A Scottish fleet composed of thirty ships, with five thousand men, was on its way on October 1627, but is broken up by a storm on the coast of Norfolk.
A strong relief fleet under the Earl of Holland will only depart on November 6, 1627; this will prove to be too late.
The French, despite difficulties, manage to run a supply fleet during the night of October 7-8, with twenty-nine ships managing to make it through the English naval blockade on a total of thirty-five.
From the mainland, four thousand additional troops are landed on the southern end of the island on October 20.
The rescue troops are under the Marshal of France Henri de Schomberg.
Buckingham attempts a last desperate attack on Saint Martin on October 27, but it is a failure.
The Saint Martin fortress again proves to be impregnable, and the English ladders turn out to be too short to scale the fortification walls.
Although there are indications that the Saint Martin French garrison is also close to exhaustion, Buckingham finally retreats with his troops towards the northern part of the island, with the objective of embarking at the area of Loix.
He is harassed by pursuing French troops, with heavy casualties.
Altogether, Buckingham loses more than five thousand men in the campaign, out of a force of seven thousand.
This is considered as the opening conflict of the Anglo-French War of 1627-1629, itself a part of the Thirty Years' War.
