Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
It is said that the whole world was following that epic which, for three months, was fought on Cuban soil and which a U.S. newspaper came to describe as something closer to the wonders of legend than to the authentic annals of our time.
And indeed, 130 years later, specialists still wonder how that contingent, which never exceeded 4,500 men, could cross a territory where the enemy had deployed around 200,000 soldiers.
It all began with the departure of the mambí forces on October 22, 1895, from Mangos de Baraguá, to conclude in the Pinar del Río town of Mantua, the last Spanish stronghold in western Cuba, on January 22, 1896.
Historians assure that, upon the imminent arrival of the insurgent forces, the mayor of Mantua and two council members resolved in an act that the town would surrender without resistance.
So when the invading column commanded by Antonio Maceo made its entry, there was the ringing of bells and unusual joy among its population.
Regarding the details of the day, historian Enrique Pertierra would comment that the Vueltabajo regiment marched at the vanguard because Maceo, being so chivalrous, had granted the honor to the people of Pinar del Río to enter Mantua first.
After 1,800 kilometers of marching, during which the mambí troops sustained 27 combats, occupied 22 important towns, and seized abundant supplies from the enemy, the Invasion of the West – considered the greatest Cuban military feat of the 19th century – was coming to an end.
With it, the old purpose that was never achieved during the 1868 war was fulfilled: to extend the war to the entire country, thus forcing the Spanish army to disperse its forces and fight throughout the Island. Furthermore, the ghost of regionalism was finally overcome, and the main sources of wealth with which the Spanish metropolis financed the war were destroyed.
The Generalissimo Máximo Gómez, the other great architect of the Invasion alongside Maceo, would define it as the great military movement that ensured for later the final triumph of the Revolution. (Text and photo: Granma Digital)
