The Battle of Arroyo del Infierno was a battle fought on January 22, 1957, in a small outpost along the Arroyo del Infierno (Hell's Creek) in the Sierra Maestra mountain range of Cuba during the Cuban Revolution. It took place five days following the Battle of La Plata, where the rebels under the command of Fidel Castro scored their first victory of the revolution against the Cuban military after the failed landing and ambush on the island.
Prelude
editFollowing the successful raid on the La Plata barracks on January 17, the rebels headed out from the settlement at 4:30 in the morning, marching north-west until reaching the settlement of Palma Mocha, based along and named after the Palma Mocha River. When they had arrived, they witnessed many peasants of the settlement packing up their belongings and fleeing towards the coast. This was because, before the La Plata raid, a corporal and foreman of the Nunez-Beattie Trading Company had told the residents that the air force was about to bomb the area due to rebel activity. After the residents had fled, the company planned to take the land of the settlement with nobody there to oppose them. However, due to the raid on the La Plata barracks, this became a reality. Following this, the rebels continued marching north, in the direction of the Arroyo del Infierno, a tributary of the Palma Mocha. During the march, Fidel had ordered a stop to review their ammunition. Each man was supposed to have 40 rounds, but Sergio Acuña, one of the new recruits, had 100. Upon being asked to hand over some of his rounds, he had refused, and Fidel ordered him to be arrested. However, this had provoked him, and he cocked his gun threateningly. The incident was prevented from becoming violent when Raúl Castro and Crescencio Perez persuaded Acuña to hand in his weapon and ammunition and that his infraction would be forgiven if he made a formal request to stay with the rebels.
By the 19th, they had reached Arroyo del Infierno and made camp east of the river, around a set of huts located in a forest clearing. Convinced that the army was going to try and launch a reprisal for the La Plata raid, Fidel had decided to ambush the army, and positioned his men in the forest around the huts, which offered a good view of the houses and the dirt track leading towards it. However, the men were on edge, and an incident occured when Che Guevara was walking to inspect some of the rebels. He was wearing a cap taken from a corporal from the La Plata raid as a trophy, and from a distance, the rebels had confused him to be an enemy soldier. Camilo Cienfuegos opened fire, however, he missed, and instantly realized his mistake. More alarming for the rebels was that the rest of the men around Camilo, who had been cleaning their weapons, instantly got out and ran into the bush instead of rushing to defensive positions. During this waiting period, the rebels had begun hearing rumors that local peasants in the area had been facing reprisals from the Cuban army as response to the La Plata attack. Their new guide, Eutimio Guerra, fled his home, carrying messages for Fidel and intel about some of the army's movements. They were also listening to a radio captured from one of the soldiers in the previous battle, however no news of any army activity was broadcast.
The battle
editIn the early morning on January 22, the rebels heard gunshots in the distance and readied themselves for battle, hiding in the forest surrounding the huts. They would later find out that the shot they heard was the execution of a Haitian peasant, who was shot by the army for refusing to lead the troops to their hideout. Around noon later that day, the rebels had observed that someone had entered one of the huts in the clearing. Initially thinking that it was one of the rebels who had disobeyed the order to stay in the forest, they realized it was a soldier upon closer inspection. Soon, eight more soldiers entered the clearing from a path to the west, with one of them picking some weeds and putting them behind his ears at an attempt at camoflauge. Fidel then opened fire on him, killing him, after which the rest of the rebels opened fire. As the firing broke out, the soldier's two companions were also killed. Guevara had observed another soldier in one of the huts trying to hide from the rebel's fire, but failed to shoot him as only his legs were visible due to his lower elevation, with the hut's roof covering his body. Then, he fired another shot, this time hitting him in the chest and killing him. Luis Crespo then brought Guevara a grenade to flush out the rest of the soldiers hiding in the hut. However, by the time Guevara had reached the house, the remaining soldiers had fled the battle. Upon counting the casualties, the rebels discovered four dead on the enemy side. However, it would be revealed that five soldiers had been killed after capturing an informer months later. Meanwhile, the rebels had not suffered any casualties. While it was a successful ambush, the rebels had fired 900 rounds, and only retrieved 70 rounds taken from a cartridge case, along with an M1 Garand.
Aftermath
editIn the aftermath of the battle, the rebels headed west, and made camp near the peak of Pico Caracas.