The next morning it was announced that the main fighting against Santiago was to be done by Lawton’s infantry division, which was ordered to take El Caney, while the Rough Riders were ordered simply to make a diversion with artillery.
When the firing began shrapnel shells exploded over Roosevelt’s head. One of the shrapnel bullets struck his wrist. The same shell wounded four men of his regiment. He at once led his men from their exposed position into the underbrush.
General Wood then ordered Roosevelt to follow behind the 1st Brigade, and the Rough Riders began a march toward the ford of the San Juan River. They reached the ford and crossed it. In front of them was a rise of ground, afterward called Kettle Hill. Roosevelt found the 1st Brigade engaged in a hot battle, so he halted his men and sent back word for orders.
On top of Kettle Hill were large haciendas, or ranch buildings. The Spaniards, from their stations on the hills, poured a heavy fire on the American troops, who were hidden in sheltered lanes and along the edge of the San Juan River, or in patches of jungle grass. Roosevelt, lying with his troops under this severe fire, sent messenger after messenger to General Sumner or General Wood to secure permission to advance. He had about determined to go ahead when Lieutenant-Colonel Dorst rode up with the command to “move forward and support the regulars in the assault on the hills in front.” The impatient Roosevelt leaped upon his horse. He had intended to go into action on foot, but he saw that he would be unable to run up and down the line and superintend matters if he were on foot. His men went eagerly to the attack. The Colonel started in the rear of his men, as was the custom for a Colonel, but his ardor soon bore him to the head of the regiment.
As he rode down the line he saw a slacker hidden behind a little bush. To urge the soldier forward he called:
“Are you afraid to stand up while I am on horseback?”
While Roosevelt was speaking, a bullet, evidently aimed at him, struck and killed the man who was hiding.
There has been much discussion as whether Roosevelt exceeded his authority in the capture of Kettle Hill. In reviewing the matter it is best to take the Colonel’s own account of what happened. In his book “The Rough Riders” he thus describes the charge:
“By the time I had come to the head of the regiment we ran into the left wing of the 9th Regulars, and some of the 1st Regulars, who were lying down while the officers were walking to and fro. The officers of the white and colored regiments alike took the greatest pride in seeing that the men more than did their duty; and the mortality among them was great.
“I spoke to the captain in command of the rear platoons, saying that I had been ordered to support the regulars in the attack upon the hills, and that in my judgment we could not take these hills by firing at them, and that we must rush them. He answered that his orders were to keep his men lying where they were, and that he could not charge without order. I asked where the colonel was, and, as he was not in sight, said: ‘Then I am the ranking officer here and I give the order to charge,’ for I did not want to keep the men longer in the open suffering under a fire which they could not effectively return.