Spanish-American War-Battle of San Juan Hill

The Battle of San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898, was a bloody but decisive victory for U.S. forces during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. Future U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt earned his military glory leading a charge when an offensive stalled. Journalist Richard Harding Davis witnessed the battle and described the advancement of American soldiers up the grassy hill: "They walked to greet death at every step, many of them, as they advanced, sinking suddenly or pitching forward and disappearing in the high grass, but the others waded on, stubbornly, forming a thin blue line that kept creeping higher and higher up the hill. It was as inevitable as the rising tide. It was a miracle of self-sacrifice, a triumph of bulldog courage, which one watched breathless with wonder." Despite Roosevelt's heroics, African American soldiers from the 10th Cavalry and the 24th Infantry regiments did most of the fighting that day.