History Teaches - July 1

[azmouse]

July 1, 1898: Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill

"Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering." ~ Theodore Roosevelt

After the mysterious sinking of the American battleship Maine in Havana harbor, political pressures pushed President William McKinley into a war with Spain that McKinley had wished to avoid. Compromise proved impossible, resulting in an ultimatum sent to Madrid demanding it relinquish control of Cuba immediately, which was not accepted. First Madrid, then Washington, formally declared war.

The Battle of San Juan Hill was a decisive battle of the Spanish-American War. This fight for the hill was the bloodiest and most famous battle of the War. It was also a great victory for the Rough Riders, as claimed by the press and its new commander, Theodore Roosevelt. Much of the heaviest fighting was done by African-American troops but this fact was not reported by the American press.

The battle had been a hard one for the Americans, who suffered almost five times as many losses as the Spanish. The Spaniards lost a third of their force in casualties but yielded very few prisoners.

Theodore Roosevelt, along with the rest of the Rough Riders, achieved considerable fame with the victory, with Roosevelt going on to become Vice-President and then President of the US. Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2001 for his actions in Cuba.

[nofurylike]

thank you for teaching me about something i know too little about, again!

good one, again, azmouse!