The first attack by the mambises on Cuba with machetes was a turning point in the country’s history. The Spanish troops were terrifying. Máximo Gómez planned the great rebellion.
Pino de Baire was the perfect place to trap the enemy and win the war. The enemy’s plan to take back Bayamo didn’t work out.
Both sides of the road saw the surprise attack at the exit of Baire. It was part of a strategic mission testing the use of an agricultural tool for the first time.
Máximo Gómez told his men to wait until he came out and gave the signal to fire. To the machete!
The Spanish column, about 700 men under Colonel Demetrio Quiróz, lost more than 200 men with terrible wounds. This stopped the colonial effort.
The survivors retreated from the ambush, and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes was unable to retake Bayamo.
For 156 years, the first charge of the machete for Cuban independence has been a symbol of rebellion. The machete was a weapon used by Cuban insurgents and a symbol of liberation for the Cuban people.
