left such a filthy stench among the Spaniards that a whole age will hardly blot it out." These excesses ended any hope that the local population would desert Philip V and join with the Allies, and were a boost to Bourbon propaganda. Rooke himself reported that, "the inhumane plundering of Port Saint Mary made a great noise here by sea and land, and will do so throughout Christendom." Re-embarkation The immediate effects of the looting were detrimental to the expedition; the army thought mainly of taking their spoils home and, according to David Francis, lost their combative spirit. For their part, the navy feared for the ships anchored off a lee shore, which in bad weather was dangerous. Nevertheless, the army's long march from the landing place to their objective required assistance from the men in Rooke's fleet. Crew members built bridges, cut fascines, dug trenches, fetched and carried, but, due to sickness, there was never enough labour available. Rooke was eventually obliged to limit these onerous demands on his sailors, declaring that "such slavish labour was not for seamen." The admiral may have had no choice, but it was a blow to army–navy relations. After the occupation of Port Saint Mary the advance lost momentum. The marshy coast as far as Port Royal was occupied, and the English generals became more recalcitrant. However, Baron Sparr insisted on attacking Fort Matagorda situated on the Puntales (a sandy spit near the entrance to the inner harbour), thus enabling the entry of Rooke's fleet into the anchorage, before destroying the enemy ships within. With 600 Dutch and 1,600 English troops, the Allies made a causeway across the deep sand and brought a battery close to the stronghold, but they now found themselves within range of the Franco-Spanish ships anchored behind the boom – commanded by Conde de Fernan Núñez – and in a vulnerable position; they were also subject to attack from the galleys which still lurked outside the harbour. Villadarias, meanwhile, continued to harass detached Allied parties and cut off their communications; by a sudden attack he also recaptured Rota whose garrison commander, the former governor, was condemned to death and executed as a traitor. The Allies made little or no progress. Matagorda held out, and after several days Rooke declared that even if the fort was taken, the other stronghold guarding the Puntales entrance would prevent the fleet from navigating