 At Santa Cruz, Lieutenant General Antonio Gutiérrez de Otero y Santayana, who had already twice defeated the British, hastened to prepare a defence following the British raid in April.Forts were rebuilt, field works expanded, and the batteries enlarged by doubling their emplacements to 91, with earth sacks piled around.From the city's soldiers, partisans, local hunters, militia, artillery, and sailors from the French gun-brig "Mutine", which the British had captured in May while most of her crew was ashore, General Gutiérrez scraped together a force of 1,700 men.