Early the next morning, Captain Barclay decided the continued occupation of the lighthouse was of marginal value and ordered his men back to the ship. A landing party of 30 sailors from "Amphitrite" and a similar number of U.S. Marines from the protected cruiser under Lieutenant John A. Lejeune came ashore to secure the area while the 60 Fajardan civilians boarded the armed tug for passage to Ponce. The bluejackets closed the lighthouse, left the U.S. flag flying and returned to the ship. In Fajardo, Pino's men tore down the U.S. flags that flew over the harbor Customs House and City Hall, returning to San Juan after verifying that the lighthouse was abandoned. The contingent of about 20 civil guards that had accompanied Pino, were left to maintain order in the town. The Battle of Fajardo was the only time that American forces withdrew from a position during the Puerto Rican Campaign.