In 1655, an English force led by Admiral Sir William Penn, and General Robert Venables seized the island, and successfully held it against Spanish attempts to retake it over the next few years. The battle of Rio Nuevo was one of these attempts, the other being Ocho Rios the year before. The Spanish were hoping to take back the island for the Spanish crown. The former Spanish governor of Jamaica, Don Cristóbal Arnaldo Isasi, attempted to recapture the island with forces from Cuba in the summer of 1657, but the attack was repulsed by acting governor Colonel Edward D'Oyley.