Havana: The 125th anniversary of the beginning of the invasion from the East to the West during the so-called Necessary War today recalls one of the most extraordinary military feats of the 19th century in Cuba, Prensa Latina publishes.
Led by Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, the historical event led the troops of the Liberation Army from Mangos de Baraguá, in the province of Santiago de Cuba, to Mantua, in Pinar del Río.
The campaign was of transcendental military, economic and political importance for, among other objectives, forcing Spain to fight simultaneously in the six provinces of the country, in order to weaken it on all fronts.
On October 21, 1895, Maceo set out with more than a thousand men on the way to the current province of Camagüey.
Known as the Bronze Titan, Maceo traveled in just 24 days the territory of Camagüey, where he crossed the Trocha from Júcaro to Morón, strongly fortified and guarded by Spanish soldiers.
After this feat, the troops of both leaders found themselves in the center to continue together the invasion towards the West with an army of four thousand troops.
On January 23, 1896, the mambises arrived in Mantua, in the westernmost of the Cuban provinces.
During its passage through the Island, the invading column fully fulfilled its military objectives: to carry the war to all parts of the country, to strengthen the insurrection materially and morally and to add thousands of patriots to arms.
In addition, it weakened a large part of Spain’s economic sources, with the reduction of production and the collections of the colonial government.
By Redacción digital
Equipo de redactores del sitio web de Radio Mayabeque