The town is noted for the Battle of Bad Weather (La Batalla de Mal Tiempo), in which Cuban rebels (Mambises) fought Spanish colonialists during the Cuban War of Independence. On December 15, 1895, Cuban rebels engaged Spanish troops near the town of Cruces in the sugar fields of the Mal Tiempo (Bad Weather) sugar mill, setting fire to the sugarcane fields and charging the Spanish with machetes. The Cuban Liberation Army reported four of their own dead and as many wounded, while claiming to have inflicted "about 200" casualties on the enemy. The Cuban forces also captured 150 Mauser and 60 Remington rifles, six boxes of ammunition, horses, mules, first aid supplies, and the flags and documents of the Spanish forces.