The situation for the Cuban 5th and 6th Liberation Army Corps became increasingly difficult since the large concentration of troops and means arranged by the Spanish high command in Cuba, the losses of important military leaders such as Antonio Maceo Grajales and the lack of supplies due to the foreign aid arriving at the eastern half of the island.

With the fall of Maceo, Valeriano Weyler proclaimed the pacification of those territories, despite their difficult situation, the Cuban troops maintained constant confrontations with the Colonial Army.

The Generalissimo knew the composition of the troops that would attack him, giving the Spanish the preference for infantry weapons, the use of artillery and numerous impediments, supported by the few cavalry stationed which made the columns become heavier and slower, lacking mobility and poor maneuverability.

The general characteristic was not to present frontal combats, which could lead to great losses in men and war resources, and to subject the enemy to constant harassment day and night, which would wear him down.

The General's escort and the expeditionary regiment commanded by Colonel Armando Sánchez, added 600 men to the combined Cuban army and it formed the main body of Gómez's forces.

The attack on Arroyo Blanco, a fortified town, had a heliograph which allowed direct communication with Sancti Spíritus and telegraph connections to Havana which was another of his operations to deceive the enemy.

[2] Falling into Gómez's trap, Weyler ordered: ...the main mission of the brigades and demi-brigades will be to destroy the enemy's resources, watch over the passes to the West, and in the event of crossing large parties immediately pursue them (... ) focusing his forces on those necessary to beat him...However, in the face of such concentrations of the Spanish army, Gómez continued his actions tirelessly, waging strong combat against a larger force such an example at the Battle of Santa Teresa on March 8 – 9, 1897.

Faced with this new measure of the Spanish command that increased the persecution of the mambises, Gómez put forward continuous movement of his troops in various directions, including the jurisdiction of Remedios in long days under a climate not conducive to the Spaniards, who were forced to exhausting daytime shifts, under strong sun, rain and subjected to constant nightly harassment.

Gómez ordered the 4th Army Corps to move to the rear of the enemy which in a first phase weren't carried out and instead of operating on Sagua, Cienfuegos and Matanzas, were attacked near the jurisdiction of Sancti Spíritus spending a large amount of resources.