It was founded in 1847 and established as a municipality in 1879, then part of the province of Las Villas
The Battle of Yaguajay
Camilo Cienfuegos fought an important battle in this city one of the last battles of the Cuban Revolution in 1958 defeating a Cuban Army Captain Alfredo Abon Lee, known as El heroe de Yaguajay (Spanish: the hero of Yaguajay). In 1958, Fidel Castro ordered his revolutionary army to go on the offensive against the army of Fulgencio Batista. While Fidel led one force against Guisa, Mas� and other towns, the other major offensive was directed at the capture of the city of Santa Clara, the capital of what was then Las Villas Province.
Three columns were sent against Santa Clara under the command of Che Guevara, Jaime Vega, and Camilo Cienfuegos. Vega's column was caught in an ambush and completely destroyed. Guevara's column took up positions around Santa Clara (near Fomento). Cienfuegos's column directly attacked a local army garrison at Yaguajay. Initially Cienfuegos's column was just 60 men, out of Castro's hardened core of 230. But as they moved through the lands towards Santa Clara, they gained many recruits. A best guess is that Cienfuegos had between 450 to 500 men fighting for him. The garrison was some 250 men under the command of a Cuban-born Chinese captain Abon Lee. The attack seems to have started around December 19. Convinced that reinforcements would be sent from Santa Clara, Lee put up a determined defense of his post. Repeatedly, the guerrillas attempted to overpower Lee and his men, but each time they failed. By December 26, Cienfuegos had become quite frustrated; it seemed that Lee could not be overpowered, nor could he be convinced to surrender. In desperation, Cienfuegos began to use a homemade "tank" against Lee's position. The "tank" was actually a large tractor encased in iron plates with attached makeshift flamethrowers on top. It, too, proved unsuccessful. Finally, on December 30, Lee, out
