The Spanish forces of the Cibao valley were obliged to concentrate in Fort San Luis, at Santiago, where they were besieged by the insurgents. The rebels had possession of three forts which face the Puerto Plata road. They undertook to make a general assault on the fort where the Spanish troops were concentrated. The besieged forces let the enemy's bands come near, and when within musket range opened a tremendous fire of artillery, which, committing great destruction, drove them back in disorder. They, however, tried their luck again, and this time set fire to the houses of the town in different parts and made their attack in the midst of the conflagration. Spanish reinforcements arrived and charged the insurgents, who received them with grapeshot and musketry from the three forts which they held. The insurgents were repulsed and the forts retaken at the point of the bayonet. The garrison of Santiago abandoned the city and marched to Puerto Plata, the main northern port, attacked by Dominicans all the way. The Spaniards reportedly lost 1,300 men. They joined the garrison in the fort at Puerto Plata, leaving the city to be pillaged by the rebels. Eventually, 600 Spanish sallied out and drove off the rebels, with help from the cannon of the fort, but by then the city had been plundered and burnt almost out of existence. The damage to Santiago and Puerto Plata was estimated at $5,000,000. By mid-November, virtually the whole garrisons of Cuba and Puerto Rico were deployed on Santo Domingo and 8,000 troops had been sent from Europe, diverted from deployment in Morocco. The Spanish navy had complete command of the sea and used a fleet of paddle wheel steamers to transport troops to, and around, the island.