Battle of Santa Clara

For the 1847 battle in California, see Battle of Santa Clara (1847). For the 1927 battle in Nicaragua, see Battle of Santa Clara (1927). For the ward named after the battle, see Batalla de Santa Clara.
Battle of Santa Clara
Part of the Cuban Revolution

Che Guevara, after the battle of Santa Clara, 1 January 1959
Date28 December 1958 – 1 January 1959
Location
Santa Clara, Cuba
22°24′19″N 79°57′15″W / 22.40528°N 79.95417°W / 22.40528; -79.95417
Result

Rebel victory

  • Fall of Havana
  • Final defeat of Batista government
  • Batista flees Cuba
Belligerents
Republic of Cuba 26th of July Movement
Second National Front of Escambray
Directorio Revolucionario[1]
Commanders and leaders
Col. Joaquín Casillas Executed
Police Chief Cornelio Rojas Executed
Col. Fernandez Suero
Col. Candido Hernandez		 Che Guevara
Rolando Cubela
Roberto Rodríguez †
Antonio Núñez Jiménez
William Alexander Morgan[2]
Units involved
Leoncio Vidal Regiment
31 Regiment		 Unknown
Strength
3,900 soldiers
10 tanks
1 armoured train
7 B-26 medium bombers		 340 guerrillas
Casualties and losses
2,900 captured
1 armoured train destroyed		 Unknown

The Battle of Santa Clara was a series of events in late December 1958 that led to the capture of the Cuban city of Santa Clara by revolutionaries under the command of Che Guevara.[3]

The battle was a decisive victory for the rebels fighting against the regime of General Fulgencio Batista. Within 12 hours of the city's capture, Batista fled Cuba, and Fidel Castro's forces claimed overall victory.[4]

  1. ^ Ferrals/ACN, Marta Gómez (29 December 2022). "Las decisivas batallas de Camilo y Che". Adelante.cu (in European Spanish). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  2. ^ Miguel A. Faria Jr., Cuba in Revolution—Escape from a Lost Paradise (2002), 69
  3. ^ Tamayo, Harry Antonio Villegas (1997). Waters, Mary-Alice (ed.). Pombo : A Man of Che's Guerrilla : with Che Guevara in Bolivia, 1966-68 (1st ed.). New York: Pathfinder. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-87348-833-4.
  4. ^ Franks, Jeff (2 January 2009). "Castro says Cuba revolution faces years of struggle". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 8 July 2022.