The independentists were decentralized and operated within their own regions autonomously of each other, until the Assembly of Guáimaro established the Republic-in-Arms of Cuba and the Liberation Army's command structure.

After the Pact of Zanjón, a brief uprising called the Little War saw Majors-General Calixto García and Antonio Maceo lead the Army of Liberation in another attempt at independence and the abolition of slavery, though unsuccessfully.

[2] Officers ranked lower than brigadier will wear a cloth patch backing on their machete sheath's sling, a tab on their shirt, or anywhere else visible.

Many of those who would go on to become insurgents may have owned a shotgun, rifle, or blunderbuss for hunting or other activities before the ownership of firearms and importation of weapons was banned in Cuba.

Besides local supplies and personal collections of guns that the insurgents might have owned, more weapons would be required to carry out successful military operations against the Spanish Army, one of the most powerful at the time.

There were two main methods of acquiring firearms: armed expeditions which smuggled weapons into Cuba, or attacking Spanish columns, camps, trains and armories to steal guns and ammunition.

On the 22th of December, 1868, General Manuel de Quesada led 71 expeditionaries in bringing 2,540 Enfield Rifles, 150 Spencer Carbines, half a million rounds of ammunition, a cannon, 300 grenades, and a great amount of gunpowder.

He was an expert of bookkeeping, organization, and deception, which allowed him to fool Spanish spies and American officials who attempted to arrest him and confiscate his expeditions.

On one such expedition, which landed in Tayabacoa, Las Villas, on July 24 of 1895 at 9:30 PM, carried 150 men, 300 rifles, 300,000 rounds of ammunition, and several pounds of dynamite.

The Remington was still in use with Volunteer units, which were typically Cuban Loyalists who fought for Spain, but could also be Basques who were born in regions which were not obligated by Spanish law to provide regiments to the crown.

Early on, the militias were able to capture and kill a number of British soldiers and officers, but the siege was lost when reinforcements from the thirteen colonies arrived.

[6] Due to its nature as a generally poorly equipped and vastly outnumbered force, the Liberation Army had to depend on their strategies to win them victories.

Most of the Spanish casualties from all three wars were from disease, but that's not to discount the tactics and strategies of the Liberation Army's leadership, who were effective at planning and executing many combative actions.

The infantry of the Cuban Liberation Army fought in open order, generally negating the effect of Spanish artillery fire.

Infantry units engaged in surprise attacks and ambushes and moved around extremely quickly, only coalescing into larger bodies of men when it was necessary.

In the Campaign of La Reforma, the guerilla cells formed by Major-General Máximo Gómez were able to inflict an average of 40 daily casualties upon Spanish forces.

The Invasion of the West of the Island and Battle of Ceja del Negro are prime examples of column formation being used by Cuban forces.

Former Confederate general Thomas Jordan was made General-in-Chief of the Liberation Army after the deposition of Manuel de Quesada.

He was unfamiliar with and didn't understand the need for the guerrilla tactics used by the Liberation Army, and thus conducted his battles in traditional manner.

Before the Battle of Dos Ríos, Spanish columns led by Colonel José Jiménez de Sandoval were spotted by Cuban cavalry scouts and his vanguard harassed by mounted skirmishers.

Agramonte, nicknamed "The Major" by his American subordinate officer Henry Reeve, trained his men to be extremely maneuverable, being able to rapidly respond to orders given by the bugler.

Without losing any men, they inflicted 11 mortal casualties, rescued Brigadier Sanguily and five other prisoners, and captured dozens of horses, saddles, a tent, bullets, revolvers, and sabers.

One trick used by the cavalry was to ride up in view of Spanish columns, forcing them to deploy into battle formation, and then leave without presenting any combat.

The invading army, led by Gómez, needed as much momentum as possible to reach Pinar del Río, and thus required the annihilation of any obstacles.

Lieutenant-Colonel José Loreto Cepero came across a skirmish between local patriots and Spanish troops, but instead of charging like he was ordered to, he dismounted his men, took up guerilla formations, and joined the shootout.

The Spanish infantry was terrorized and panicked, they were unable to properly defend against the Cuban cavalry, leading to the 300 casualties inflicted on the approximately 2,500 strong force.

[13] In the Ten Years' War, Carlos Roloff made use of rudimentary leather guns in the first few military actions after the uprising of Las Villas.

These prefectures were able to have workshops dedicated to the production of important items, such as socks, clothing, saddles, sheathes, machetes, straps, and other things.

After the Invasion from East to West in 1896, the forces of the Liberation Army were organized into six corps with fourteen divisions, thirty-four brigades, and eighty-four regiments.

It contained these units: After the completion of the Invasion from East to West, the Liberation Army was reorganized to include the Sixth Corps, which operated in the province of Pinar del Río.