According to Castro, this was the fatal mistake in the operation. The men in the cars behind him jumped out of their cars, believing they were inside the barracks, and the alarm was sounded before the barracks had been infiltrated. In Castro's autobiography, he claims that he drove his car into a group of soldiers at the gate who had realized an attack was in progress. Furthermore, many of the rebels who would have taken part in the attack were left behind for a lack of weapons. The caravan of automobiles became separated by the time it arrived at the barracks, and the car carrying the guerillas' heavy weapons got lost. Rodríguez would take the Audiencia Building (Palacio de Justicia), and a third group of 90 men, led by Castro, would take the barracks, including the radio transmitter within it. Their plan was that a first group of twenty men led by Abel Santamaría would take the civilian hospital at the rear of the barracks, a second group of five men led by Léster
The group formed a sixteen-automobile caravan in order to give the appearance of being a delegation headed by a high-ranking officer sent from western Cuba. On July 26, 1953, at 6:00 AM, Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led a group of approximately 135 rebels (with an additional 24 intending to take the barracks at Bayamo) in an attack on the second largest military Alberto del Rio Chaviano. Government victory rebels forced into retreat Attack on Moncada Barracks Attack on Moncada Barracks The date of the attack was specifically chosen because the fiestas in Santiago are held on July 25. The men left the farm at 4:45 am on July 26, 1953, planning to attack at dawn.
In the meantime, the weapons would be removed and hidden throughout the city to use in the continuing struggle, and Santiago's radio station would be taken to broadcast the speeches of Eduardo Chibás, in order to mobilize the public with the ultimate aim of bringing down the Batista government. The plan was to secure the barracks and gain possession of the weapons stored within, and to use the building's army communications equipment to spread false messages for several hours to confuse the military. The night before the attack, the men gathered at a farm in Siboney, where they learned what the objective was. He then pilfered from the military hospital laundry most of the blue uniforms needed to attire the rebels. Fernandez agreed and received $200 to purchase surplus uniforms, weapons, and ammunition. He discussed this with Calabazar cell leader Pedro Trigo Lopez, who suggested approaching his relative Florentino Fernandez Leon, a 26-year-old military hospital orderly in Jaimanitas. įidel Castro decided that army uniforms were needed for the Moncada attack. 30 caliber M1 Garand rifle with a folding metal stock. 30-06 Model 1903 Springfield rifle, three sawed-off 1892.
45 caliber submachine gun, twenty-four rifles of different caliber, including eight Model 1898 Krag-Jørgensen rifles, a. 22 rifles, sixty handguns of various models, a malfunctioning. The weapons included forty 12- and 16-gauge shotguns, thirty-five Mosberg and Remington. Castro claimed that they trained 1,200 men within a few months, training at the University of Havana and at firing ranges in Havana, disguising themselves as businessmen interested in hunting and clay pigeon shooting. Īfter Batista's military coup on March 10, 1952, Fidel Castro and his group began to train young men to engage in the struggle, along with other anti-Batista groups, against what they perceived to be an illegitimate government. Castro avoided recruiting among intellectuals, who were more apt to challenge his ideas. The Afro Cuban composition of the group was limited to 2 blacks and 12 mulattos, partly because most biracial Cubans identified with Batista, who was of mixed blood. Nine rebels were in their teens, 96 were in their twenties, 27 in their thirties, and five over 40. Of the 137 insurgents whose ages are known, the average age was 26, the same as that of Fidel Castro. Only four of the 160 rebels were university graduates and most had only a primary education. At least twenty-five rebels were raised without fathers. Their menial occupations included parking-lot attendants, delivery boys, street vendors, busboys, chauffeurs, and unskilled laborers. Many were the products of broken homes and/or poverty, had a large number of siblings, or like Castro, were born out of wedlock. Almost all of Fidel Castro's followers were Ortodoxo Party Youth rank and file of the lower middle class or working class.