On July 22nd, 1872, when the situation of the Liberation Army was still very difficult, few men, poorly armed and with scarce ammunition, faced off under the command of Major General Ignacio Agramonte, in a combat against a Spanish troop led by Lieutenant Luis González. Estevez. In El Salado town, which was near the Guáimaro Mines, Camagüey province.
Combat Development
When crossing a stream, the mambises found a camp abandoned by the enemy and on the way, a turtle carapace that, although it was not large, caught everyone’s attention, with charcoal it had written: ¨Cuba will be free when this turtle sings¨ .
The perpetrators had been the men of the Spanish detachment of approximately 100 Army personnel and volunteers who, commanded by Lieutenant Luis González Estévez, had left Guáimaro to collect cattle in the territory. For El Mayor, this caused a mockery, and he ordered them to follow the trail of the enemy and when they spotted them, they attacked immediately. The Cuban explorers sighted the Spaniards bivouacking at Finca El Salado, the Major orders to play “Al machete” and his men attack quickly, the opponents are devastated by the thrust of the cavalry and the mambí machete, those who can, flee without looking back while the Mambi forces entered the camp and took prisoner Lieutenant González Estévez, wounded by two bullets.
Agramonte was wounded by a projectile that pierced both shoulder blades, but he continued to lead the fight without anyone noticing his injury and only when the confrontation was over did he require the help of his doctor.
They say that a Cuban, seeing the blood of El Mayor, and in retaliation for what Spain did with the prisoners, demanded to kill the Spanish officer, who perceiving the imminent death said “Kill me, I have fulfilled my duty.” But Agramonte ordered them to cured and sent him with an escort to the Hispanic camp at Guáimaro.
Major General Agramonte’s attitude was motivated, as he himself explained to his men, by the courage and correct attitude of the opposing leader, who had fought loyally and chivalrously.
Bibliography
El Mayor App
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
