139:
127:
95:
174:
163:
152:
108:
462:
fact that
Batista would lose control of the country because the offensive failed, this decision was a bad one. Yet another bad decision was to divide operational control between two Generals, Cantillo and the ineffective (but politically well connected) General Alberto del Rio Chaviano. Chaviano did nothing to help in the campaign and frequently complained about Cantillo's failures.
501:. Castro's troops, for the first time, were caught by the trap and more than 70 were killed in the first two days of fighting, including a senior rebel leader, René Ramos Latour. Castro managed to get his army out of the trap by opening negotiations with General Cantillo and Batista. By August 8, all of Castro's forces had escaped and the government's offensive was over.
494:
beach. A third battalion (number 17) was sent to help but they ran into another part of Castro's forces and did not push through the road blocks. After more than a week, on July 21, Battalion 18 surrendered: 40 dead, 30 wounded, and 240 became prisoners. Castro's troops lost just three of their own men.
449:
Throughout 1957, Fidel Castro's small band of revolutionaries operated out of a mountain base, staging hit and run attacks on the government of
Batista. The Cuban army and political leadership did not take these attacks seriously for a long time. The attitude of Batista changed in the Spring of 1958
461:
Batista refused to allocate so many forces to the attack, instead
Cantillo was given just 14 battalions (12,000 men), of which 7,000 were new recruits with little training and little incentive to actually fight (in actual battle, the new recruits would rarely fight and often did nothing). Given the
457:
Cantillo's plan was to use nearly all of the Cuban regular army (24 battalions or about 20,000 men) to surround the Sierra
Maestra, set up a blockade to prevent weapons from going in, and then attack from the north with 14 battalions. Given the true strength of Castro's forces (about 300 fighters),
509:
By trying and failing to destroy Castro's guerrilla army, the
Batista government looked weak and ineffective, devastating the morale of the Cuban army. Most of the junior officers, after a strenuous fight, were disgusted that Cantillo had negotiated. Castro's success had come just when the regular
465:
Castro's troops knew the terrain well, and they set up mine fields and built defensive positions along the major routes through which they expected the army to attack. Castro had excellent knowledge of where the army was and what they were planning. He also had the support of local peasants, who
493:
or the battle of JigĂŒe. The idea was to surround Castro's mountain defences at
Turquino Peak. The Cuban soldiers (most were new recruits) again were ambushed by Castro's guerrillas and were soon surrounded and immobilized. A second battalion was landed to try to help but they were halted at the
482:
510:
army, after having fought well for the first time in the campaign, seemed to finally have the advantage. Uplifted by the government's failure, Castro went on the offensive and within 4 months, he had taken control of Cuba.
478:'s troops. Armored cars that moved off the road ran into a previously laid mine field. The army began to retreat while Che's troops continued to fire at them. The army lost 86 men, Che's troops lost 3.
324:
497:
General
Cantillo decided to withdraw Battalion 17 but he planned to make the withdrawal a trap if Castro chose to follow the retreating soldiers. This resulted in the
450:
as Castro started to gain international recognition and he called for a
General Strike. Batista decided to destroy Castro's small army, so in May 1958, General
245:
441:, and failed in its objective. The failure left the Cuban army dispirited and demoralized. Castro viewed it as a victory and soon launched his own offensive.
474:
The first attack was on June 28, 1958 with an attack that moved out of the
Estrada Palma Sugar Mill (see the map). This attack was halted by an ambush from
1033:
289:
341:
545:
Jeffrey S. Dixon, Meredith Reid
Sarkees, A Guide to Intrastate Wars: An Examination of Civil, Regional, and Intercommunal Wars, 1816-2014, CQ Press, 2015
458:
Cantillo's plan seemed like overkill, but the Cuban military vastly overestimated Castro's true strength as between 1,000 and 2,000 veteran guerrillas.
570:
238:
610:
294:
856:
231:
721:
274:
1038:
960:
886:
382:
284:
950:
370:
587:
138:
126:
100:
57:
786:
489:
On July 11, the army landed Battalion 18 at the mouth of the La Plata river. This action is sometimes called the
466:
assisted in the transmission of information on Cantillo's troops and risked their lives to hide rebel supplies.
563:
269:
413:, "Operation Summer") was the name given to the summer offensive in 1958 by the Batista government during the
314:
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866:
791:
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826:
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539:
525:
279:
746:
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144:
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741:
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346:
836:
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781:
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673:
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69:
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392:
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304:
178:
8:
965:
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299:
716:
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336:
309:
771:
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736:
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451:
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409:
255:
182:
132:
28:
841:
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430:
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53:
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821:
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425:'s revolutionary army, which had been growing in strength in the area of the
816:
766:
422:
156:
1005:
955:
930:
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761:
706:
475:
167:
433:
in December 1956. The offensive was met with resistance, notably at the
982:
548:
223:
481:
987:
485:
Map Showing Key Locations of the Cuban Revolution, 1958.
429:mountains since their arrival in Cuba on board the
1025:
564:
239:
1034:Military operations of the Cuban Revolution
44:(1 month, 1 week and 4 days)
571:
557:
246:
232:
480:
1026:
421:. The offensive was designed to crush
552:
408:
227:
76:The rebels launch a counter-offensive
578:
542:by Larry Bockman (Major, USMC) 1984.
