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They fought in the Battle of Las Guasimas on June 24th and helped force the Spaniards
to retreat. Soon, their most famous moment was upon them: the Battle of San Juan Hill. On July 1, the Spanish troops were heavily outnumbered, but they held the high ground, and the Americans were forced to charge exposed uphill to force them out. Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, the 3rd U.S. Cavalry, and the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th U.S. Cavalry assaulted Kettle Hill on the right of the battlefield supported by suppressing fire from Gatling guns. They charged up the hill taking losses from both Spanish fire and the heat. The 10th Cavalry were the first to reach the top. Roosevelt moved to support the troops on San Juan Hill and then was ordered back to defend Kettle Hill which was soon counterattacked by the Spanish. The Gatling guns again proved significant
in stopping the Spanish attack. Before the battle was over, 200 Americans were killed. Another 1,000 were wounded. Though the various units had fought admirably together to take both Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill, the Rough Riders and Colonel Roosevelt received much of the attention along with the now famous Buffalo Soldiers. Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2001 for his actions. He preferred to be called Colonel Roosevelt after the war.
He returned home to New York and then ran for governor as a Republican in 1898 and won, placing him at the head of the most populous state in the country at the time,
but he soon jumped back to the national stage as vice president under President McKinley and then was propelled to the presidency when McKinley was assassinated at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Thus, he went from a relative outsider to the leader of the Republican Party and the country. As president, he was both popular and controversial. His dinner with Booker T. Washington at the White House marked the first time an African-American had been openly an equal guest at the White House and was met with serious hostility
in the Democratic controlled South. He
quickly earned a reputation as a progressive leader. Roosevelt established himself as a serious regulator of big business breaking up trusts and negotiating for better prices and pay, fighting corruption in government agencies, passing laws to ensure safer
food and medicine, and conserving over
1/4 of a billion acres in National Parks, National Monuments, and National Forests and reserves preventing them from being destroyed and preserving the land for future generations, establishing himself as one of the foremost conservationists in American history.
After leaving the White House, Roosevelt and his son Kermit participated in the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition which is recorded in his book “African Game Trails.” During the expedition, they killed over 11,000 animals, including 512 big game animals, for preservation and scientific study back in the U.S. He then toured Europe. When he returned to the U.S., he clashed with President William H. Taft, his longtime friend and hand-picked successor, when
Taft broke from Roosevelt’s progressive policies, particularly on conservation. The growing schism within the Republican Party led to Roosevelt running as the presidential candidate of the newly found Progressive Party in 1912. During the campaign, Roosevelt was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Despite being shot in the chest, Roosevelt went on to give his 90 minute speech, living up to his manly reputation after opening his speech with: “Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.” During his recovery, he noted “I’m fit as a bull moose.” Together these statements led to the Progressive Party being nicknamed the Bull Moose Party. It was around the time of the assassination attempt that another revolver for Roosevelt was ordered. That Colt Single Action Army subsequently sold for $1,466,250 at Rock Island Auction Company on December 5, 2020.
26th President Theodore Roosevelt
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