Battle of Puerto Caballos ( 1603 ) The Battle of Puerto Caballos was a military event during the Anglo – Spanish War to capture the Spanish town and port of Puerto Caballos ( present day Puerto Cortés ) on 17 February 1603 by an English fleet under Christopher Newport and Michael Geare along with the help of French pirates . The English were able to achieve victory after a bitter fight . Two Spanish galleons were captured , one of which was subsequently burned . The Anglo - French consortium occupied the area and after two weeks withdrew with captured booty . Background . With the Anglo - Spanish war still raging , English privateers were causing havoc . These were mainly London merchants who , in a grinding war of attrition , were still able to roam the coast of the Spanish New World . In charge of one of these expeditions was veteran Christopher Newport who had been in the Caribbean since 1602 and had continually returned . He had lost his arm during a successful expedition in 1590 but this did not still stop him from fighting . In November 1602 , at the smuggling outpost of Tortuga at northern Hispaniola , Newport had teamed up with Captain Michael Geare ( another veteran of raiding the Spanish Main ) who himself had teamed up with three French slavers to attack a pair of Spanish galleons expected soon at Puerto Caballos ( modern - day Puerto Cortés , Honduras ) . 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 . Newport had successfully raided Puerto Caballos before in May 1592 , where he captured a 200 ton merchantmen . He knew the area well but the fleet needed supplies badly so they headed for Jamaica . In January , while heading for Puerto Caballos , the English and flotilla successfully raided Jamaica for supplies . Engagement . 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 . They hoped to board the two partially laden Spanish galleons at anchor in the roads rather than destroy them . The galleons were Captain Juan de Monasterios ’ s 600 - ton " Nuestra Señora del Rosario " and Francisco Ferruﬁno ’ s 400 - ton " San Juan Bautista " . These were the flagship and vice flagship of the flota of New Spain . At almost sunrise the attackers rowed towards the galleons hoping to use surprise , but it was not to be . Warning shots were fired , but soon the English and French boarded both the galleons . The Spanish put up a stout resistance and managed to repel the attackers for a number of hours , but Newport ' s " Neptune " and Geare ' s " Archangel " soon came and used their cannons to full effect in support of the attack . Both sides were near exhaustion but the English finally took the " Nuestra Señora del Rosario " . With that the " San Juan Bautista " , seeing the position was hopeless , surrendered not long after . In order to prevent a Spanish counterattack Newport immediately ordered an attack on the port itself . After a short fight the Spanish soon fled the town and after nearly eight hours the battle was over . 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 . Occupation . The triumphant English and French then looted the vessels and buildings ashore for the next eighteen days as well as the two galleons they seized from two merchant vessels . 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 . The " Rosario " was considerably damaged from the battering it had suffered from " Nepture " and " Archangel " in supporting the final attack . Newport decided to burn her as she was too damaged to be towed away , leaving the prize goods to be carried in the " Bautista " . There were arguments between the English and the French during their occupation of the town , not to do with the spoils but with regards to the Spanish prisoners . Spanish eyewitnesses later declare that the French wished to kill them all , with the English refusing to do so . Newport remained defiant . The English got their way and spared the prisoners , but it did not stop the French from killing a number . In the last days of occupation Newport set them free a number at a time and also made ransoms . Aftermath . Eventually , both groups departed with " San Juan Bautista " as their sole prize , " Rosario " being left behind a stripped and burnt hulk . The French headed back to Hispaniola while the English steered downwind towards Cuba . Puerto Caballos had been raided a number of times , but after suffering its biggest attack was left devastated and never fully recovered . Geare and Newport stayed in the Caribbean until May and took a number of Spanish prizes near Havana . In that same month they safely sailed back to England . Newport used the money from the prizes he had captured to help set up the Virginia Company ; he would return to the Americas again not to pillage but to lead ( with John Smith , John Rolfe and George Somers ) in the foundation of the first permanent English colony of Jamestown .