1898: ALONE IN CUBA?

 

Our story starts more than three decades prior to the 1898 events in Cuba- events that future Secretary of State John Hay called “a splendid little war.” In the spring of 1863 the eventual outcome of our Civil War was in doubt. Gettysburg was primarily known, if known at all, as a sleepy little rural hamlet in Pennsylvania and Vicksburg was still in Confederate control keeping the Federals from controlling all of the Mississippi River. But changes were coming.

Vicksburg was more than a battle- it was a campaign filled with starts and stops, successes and failures as General Grant was in a step learning curve. One idea proposed was to send in Federal cavalry around Vicksburg to the east destroying Confederate supply depots and disrupting communications and transportation. That cavalry maneuver was immortalized in the 1959 film “Horse Soldiers,” albeit a fictionalized version. The film’s star was John Wayne who portrayed Colonel John Marlowe, a hard-charging ex-railroad engineer who commanded the outfit.

In reality, the Federal cavalry commander was Colonel Benjamin Grierson, an ex-music teacher who had little regard for horses because he was kicked in the head by one when he was a child (evidence that sometimes truth is indeed stranger than fiction). The raid was successful and it contributed to the capture of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. Following the war Grierson remained in the Army and was assigned command of the 10^th Cavalry Regiment, one of the two post-Civil War units composed of black enlisted men and white officers commonly called Buffalo Soldiers because their hair reminded the Native Americans of the fur on buffaloes (bison). Grierson supported and respected the troopers in his unit. He retired from the Army in 1890 before the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Enter Lieutenant John J. Pershing in 1895 when he was assigned as a troop commander in the 10^th Cavalry and was the regimental quartermaster when his unit landed in Cuba. Pershing led his troopers at the Battle of San Juan Hill fighting side-by-side with the 1^st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (the famed Rough Riders) commanded by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt (TR). TR remarked that Pershing “,,, is the coolest man under fire I ever saw in my life."

TR was a leader of men and his exploits as a cowboy, as a scientist, as a Federal civil servant, as a New York City police commissioner, as assistant secretary of the navy, as a battlefield commander, and as President of the United States are legendary. But TR can rightly be accused of using people for his own purposes and for shameless self-promotion. The thesis for this essay lies in the fact many brave soldiers fought on the San Juan Heights and yet, when TR wrote his memoirs on his experiences during the war, critics dubbed TR’s account “Alone in Cuba.”

Therefore, the purpose of this essay is to show that TR had “help” on July 1, 1898. The reader will discover even members of the Rough Riders seemingly forgotten in history as well as the Buffalo Soldiers typified in the 10^th Cavalry Regiment. First we will examine two photos taken minutes apart on or about July 3, 1898, by William Dinwiddie

 

The top photo shows only the Rough Riders with TR in the center while the bottom photo again shows the Rough Riders in nearly identical position and with Buffalo Soldiers on their flanks. We know these are different photos because the flag’s position is different in both and TR is hatless in the bottom photo. We may assume that the Buffalo Soldiers were included in both photos and the top photo was edited to focus only on TR and his unit while Pershing and his unit were excluded. Now when we contemporary Americans think of the heroes of San Juan the iconic image of the first photo comes to our minds.

The 10^th Cav’s fighting ability was not in question. They, along with their fellow Buffalo Soldiers of the 9^th Cav and black soldiers of the 10^th and 24^th Infantry Regiments had fought just as gallantly on that hot and humid day as the all-white units. In fact, five enlisted Buffalo Soldiers from the 10^th Cav were awarded Medals of Honor for their bravery in Cuba.

Now we come to the question of whether Native Americans assisted TR on the San Juan Heights. A scene in the 1997 television miniseries “The Rough Riders” showed a Native American nicknamed Indian Bob training the new recruits in hand-to-hand combat and he, if my memory serves me well, appeared in another scene in which he was in the assault on July 1. While records are vague about their participation in Cuba, the record is clear that Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Pawnees, and perhaps members of other tribes, from Oklahoma, Indian, New Mexico, and Arizona Territories enlisted in the 1^st Volunteer Cav. Perhaps their combat record is murky because not all the regiment was sent to Cuba due to poor planning in sea transport, thus many Natives could have in the left behind troops.

Hamilton Fish was a member of a wealthy and prominent New York family involved in politics, diplomacy, and business throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Fish attended Columbia University, where he was a member of a literary society and was captain of the rowing team. He typified the Ivy League sportsman who joined the Rough Riders; others included Dudley Dean was "perhaps the best quarterback who ever played on a Harvard eleven"; Bob Wrenn was "the champion tennis player of America"; Yale high-jumper Edward C. Waller; steeplechase rider Craig Wadsworth; and polo-player Joe Stephens.

