The Ten Years' War, also known as the Great War and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed independence, beginning the conflict. This was the first of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Little War (1879–1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). The final three months of the last conflict escalated with United States involvement, leading to the Spanish–American War.
Calixto García Íñiguez was a Cuban general in three Cuban uprisings, part of the Cuban War for Independence: the Ten Years' War, the Little War, and the War of 1895, itself sometimes called the Cuban War for Independence, which bled into the Spanish–American War, ultimately resulting in national independence for Cuba.
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales was a Cuban general and second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence.
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Dominican Generalissimo in Cuba's War of Independence (1895–1898). He was known for his controversial scorched-earth policy, which entailed dynamiting passenger trains and torching the Spanish loyalists' property and sugar plantations—including many owned by Americans. He greatly increased the efficacy of the attacks by torturing and killing not only Spanish soldiers, but also Spanish sympathizers and especially Cubans loyal to Spain. By the time the Spanish–American War broke out in April 1898, the rebellion was virtually defeated in most of Western Cuba, with only a few operating pockets in the center and the east. He refused to join forces with the Spanish in fighting off the United States, and he retired to the Quinta de los Molinos, a luxury villa outside of Havana after the war's end formerly used by captains generals as summer residence.
The Cuban War of Independence, also known in Cuba as The Necessary War, fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months of the conflict escalated to become the Spanish–American War, with United States forces being deployed in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands against Spain. Historians disagree as to the extent that United States officials were motivated to intervene for humanitarian reasons but agree that yellow journalism exaggerated atrocities attributed to Spanish forces against Cuban civilians.
The chronology of the colonial time of Cuba is about the Spanish colonial period in Cuba, and the efforts to obtain independence from the Spanish Empire and includes history from the "discovery" of the island by Christopher Columbus to the Spanish–American War.
Bartolomé de Jesús Masó Márquez was a Cuban politician and military, patriot for Cuban independence from the colonial power of Spain, and later President of the República en Armas.
The First Eastern Campaign was a military campaign that took place between early May and late August 1895 in Oriente Province of Cuba, in the Cuban War of Independence.
Jesús “Rabí” Sablón Moreno was a Cuban soldier and patriot of the 19th century.
The Battle of El Jobito was a military event which took place on May 13 of 1895 in Oriente Province of Cuba, in the Cuban War of Independence.
José Marcelino Maceo Grajales was a Cuban Independence Activist and patriot of the 19th Century.
The Invasion from East to West took place on the island of Cuba, and began on October 22, 1895, in Mangos de Baraguá, in the former province of Oriente. It was organized and directed by Antonio Maceo Grajales and Máximo Gómez. The Liberation Army, guided by the firmness of taking the fight against Spanish colonialism to all corners of Cuba, starred in one of the most relevant events in Cuban history. In the midst of the "Cuban War of Independence", inspired by José Martí, that campaign responded to the old desire of the insurgent generals Maceo and Gómez. These launched the strategy of limiting the liberation struggle to the eastern territory of the Island, but rather extending it throughout the entire Cuban territory to force Spain to fight simultaneously in the six provinces that the country had at that time, in order to weaken it on all fronts.
Francisco Adolfo "Flor" Crombet Tejera was a Cuban patriot and participated in the three independence conflicts. He was appointed head, in commission, of the division of Cuba and Bayamo and was Major General. He landed with Antonio Maceo Grajales for "Duaba". He participated in the Ten Years' War and protested with Maceo in Mangos de Baraguá in defense of the total and definitive independence of Cuba.
The Battle of Coliseo was a group of military actions carried out in the surroundings of the town of the same name, Matanzas Province, Cuba on December 23, 1895 during the Cuban War of Independence.
The Lanzadera Campaign was a significant part of the Cuban War of Independence as it was the next operation of the Mambises by Máximo Gómez to distract Spanish troops to him and avoiding their pressure on Antonio Maceo, who was able to continue to the West to complete the Invasion from East to West in Cuba. The campaign was considered to be one of skillful maneuvering, mobility and oversight as Gómez's vastly outnumbered 2,000 Mambises had achieved their goals with negligible losses against the 40,000 Spanish infantry which was commanded by Arsenio Martínez Campos, Sabás Marín and Valeriano Weyler.
The Battle of San Pedro was a battle of the Cuban War of Independence that took place on December 7, 1896 within the vicinity of the farm of the same name. The battle occurred near the town of Punta Brava on the outskirts of Marianao, La Habana Province.
Francisco "Panchito" Gómez Toro was a Cuban lieutenant and war hero in the Cuban War of Independence. He was known for being the son of Máximo Gómez and for his death at the Battle of San Pedro at the young age of 20.
José Manuel Capote Sosa (1836-1934) was a Cuban Major General and politician who participated in the Cuban War of Independence. He was known as the mayor of Bayamo and the brother of Colonel Gonzalo Capote of the Cuban Liberation Army.
The Capture of Las Tunas was a military engagement of the Cuban War of Independence. It took place from August 27 to 30, 1897 at Las Tunas, Oriente.
The Cuban Liberation Army, colloquially known as the Mambí Army was an insurgent army which was formed in the last third of the 19th century and fought for independence from Spain and the abolition of slavery. It first saw combat in the Ten Years' War (1868-1878) under the command of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Ignacio Agramonte, and Carlos Roloff. The independentists were decentralized and operated within their own regions autonomously of each other, until the Assembly of Guáimaro established the Republic-in-Arms of Cuba and the Liberation Army's command structure. After the Pact of Zanjón, a brief uprising called the Little War saw Major-Generals Calixto García and Antonio Maceo lead the Army of Liberation in another attempt at independence and the abolition of slavery, though unsuccessfully. Finally, during the War of Independence, the Liberation Army was once again organized to fight against the Spanish colonial government. The Liberation Army would reach its highest count of active members in the Spanish-American War, when an imminent Cuban-American victory caused hitherto anti-independence elites to join the Liberation Army. These recruits were nicknamed "Sunflowers" because they "point to where the sun is shining".
Cuban rebels 
Spain