After several exchanges of cannonfire, de Canço attacked the enemy ship and captured all 26 sailors aboard. Sailing orders found aboard it revealed that the fleet of 27 ships with 2,500 men aboard, and commanded by John Hawkins and Francis Drake, was sitting in Guadeloupe, preparing its landing boats for an assault on the island of Puerto Rico and its treasure. Alarmed by this revelation, de Canço fired four cannon shots to alert one of his boats, which was in pursuit of another English ship, to go as soon as possible to warn Puerto Rico of the danger. Wasting no time, the governor organized the defense of the island, although he had only 400 regular soldiers, 300 seamen on Sancho Pardo's flagship and 500 with de Canço and Guzman, as well as 300 militiamen from the city. These forces were divided and placed at the most strategic points. De Canço was responsible for the El Morro, Santa Elena and Morrill forts, while General Pardo scuttled the damaged galleon at the entrance to the harbor and blocked the channel. On November 22, the English fleet appeared off Point Escambrón where de Canço was at the forefront of the Morrillo artillery. One cannon shot was aimed accurately enough to break the mizzenmast of "Defiance", Drake's flagship, and another of the 28 cannonballs fired by the Spanish gunners crashed into Drake's cabin, splintering the stool he sat on at supper and killing Sir Nicholas Clifford and a young officer. Francis Drake was now the sole head of the English fleet, and ordered his ships to take shelter near Cabras Island to avoid the Spanish bombardment. His men spent much of the next day sounding the waters to find suitable places to land. Their inability to force the blocked harbor and attack San Juan prompted Drake to send 30 boats with 1,500 men that night. Their goal was to burn the five Spanish frigates lying in the harbor, and they set fire to three of them. Two of the fires were quickly extinguished by their crews, but the third frigate was burned, illuminating the four sides of the harbor. De Canço set his plan into motion and shelled the British barges incessantly, first from the Morro, and then from the Santa Elena battery, blowing up several of them. The frigates with their guns and the soldiers with their muskets contributed equally in the battle; that night nine barges were sunk and 400 Englishmen died.