Fish was a sergeant in L Troop and was killed in combat at Las Guasimas on June 24. His covered body along with the body of Private Stephens was photographed which a glimpse of the war dead to the American.

 

 

Sergeant Fish was lauded by TR as being one of the best non-commissioned officers in the regiment. His death sent shock waves not only to his unit but also the nation. isHH His youth, family, and untimely death made Fish one of the most popular heroes of the war. He did not make it to San Juan Hill but he was an example of those volunteers who did.

 

I now ask the reader to the iconic photo of TR and his men I referenced in discussing the role of Buffalo Soldiers. Notice the tall soldier to TR’s right (our left) seemingly with a white shirt and cocked white hat, out of uniform with the other soldiers. I am interested in his identity and story. My attempts in discovering who was has been unsuccessful but my research led me to a volunteer soldier with a connection to Hamilton Fish.

 

 

My research into the identity of that soldier erroneously led to Frederic Remington’s painting “Charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill” in Lieutenant (later Captain) Woodbury Kane is in the foreground in khaki uniform. Kane was a yachtsman who participated in the America’s Cup races, a big game hunter in North America and South Africa, and a close friend of TR whom he met when both men were students at Harvard.

 

 

Kane was indeed wealthy, wealthy enough to help donate two Colt machine guns costing $7,500 each to the regiment. He commanded K Troop in the assault on July 1 and was wounded by rifle fire. Kane returned home to New York City. Like Hamilton Fish, Kane was typical of other Rough Riders like William Tiffany, David Goodrich, and Theodore Miller.

TR also had the company of cowboys that fateful July 1.  William “Buckey” O’Neill was a true cowboy (portrayed in the Rough Riders television miniseries by the quintessential cowboy actor Sam Elliott), but he was atypical of his times.  Upon graduating from Georgetown Law School he migrated to Arizona Territory arriving in Phoenix in 1879 riding on a burro. For the 19 years O’Neill was a sheriff, newspaper editor and reporter, miner, gambler, lawyer, and mayor of Prescott (where he succeeded Morris Goldwater, uncle of Barry Goldwater).

O’Neill helped to raise three troops of Arizona cowboys for the Rough Riders and was commissioned a captain to command  A Troop. He was killed on July 1 at the base of the heights by rifle fire before the assault began.

Then TR had assistance from Regular Army officers. John Pershing as well as the father-son duo of Captain Allyn Capron (West Point 1867) and Captain Allyn K. Capron. Part of a military family that spanned five generations, the son was unable to obtain an appointment to West Point so he enlisted as a private and rose through the ranks. At the beginning of the war in April 1898, Allyn K. recruited Rough Riders from Oklahoma. Although like Hamilton Fish, he was killed at Las Guermas on June 24 before San Juan Hill, his father was active during the battle. His field artillery battery supported General Lawton’s attack on El Caney on the morning of July 1 and then turned his attention to the San Juan Heights. He contacted typhoid fever and died shortly after returning to the US. Both father and son are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

 

 

 

 All in all, TR was not alone in Cuba. He had the assistance of the entire US V Corps offensive that day including Regular Army infantry, dismounted cavalry (including the Buffalo Soldiers), and artillery; volunteers from Massachusetts, Ohio, and Michigan; and his own regiment of cowboys, Native Americans, Ivy Leaguers, and the occasional Regular Army officers. But the Battle of San Juan Hill was not an anomaly.

Slightly more 83 years before, the Americans used a diverse, even an international, coalition to defeat the British at the Battle of New Orleans. General Andrew Jackson assembled an order of battle that included Regular Army infantry; militia units from Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Orleans; US Marines; US naval personnel; freed blacks; black slaves; French pirates; and even a detachment of Choctaws.

Both battles played pivotal roles in electing Jackson and TR to the presidency. But we must never forget that both men had help. While great men do exist, yet to be great these men have legions of unnamed people usually forgotten to history assisting them to achieve greatness. The second stanza of the poem “A Worker Reads History” by Bertolt Brecht speaks to this truth:

Young Alexander conquered India.
He alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls.
Was there not even a cook in his army?
Phillip of Spain wept as his fleet
was sunk and destroyed. Were there no other tears?
Frederick the Great triumphed in the Seven Years War.
Who triumphed with him?