When did Che Guevara lead a rebel column into Havana?

Che Guevara led the first rebel column into Havana on January 3, 1959, following the collapse of the Fulgencio Batista regime.1

While Fidel Castro and his supporters arrived in the capital on January 8, 1959, Guevara’s entry occurred days earlier, meeting no opposition as the revolutionary forces consolidated control. Prior to this, Guevara had played a decisive role in the Cuban Revolution by routing the government garrison in Santa Clara in late December 1958, a victory that significantly hastened the fall of the dictatorship.21