Battle of Las Mercedes - The Battle

The Battle

Battalion 17 began its pull back on July 29, 1958. Castro sent a column of men under Rene Latour to ambush the retreating soldiers. They attacked the advance guard and killed some 30 soldiers but then they came under attack from previously undetected Cuban forces. Latour called for help and Castro came to the battle scene with his own column of men. Castro's column also came under fire from yet more Cuban soldiers that had secretly advanced up the road from the Estrada Palma Sugar Mill.

As the battle heated up, General Cantillo called up more forces from nearby towns and some 1,500 troops started heading towards the fighting. However, this force was halted by a column under Che Guevara's command. While some critics accuse Che for not coming to the aid of Latour, Major Bockman argues that Che's move here was the correct thing to do. Indeed, he called Che's tactical appreciation of the battle "brilliant".

By the end of July, Castro's troops were fully engaged and in danger of being wiped out by the vastly superior numbers of the Cuban army. He had lost 70 men, including Rene Latour and both he, and the remains of Latour's column were surrounded. The next day, Castro requested a cease-fire with General Cantillo, he even offered to negotiate an end to the war. This offer was accepted by General Cantillo for reasons that remain unclear. Batista sent a personal representative to negotiate with Castro on August 2. The negotiations yielded no result but during the next six nights, Castro's troops managed to slip away unnoticed. On August 8, when the Cuban army resumed its attack, they found no one to fight. The battle was over.