Among the regiments assembled and digging for shelter from the enemy guns at the foot of San Juan Hill was the 6th US Infantry, a part of General Kent's 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division under Brigadier General Hamilton S. Hawkins.  Among the members of Hawkins' staff was an eager young lieutenant who had told a friend he would return from battle as either a colonel or a corps.  As the enemy fire continued to rain upon the stalemated American soldiers, Lieutenant Jules Ord turned to his commander.  Tired of the wait he informed General Hawkins, "General, if you will order a charge, I will lead it."

A veteran of Civil War assaults on fortified enemy positions, General Hawkins considered the young lieutenant's offer, weighing it against the high rate of casualties he knew such a charge would create.  Lieutenant Ord broke the silence of the general's contemplation.  "If you do not wish to order a charge, General, I should like to volunteer," he offered.  "We can't stay here, can we?"

"I would not ask any man to volunteer," General Hawkins replied.

"If you do not FORBID it, I will start it," Ord implored.  "I only ask you not to refuse permission."

Of a truth, it was an unusual conversation between a commanding general and a junior staffer.  But the grizzled veteran also realized that Lieutenant Ord was right, the men couldn't stay where they were and continue to suffer at the mercy of the enemy guns above them.  "I will not ask for volunteers, I will not give permission and I will not refuse it," the general finally responded ambiguously.  "God bless you and good luck!"

Shirtless against the heat and armed with a pistol in one hand and saber in the other, Lieutenant Ord rose up and shouted to his men, "Come on, you men.  We can't stay here.  Follow me!".   In the tension of the moment and inspired by the sight of the brave lieutenant, the men of General Hawkins' 6th Infantry rose to their feet to charge directly into the guns of the Spanish.  Almost immediately, Lieutenant Ord was struck by enemy rounds and fell dead, but his shout had energized the moment and the 6th Infantry continued to rush the hillside.  

To the right of the 6th, the men of the Rough Riders saw Lieutenant Ord and his men begin their assault and rose also, attacking the enemy above.  To the rear the 10th US Cavalry became caught up in the excitement, rushing forward to join the attack.  In the spontaneity and confusion of the moment,  the all-black regiment split with part of the 10th joining the 6th Infantry to attack San Juan Hill, and the other half mingling with the Rough Riders to assault Kettle Hill.

Among the Buffalo Soldiers that mingled with the Rough Riders was the 10th Cavalry's regimental quartermaster, an 1886 graduate of West Point who had been an instructor at his alma mater when the Spanish-American War broke out.  He had requested a combat assignment with the statement that, "If I did not make every effort to obtain an opportunity for field service I should never forgive myself."

When the young lieutenant was informed that all West Point instructors were frozen in their positions, and when repeated letters to the assistant secretary of war proved fruitless, he threatened, "I shall resign (the West Point position) and join some National Guard or volunteer unit that stands a chance of being sent to Cuba."  Having previously served with the 10th US Cavalry, he also wrote his friend Colonel Guy V. Henry, commander of the 10th, requesting a return to service in his old unit.  When Colonel Henry requested the assignment of the young lieutenant to the 10th as it prepared for duty in Cuba, the assistant secretary of war finally granted him permission to leave his teaching duties.

As a white officer among the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th, the lieutenant had been given a nickname.  Though his first name was John, he was facetiously referred to as "BLACK JACK".  It was a moniker that would follow him for life, long after his service with the 10th Cavalry ended, and nearly twenty years later would become one of the most famous names in military history when Lieutenant John J. Black Jack Pershing would become a general and lead the Untied States Expeditionary forces in The Great War.

As Lieutenant Pershing charged up Kettle Hill among the men of his 10th Cavalry and Colonel Roosevelt's Rough Riders, he was more than impressed by what he was witnessing.  He later wrote:

"Each officer or soldier next in rank took charge of the line or group immediately in his front or rear and halting to fire at each good opportunity, taking reasonable advantage of cover, the entire command moved forward as coolly as though the buzzing of bullets was the humming of bees.  White regiments, black regiments, regulars and Rough Riders, representing the young manhood of the North and the South, fought shoulder to shoulder, unmindful of race or color, unmindful of whether commanded by ex-Confederate or not, and mindful of only their common duty as Americans."

Though the Colors of the United States of America were flying from the summits of San Juan and Kettle Hills by 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon, General Henry Lawton's 2nd Infantry Division was still struggling for both survival and victory at El Caney.  Among the first to attack in the early morning was the 71st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, many of its men falling to the devastating fire from the Spanish blockhouses.  Two regular infantry regiments moved into position as the 71st fell back, the ranks of these units likewise being quickly repulsed as they pushed through the high jungle grass in their attempt to charge the enemy.

The Spanish were not, however, without their own tragic losses.  General Vara de Rey fought his soldiers well, until falling himself...shot through both legs.  While being carried to safety on a stretcher, he was hit again, this time in the head, and died instantly.  Before the day came to a close, two of his sons, serving under him at El Caney, would also be killed.

Two hours after the US Colors had risen over San Juan Hill, Lawton's 3rd, 20th, and 25th US Infantry launched a heavy assault.  Much like the earlier charge at San Juan Hill, it was an almost spontaneous eruption of brave American soldiers who had fought all day and tired of the constant rain of enemy fire from the trenches.  The terrain was now littered with the bodies of dead and wounded Americans while, inside the city a small handful of leaderless Spanish soldiers was all that remained to make a final valiant stand.  Of the 520 Spanish soldiers who had defended the city earlier in the day, less than 100 remained to face the American charge.  

The charge began as Lieutenant Kinnison of the 25th observed, "We cannot take the trenches without charging them," then almost immediately fell wounded by an enemy round before he could sound the charge.  Second Lieutenant A. J. Moss replaced him as yells and whoops "which would have done credit to a Comanche Indian" went up and down the ranks, according to Sergeant Major Frank Pullen of the 25th.  The Buffalo Soldiers charged with a fury, ignoring the men that fell around them, to charge the enemy trenches and rout the last of the enemy defenders.  Company H was first to reach the blockhouse where Private Butler took possession of the enemy flag for his company.  (Later an officer of the 12th infantry entered and ordered Butler to give up the flag.  Dutifully, Butler followed the white officer's orders, but not before cutting a swatch from the enemy standard to later substantiate his claim that his company and his regiment had been the first to take the position.)

Within half an hour the battle was over, the city secured and the stone fort at El Viso destroyed.  By five in the evening all Spaniards who had not escaped into the jungle were either dead or captured.  The "two hour victory" had taken a full day, but because of the valor and determination of the young American soldiers, victory had at last come.  It was not without great cost, 81 Americans killed at El Caney, another 360 wounded.  Nine members of the 17th Infantry Regiment received Medals of Honor, all for "GALLANTLY ASSISTING IN THE RESCUE OF THE WOUNDED FROM IN FRONT OF THE LINES UNDER HEAVY FIRE OF THE ENEMY.

---

 

At both El Caney and at San Juan Hill, the efforts to bury the dead and treat and evacuate the wounded went long into the night and after the midnight hour.  At San Juan the Americans pitched their tents and dined on captured enemy provisions.  Throughout the night an alert vigil was maintained against the expected counter-attack that never materialized.

At El Caney General Lawton prepared his troops to finally move south to join with the other two divisions, nearly a full day behind schedule.  

HomeOfHeroes.com now has more than 25,000 pages of US History for you to view.