Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-06-13

&IMy NV 8 crlllcal pen.
Slk1MEy 47Maez1ayeY to exploit and
skM/MIf,hHdyxSas having outside as
IAE& 4Nv||HHl well as inside
lH-y1nL y wv y law -M1AlkA) st a e m ents to
draw upon. cannot take Roosevelt as
the sole and the infallible authority
upon the battle career Of his regiment.
From the accounts popularity accept
ed Of the charge up San Juan Hill one
CLEANS that the rough riders, led by
their colonel, initiated and carried
home the charge, clinching the victory
by heroic defense Of the crest. This is
not the view Of the officers and soldiers
outside Of the rough riders. The regi-
ment did well-for volunteer regiment
unusually well-but deserves no more
praise than the others. After describing
the march down the road to the San
Juan river Roosevelt tells in two off.
cial reports and in his magazine nara
tive how the charge originated and the
part the rough riders took in it. In his
magazine story he says: II sent mes
senger after messenger to try to find
General Sumner or General Wood and
get permission to advance, and was
just about making up my mind that in
the absence Of orders / had better
march toward the guns,' when Lieu.
tenant Colonel Dorst came riding up
through the storm of bullets with the
welcome command TO move forward
and support the regulars in the assault
in the hills in 'front.'
! d. Roosevelt says that the instant he re-
ceived the order his ''crowded hour be-
gan" he formed the regiment in COL
:umn Of Troops, deployed in diminishing
order, and took his place with the rear.
'Somehow-the reason given is not clear
he forged his way to the front of his
own regiment. The Ninth cavalry was
in front, the First regulars in the left Of
the rough riders. In his narrative the
colonel Gays, "And these went up 'Ket-
tie hill with my regiment" ''Kettle"
hill Is the name given to the outlying
spur Of the ridge which was first cap
tured Roosevelt 6rst report IL not 80
clear az his second, and this last states
distinctly We charged the ,blockhouse
and intrenchme nts on the hill TO our
right against 4 heavy fire. TWAS taken
ii good style, the men Of my regiment
thus being the first to capture any for
titled position and to break through the
Spanish lines = Ill.,. >...
z. This statement is in the report dated
July 30, and from similar verbal ones
probably originated the extravagant
claims made for the rough riders. Get.
ting into position, Roosevelt says be
waved his hat and gave the order to
charge the bill in front-that is, "Ket.
tie" hill. This is his literal statement
Of what followed:
"Out Of my sight, over on the right,
Captains McBlain and Taylor Of the
Ninth made up their minds independ.
emily to charge first about this time,
and almost at the same moment Colo
nels Carroll and Hamilton, who were
of, I believe, to my left. where we
could neither see them nor hear their
men, gave the order to advance. But OF
all this knew nothing at the time.
The whole line, tired Of waiting and
eager to close with the enemy, was
etraining to 60 forward, and 1t seems
that different parts slipped the leash at
almost the same moment. The First
cavalry came up just behind and partly
mixed with my regiment and the
Ninth" Having previously stated in
this narrative that the Ninth and First
went up "Kettle" hill with the rough
riders, it is clear that Roosevelt claimed
too much in his ofiicialreport in saying,
my regiment thus being the first to
capture any fortified position.
The real difficulty is to find among
all the statements just what the rough
riders did as regiment. There was
gallant work and heavy loss. Roosevelt
carries the narrative to critical point,
then rambles of into statements Of
what the Ninth or Tenth or First OF
Third regulars did. One may CLEAN
from his account that the Tenth cavalry
actually led the charge on "Kettle"
hill, but farther on the verbose colonel
says that the guidons of some Of his
Troops were first planted on the hill. In
the same sentence he says, ION the ex'
treme right of the hill, at the opposite
end from where we struck it, Captains
Taylor and McBlaip and their men Of
the Ninth were first up" Now the
right of the hill was where the house,
miscalled q blockhouse by Roosevelt,
stood. It was not bleckhouse. There
were some trenches, but the, Spaniardt
made no defense. The loss sustained by
| the charging columns was due to firing
| from the main ridge. "Kettle" hill wal
not in the Spanish line Of defense, but
was an outwork, and it's capture did
not constitute break in the enemy''
line, as claimed by Roosevelt. -
The capture of "Kettle' hill was gal
l ,an1x, $11