Battle of Santa Clara The Battle of Santa Clara was a series of events in late December 1958 that led to the capture of the Cuban city of Santa Clara by revolutionaries under the command of Che Guevara . The battle was a decisive victory for the rebels fighting against the regime of General Fulgencio Batista : within 12 hours of the city ' s capture Batista fled Cuba and Fidel Castro ' s forces claimed overall victory . It features prominently on the back of the three convertible peso bill . Attack on the city . Guevara ' s column travelled on 28 December 1958 from the coastal port of Caibarién along the road to the town of Camajuani , which lay between Caibarién and Santa Clara . Their journey was received by cheering crowds of peasants , and Caibarién ' s capture within a day reinforced the sense among the rebel fighters that overall victory was imminent . Government troops guarding the army garrison at Camajuani deserted their posts without incident , and Guevara ' s column proceeded to Santa Clara . They arrived at the city ' s university on the outskirts of the town at dusk . There , Guevara , who was wearing his arm in a sling after falling off a wall during the fighting in Caibarién , divided his forces ( which numbered about 300 ) into two columns . The southern column was the first to meet the defending army forces commanded by Colonel Casillas Lumpuy . An armoured train , sent by Batista to reinforce supplies of ammunition , weapons and other equipment , traveled along to the foot of the hill of Capiro , northeast of the city , establishing a command post there . Guevara dispatched his " suicide squad " , a force under 23 - year old Roberto Rodríguez ( known as " El Vaquerito " ) , to capture the hill , using hand grenades . The defenders of the hill withdrew with surprising speed and the train , containing officers and soldiers from the command post , withdrew towards the middle of the town . In the city itself a series of skirmishes were taking place between government forces and the second rebel column , led by Rolando Cubela , with the assistance of civilians providing molotov cocktails . Two army garrisons ( the barracks of the Leoncio Vidal Regiment and the barracks of the 31 Regiment of the Rural Guard ) were under siege from Cubela ' s forces despite army support from aircraft , snipers and tanks . Capture of the train . Guevara , who viewed the capture of the armored train as a priority , successfully mobilized the tractors of the school of Agronomy at the university to raise the rails of the railway . The train was therefore derailed as it transported troops away from the Capiro hill . The officers within tumbled out asking for a truce . At this , ordinary soldiers , whose morale was very low , began to fraternise with the rebels , saying that they were tired of fighting against their own people . Shortly afterwards the armoured train was in the hands of the rebels and its 350 men and officers were transported as prisoners . The train contained a considerable amount of weaponry , a huge bonus to revolutionary forces , and it was to become a basis of further attack in the hands of both the rebels and supportive peasants . Various reports have suggested that the surrender of the train and the truce were pre - arranged , relying on payments made to the officers by the 26th of July Movement . Guevara himself described how the men were forced out by a volley of molotov cocktails , causing the armoured train to become a " veritable oven for the soldiers " . The capture of the train , and the subsequent media broadcasts from both the government and the rebels proved to be a key tipping point in the revolution . Despite the next day ' s newspapers hailing Batista ' s " victory " at Santa Clara , contrary broadcasts from Castro ' s rebel forces accelerated the succession of army surrenders . The reports ended with the news that rebel leaders were heading " without let or hindrance " towards Havana to take over the Government . Nowadays the " Armored Train " ( ) is a national memorial and museum located near the depot of Santa Clara station . Capture of the city . Most garrisons around the country quickly surrendered to the first guerrilla commander who showed up at their gate . In mid - afternoon , Che announced over Radio Rebelde that the last troops in Santa Clara had surrendered .