Battle of 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
Location22°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.