Concha did not accord Lopez a trial, but at once issued a proclamation ordering his execution. It was dated October 31, 1851, and ran as follows:
"By a superior decree of the Most Excellent Señor, the Governor and Captain-General, Don Narciso Lopez, who commanded the band of pirates that disembarked at the place called Playitas, to the leeward of the capital on the morning of the 12th instant, has been condemned to the infamous punishment of the garrote. The execution is to take place at seven o'clock in the morning of September 1st. The troops of all arms composing the garrison of the town, and the forces from elsewhere, will assemble at sufficient time beforehand, at the camp of the Punta, where the scaffold is placed, around which they will form a square. The regiment of Galicia will take its station in front with a banner displayed. The other corps will be present with all their disposable force. The artillery will take the right, with the engineers next them; the other forces without distinction will occupy the places assigned to them. The cavalry will be stationed according to the direction of the Brigadier, the Royal Lieutenant commanding the town, who will command the troops, having under his orders the staff officers of the army, and an equal number of town adjustants. A true copy.
The Spanish archives contain the following names of members of the Lopez expedition who were taken prisoners about this time and who witnessed the execution of their leader. Most of these men after a long imprisonment were finally pardoned, through the intervention of powerful friends, and returned to their homes:
Elias Otis, Michael O'Keenan, John Danton, First Lieutenant P. S. VanVechten, M. L. Hefren, Captain Robert Ellis, W. Wilson, W. Miller, P. Lacoste, M. Lieger, P. Coleman, Henry Smith, Thomas Hilton, First Lieutenant E. H. McDonald, D. D. Waif, H. D. Thomason, Charles A. Conunea, Emanuel R. Wier, First Lieutenant J. G. Bush, Conrad Taylor, Thomas Denton, C. A. McMurray, J. Patan, Conrad Arghalir, Jose Chiceri, G. Richardson, John B. Brown, Thomas S. Lee, Captain James Aquelli, Franklin Boyd, Thomas Little, Commissary J. A. Simpson, George Wilson, First Lieutenant D. D. Rousseau, First Lieutenant Robert McGrier, J. D. Hughes, William H. Vaugale, Francis B. Holmes, Malbone H. Scott, First Lieutenant W. H. Craft, J. D. Prenit, Julio Chasagne, John Cline, George Forster, C. Knoll, Nicholas Port, Patrick McGrath, Charles S. Daily, James Fiddes, S. H. Prenell, W. L. Wilkinson, C. Cook, James Chapman, James Brady, Henry B. Hart, Jacob Fonts, Preston Esces, William Cameron, Thomas Mourou, Isaac Fresborn, Cornelius Derby, Peter Falbos, Benjamin Harrer;