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Máximo Gómez y Báez (18 November, 1836 in Baní, Dominican Republic - 17 June, 1905 in Havana, Cuba) was a general in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence (late 19th century).

Gómez was born in the Dominican Republic in the province of Peravia town Baní and originally came to Cuba as a cavalry officer in the Spanish Army. He retired from the militia but took the rebel side in 1868 and helped transform their military tactics. He gave the Cuban mambises their most feared tactic: machete charge. On October 26, 1868 at Pinos de Baire, Gomez led a machete charge on foot, ambushing a Spanish colunm, obliterating it. The Spanish army was terrified of these charges because they had a majority of infantry troops, mainly conscripts, who were fearful of being cut down by the machetes. Because the Cubans always lacked munitions, their usual combat technique was to shoot once and then charge the Spaniards' infantry squares. In 1871 Gómez led a campaign to clear Guantánamo from forces loyal to Spain. The rich coffee growers, mostly of French descent, opposed Cuban independence because their ancestors had to flee Haiti after the Haitians ousted the French. This region is the easternmost point of the island. Gómez had a bloody but successful campaign, and most of his officers went on to become high ranking, including Antonio and José Maceo, Adolfo Flor Crombet, Policarpo Pineda "Rustán", and many others. Following the death in combat of Major General Ignacio Agramonte in May 1873, Gómez assumed the command of the Camaguey department and its famed cavalry corps. Upon first inspecting the corps he concluded they were the best trained and disciplined in the Cuban army. Gómez rose to the rank of Generalísimo of the Cuban forces, due to his superior military leadership. He was shot in the neck, in 1875, while crossing the fortified line or trocha from Júcaro in the south to Morón in the North; while leading the failed attempt to invade Western Cuba. After that he always wore a kerchief around his neck. His second and last wound came in 1896 while fighting in the rural areas outside Havana while completing a successful invasion of western Cuba. He was wounded only twice during 15 years of guerilla warfare against an enemy far superior in manpower and logistics. In contrast, his most trusted officer, Antonio Maceo, was shot 27 times in the same span of time, with number 26 being the mortal wound. Incidentally, Gómez' son, Francisco "Panchito" Gómez Toro was killed trying to recover Maceo's dead body, in combat December 7, 1896.

At the end of the Cuban Independence War in 1898 he retired to a villa outside of Havana. He refused nomination to the first presidential elections in Cuba in 1901, mainly because he always disliked politics and after 40 years of living in Cuba he still felt that being Dominican-born he should not be a leader of Cuba.

He died in his villa in 1905 and was interred in the Colon Cemetery, Havana.

Maximo Gomez Park, a park in Miami, Florida, United States, – better known as Domino Park – was named in his honor.

Gómez's portrait graces Cuban currency on the 10 pesos bill.de:Máximo Gómez es:Máximo Gómez Báez fr:Máximo Gómez