

[16] As a test for training the soldiers, they disembarked and attacked the Portuguese settlement at Porto Santo, on the island of the same name in the Madeira archipelago, and successfully plundered small villages.

[17] They explored nearby Coche Island the next day and captured a Spanish caravel and a few pearl fishermen who had come from Puerto Rico, which turned out be valuable.

[17] For the English, getting to Caracas was a huge challenge as it was built on a high plain, at an altitude of 2,500 to 3,000 feet (800 to 900 m), six miles (10 km) inland within a valley protected by the mountains of El Ávila which is located along the central stretch of the Venezuelan Coastal Range with a summit elevation on the road at Pico Naiguata of 9,072 ft (2,765 m ) and a topographic isolation of 8,054 ft (2,455 m) above sea level.

[19] So admired for his courageous effort, Preston ordered that De Ledesma be carried on his shield and receive a hero's honour before being buried.

[12] A ransom of 4,000 ducats was offered to spare the remains of the town, but Preston and Somers soon received intelligence from Indians that the Spanish had sent for help and were delaying the negotiations until reinforcements could arrive.

[5][15] Preston and Somers were furious as the Spanish had gone against their honour of a parley, and as a consequence in the morning they burned Caracas and some surrounding settlements to the ground.

[22] Somers led a boat party that captured three anchored Spanish vessels and secured some of the booty from them before setting fire to them.

[17] The town was entered with virtually no resistance, but it was too small to make a ransom and the English departed further west, this time to Santa Ana de Coro.

Preston led his formation there and ferried all his troops ashore by 11 p.m.[4] Their target was the town of Coro, which was established at the south end of the Paraguaná Peninsula in a coastal plain, flanked by the sandy Médanos Isthmus.

[11] Somers stayed behind with fifty men to secure the anchorage, but the Spanish were soon aware of his force and hastily marshalled militia to impede them.

[24] The English held the town, but its buildings had stood empty as the residents along with de Riberos had received ample warning of the advance and fled inland with their valuables.

[24] When the formation resumed its cruise on 8 July, Preston's Ascension and Somers's Gift were the only ones left when the other ships decided to depart for home.

[5] They reached Cabo Corrientes, Cuba by the 22nd, and there they decided to impose a short blockade off Havana in an attempt to take a few small prizes.

In 1607, both Preston and Somers reunited, in a way, to become involved in the foundation of the Colony of Virginia: specifically Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, on the banks of the James River.