What happened when the Granma landed in Cuba in 1956?

When the yacht Granma landed in eastern Cuba on December 2, 1956, it carried Fidel Castro and a force of 81 men. Upon arrival, the majority of this group was quickly killed or captured by government forces.1

A small group of about a dozen men managed to escape, including the Castro brothers and Ernesto (“Che”) Guevara. This surviving band retreated to the Sierra Maestra mountains, where they initiated a guerrilla campaign against the Batista regime under the name 26th of July Movement. This landing marked the beginning of a period of virtual civil war in the country.1