After several months organizing and strengthening, the Cuban independence forces determined the creation of an invading contingent that was to extend the war to the end of the island.

In October of that year, the Cuban Liberation Army left Mangos de Baraguá, in eastern Cuba, made up of several thousand poorly armed men and led by Major Generals Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo.

However, towards the end of 1896, a series of discrepancies and tensions occurred within the government of the Guáimaro Assembly [es], which led General Gómez to request Maceo's personal intervention in the dispute.

General Maceo, extremely concerned about this situation, hurriedly marched towards the East of the country, leaving Pinar del Río and entering La Habana Province, with the intention of continuing to cross the rest of the island to reach the eastern end, where there was the Cuban independence government.

[3] After being woken up, Maceo gathered up 45 veterans from the previous Cuban Independence Campaigns and assessed the situation as the Mambises took to the offensive.