Vernon pushes an unsupported assault on San Lázaro

A further council decided to isolate Cartagena by attacking Fort San Lázaro. Vernon questioned Wentworth's courage and pressed him toward the operation, yet said shallow water prevented the fleet from supporting it. His later claim that the Spanish were on the run confused their withdrawal into prepared defenses with collapse. The army consequently prepared to attack a major fort without a surviving engineer qualified to construct breaching batteries. British delay let Lezo finish trenches, clear fields of fire, place about 650 soldiers forward, garrison the fort with another 300, and hold roughly 200 Marines and soldiers in reserve. The chosen landing route also passed through a narrow defile where Spanish troops ambushed the advance before withdrawing.