From February 24, 1895 until April 21, 1898 Cuba fought Spain unaided. The typical Cuban soldier was a poor peasant from the rural districts. They fought because, as shown earlier, they had no jobs, no food and all attempts at reform had failed. Afro-Cubans made up the bulk of the independence forces. Arguably the greatest general of the war, Antonio Maceo, was a mulatto. The Partido Independiente de Color claimed in 1912 that 85% of the fighting forces were Afro-Cuban. Many authorities believe this to be too high, but nearly all agree that over half the rebel forces were Afro-Cuban.
The Cuban forces mastered the art of guerrilla warfare. Their
fighting tactics consisted largely of charges, often on horseback, to fight
hand-to-hand with the Spanish who had far superior equipment and more of
it. This type of attack also frightened the Spanish troops a great
deal. “An intelligent and reliable American” wrote a letter to Consul
General Williams in July, 1895 stating that while a captive of the rebels
they told him that “they had plenty ammunition, but did not need any, they
shoot only if attacked and then their sharpshooters only, the balance hold
power with their machetes.” However, most likely they did not
have ammunition; the Cuban rebels commonly tried to overstate their supplies
to the world at large, hoping to acquire recognition of belligerency (which
would have legitimized the revolution and made it easier for the rebels
to buy from them. Esteban Montejo, who fought in the war, confirmed
the fear of machetes, stating, “The Spaniards were scared shitless of the
machetes. They weren’t afraid of rifles but machetes, yes.”
Quite clearly the Cuban generals were superior tacticians to the Spanish.
For example, at the battle of Peralejo in mid-July 1895, Antonio Maceo,
after being surprised by a force commanded by Spanish general-in-chief,
Martinez Campos, rallied his troops with a series of horseback charges
and then organized his infantry on each side of the Spanish to lay down
a devastating cross-fire. The Spanish forces escaped complete destruction
largely because the rebels ran out of ammunition. The Cubans
typically used guerrilla tactics because they were nearly always outnumbered
and were always short of ammunition and weapons.
Disease also played a large role in the fight against the Spanish, while the Cubans were largely immune to the tropical diseases. Historians estimate that ten Spaniards died from disease to every one killed by insurgents. Gómez recognized this and when asked for a list of his best generals, replied, “June, July and August.”
By 1898 the Cubans had worn the Spanish out by the beginning of 1898. The Spanish had only 60,000 poorly trained, underfed troops on the island, down from 200,000 troops earlier in the war. They had removed the brutal governor-general Valeriano Weyler and replaced him with the more peaceful, compromising General Blanco. Cuban victory was clearly at hand and the war would likely have been concluded by the end of the year.