 Alonso de Sotomayor had been sent by the Viceroy of Peru to prepare defensive measures on the Camino Real and the Chagres River which would bar any assault Westward.On 6 January 1596 Drake and his men dropped anchor off Nombre de Dios without opposition.From the ships boats they landed near the town but in order to seize it a small fort stood in its way, protected by around hundred militia.