Both Spanish soldiers and Cuban peasants recall the bloody attack by machete-slicing Cubans in the late 19th century. The officers discuss the attack and the implications their defeat will have as they dread the review from Madrid. Soon Cuba would break away from Spain, largely with the help of William Randolph Hearst who helped to facilitate the Spanish-American War. The film also goes over the history, use and care of the machete, which came out of the sugar cane fields to become a deadly weapon of hand-to-hand combat.
