and subsequently led to England's first sustained activity in the Americas. In August, England joined the Eighty Years' War on the side of the Dutch Protestant United Provinces, which had declared their independence from Spain. In that same year, the English established their first New World settlement, the short lived Roanoke Colony established by Ralph Lane. The Queen through Francis Walsingham ordered Sir Francis Drake to lead an expedition to attack the Spanish New World in a kind of preemptive strike. Drake sailed in October to the West Indies, and in January 1586 captured and sacked Santo Domingo. The following month they did the same at Cartagena de Indias and in May sailed North to raid St. Augustine in Florida. When Drake arrived in England in July he became a national hero. In Spain however, the news was a disaster and this now further buoyed a Spanish invasion of England by King Philip. Thomas Cavendish meanwhile set out with three ships on 21 July 1586 to raid Spanish settlements in South America. Cavendish raided three Spanish settlements and captured or burned thirteen ships. Among these was a rich 600 ton treasure galleon Santa Ana the biggest treasure haul that ever fell in English hands. Cavendish circumnavigated the globe returning to England on 9 September 1588. Dutch Revolt (1585–1587) Robert Dudley, The Earl of Leicester was sent to the United Provinces in 1585 with a dignitary party and took the offered governorship of the United Provinces. This, however, was met with fury from Elizabeth who had expressed no desire for any sovereignty over the Dutch. An English mercenary army had been present since the beginning of the war and was then under the command of veteran Sir John Norreys. They combined forces but were undermanned and under-financed, and faced one of the most powerful armies in Europe led by the famed Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. During the siege of Grave the following year, Dudley attempted its relief, but the Dutch garrison commander Hadewij van Hemert surrendered the town to the Spanish. Dudley was furious on hearing of Grave's sudden loss and had van Hemert executed, which shocked the Dutch. The English force then had some successes, taking Axel in July and Doesburg the following month. Dudley's poor diplomacy with the Dutch, however, made matters worse. His political base weakened and so too did the military situation. Outside Zutphen an English