Essex received orders from Elizabeth to return to court, along with a refusal to send reinforcements or a siege train since she haf no desire to carry the main burden of a land war in Portugal. Therefore, it was decided to concentrate on the third aim of the expedition: the establishment of a permanent military base in the Azores. However, the campaign had taken its toll. Drake's forces had initially caught the Spanish authorities off guard, but Spain had now marshalled its defences, and the English expedition's strength was wearing down and suffering increasingly from disease. Two armed merchantmen were caught off Lisbon by nine Spanish galleys, commanded by Alonso de Bazán. One of them, the "William", was saved by "Revenge" after it had abandoned by her crew, but the ship did not have enough manpower aboard to sail away after the battle and so had to be scuttled to prevent her falling into the hands of the Spanish again. The other vessel was engulfed in flames after a fight and sunk, her commander, Captain Minshaw, being lost with the ship. Further damage was sustained after one of three boats carrying the complement of "William's" had been lost with all hands after an attack by the Spanish warships.