253:
13:
961:United States embargo against Cuba
887:Second National Front of Escambray
383:Second National Front of Escambray
14:
1060:
951:Aftermath of the Cuban Revolution
611:Havana Presidential Palace attack
172:
161:
150:
137:
125:
106:
93:
519:
16:Battle of the Cuban Revolution
1:
513:
469:
444:
526:Fidel Castro's Rise to Power
504:
42:28 June 1958 â 8 August 1958
7:
10:
1065:
1039:Opposition to Fidel Castro
787:José Ramón Machado Ventura
533:
295:Havana Presidential Palace
998:
943:
913:
885:
857:Directorio Revolucionario
855:
792:Fernando MartĂnez Heredia
672:
663:
586:
417:, known to the rebels as
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205:
192:
118:
86:
34:
26:
21:
905:William Alexander Morgan
847:Sergio del Valle Jiménez
145:Alberto del Rio Chaviano
867:JosĂ© Antonio EcheverrĂa
827:Carlos Rafael RodrĂguez
601:History Will Absolve Me
454:was given the mission.
877:Rolando Cubela Secades
747:Abelardo Colomé Ibarra
742:Norberto Collado Abreu
636:Battle of Las Mercedes
499:Battle of Las Mercedes
486:
439:Battle of Las Mercedes
119:Commanders and leaders
900:Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo
802:Antonio NĂșñez JimĂ©nez
782:Neill W. Macaulay Jr.
732:Mario Chanes de Armas
674:26th of July Movement
648:Battle of Santa Clara
540:The Spirit Of Moncada
484:
206:Casualties and losses
113:26th of July Movement
976:Cuban Missile Crisis
971:Bay of Pigs Invasion
966:La Coubre explosion
895:Escambray rebellion
837:Humberto SorĂ Marin
697:Efigenio Ameijeiras
692:Juan Almeida Bosque
616:Humboldt 7 massacre
388:La Coubre explosion
378:Escambray rebellion
643:Battle of Yaguajay
631:Battle of La Plata
621:Attack on El Uvero
491:Battle of La Plata
487:
435:Battle of La Plata
1049:Conflicts in 1958
1019:
1018:
939:
938:
926:Pedro Luis Boitel
737:Camilo Cienfuegos
410:[beËÉŸano]
401:
400:
222:
221:
179:René Ramos Latour
82:
81:
1056:
717:RamĂłn Castro Ruz
682:Alfredo Abon Lee
670:
669:
626:Operation Verano
596:Moncada Barracks
580:Cuban Revolution
573:
566:
559:
550:
549:
528:
523:
452:Eulogio Cantillo
415:Cuban Revolution
412:
405:Operation Verano
280:Santiago de Cuba
275:Domingo Goicuria
270:Moncada Barracks
260:
258:
257:Cuban Revolution
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187:
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133:Eulogio Cantillo
130:
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111:
110:
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101:Republic of Cuba
99:
97:
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36:
35:
29:Cuban Revolution
22:Operation Verano
19:
18:
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812:Enrique Oltuski
772:Melba HernĂĄndez
712:Orlando Borrego
687:Ricardo AlarcĂłn
665:
659:
655:Battle of Guisa
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757:Carlos Franqui
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427:Sierra Maestra
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320:April 9 strike
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285:AlegrĂa de PĂo
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54:Sierra Maestra
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1011:Radio Rebelde
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921:RamĂłn BarquĂn
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842:Ramiro Valdés
840:
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835:
833:
832:Celia SĂĄnchez
830:
828:
825:
823:
822:Jorge Risquet
820:
818:
815:
813:
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807:Arnaldo Ochoa
805:
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783:
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777:Mario Llerena
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748:
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702:Gustavo Arcos
700:
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664:Organizations
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328:
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325:Santo Domingo
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41:
38:
37:
33:
30:
25:
20:
1044:1958 in Cuba
1021:
872:Faure ChomĂłn
767:Armando Hart
722:Fidel Castro
625:
521:
508:
496:
488:
473:
464:
460:
456:
448:
431:Granma yacht
423:Fidel Castro
418:
404:
403:
369:
368:
347:Las Mercedes
337:2nd La Plata
330:
329:
290:1st La Plata
215:240 captured
184:
157:Fidel Castro
87:Belligerents
68:
27:Part of the
1006:Escopeteros
956:Cuban exile
931:Rafael Cruz
859:Estuciantil
797:Huber Matos
762:Che Guevara
752:Vilma EspĂn
727:RaĂșl Castro
707:Bob Baldock
476:Che Guevara
419:La Ofensiva
393:Bay of Pigs
364:Santa Clara
168:Che Guevara
1028:Categories
817:Frank PaĂs
666:and people
514:References
470:The battle
445:Background
315:Cienfuegos
300:Humboldt 7
213:30 wounded
211:207 killed
198:12,000 men
983:Guevarism
505:Aftermath
371:Aftermath
305:Corynthia
218:27 killed
72:victory
588:Timeline
437:and the
354:Yaguajay
310:El Uvero
193:Strength
143:General
131:General
49:Location
999:Related
534:Sources
201:300 men
185:†
56:hills,
944:Impact
606:Granma
331:Verano
181:
98:
65:Result
914:Other
359:Guisa
342:JigĂŒe
70:Rebel
988:Foco
58:Cuba
39:Date
1030::
572:e
565:t
558:v
407:(
247:e
240:t
233:v
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