Máximo Gómez

Máximo Gómez Báez was born on November 18, 1836, in Baní, Dominican Republic. Emigrating to Cuba, he joined the 1868 independence uprising at El Dátil, where he introduced the terrifying tactic of the rebel machete charge that terrorized Spanish infantry.

Alongside José Martí and Antonio Maceo, Gómez commanded the 1895 Liberation Army, executing scorched-earth maneuvers and leading the cavalry invasion from Oriente to Pinar del Río. After independence, he magnanimously declined the presidency of Cuba, asserting that a foreign-born soldier should leave governance to Cuban civilians.