Porter lost local support and failed to deceive the blockade

Porter's conduct steadily eroded the protection that neutral Valparaiso offered him. He burned Hector inside protected waters, fired at Phoebe while still within the neutral limit, and planned a night boarding attack that local informants exposed. The Chilean governor became willing to overlook a British attack, but Hillyar declined because violating the harbor would create a damaging precedent and was operationally unnecessary. His local contacts supplied repeated warnings about Porter's intentions. When decoy lights appeared without a visible ship, Hillyar moved to windward and covered the escape route Essex intended to use.