[6] Gen. Augusto Arango was assigned as the head of the Camagüey forces, with his military actions remaining under the control of the committee that held civilian authority.

[9] On November 28, 1868, at Bonilla, a point on the Nuevitas-Camagüey railway line, the Cubans awaited the passage of the Spanish commander who was traveling from Camagüey to Nuevitas.

[12][13] Nearby the hills of Bonilla, Arango's 150 Cuban troops were notified that the Spanish vanguard had advanced to the Tomás Pío Betancourt Bridge on the railway line.

[15] Villate, who reported ten killed and thirty-two injured, was compelled to order the Spanish troop's retreat to San Miguel de Bagá near Nuevitas.

[17] With his forces strengthened, Villate's column moved towards Eastern Cuba to recover Bayamo, facing continuous harassment from the mambises of Camagüey.