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Theodore Roosevelt Amazing Eyewitness Account of Leading His Charge at the Battle of San Juan Hill
Theodore Roosevelt Amazing Eyewitness Account of Leading His Charge at the Battle of San Juan Hill
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Spanish-American War

Theodore Roosevelt Amazing Eyewitness Account of Leading His Charge at the Battle of San Juan Hill



Archive containing a Spanish American War letter,12 pp ALS [Cuba [1898 written in pencil by Edwin Cole to his wife. The letter itself is written in pencil and some parts are very faint. However, it comes with a very early typescript probably done by Cole. Also included in this archive are 8 letters dating from 1912 to 1919 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Edwin Cole, most signed by Richard Maclaurin, MIT’s President (1909-1920) commending him for his work at MIT. Also included is an original flag from the Philippine theater, brought back by an American officer stationed in Bataan.



In full Cole writes: "My darling wife: It is with devout thankfulness that I am able to write to you for my time had certainly very nearly come the other day. It was simply frightful, and we were sacrificed by trying to do against modern effective small arms what was formerly considered only a last resort. Take the famous Lookout Mountain and the enemy had rifles that could be fired but twice a minute, Our enemy had long range rifles which were fired but twice a minute. Yet we were ordered without any attempt at flanking or maneuvering to go up and take it.



We started at three in the morning and about seven came up with two of our guns in position and saw the first of it. They were firing and the enemy was answering them and the shells were bursting right over them. We halted about fifty yards away and saw several men knocked over and then we marched across their line of fire right under the bursting shells. This seemed like pretty ticklish business to us who were green. Shortly after that we arrived in sight of a block house on top of a hill and were ordered into position. The diagram will give you an idea. (see scan for diagram). We were first ordered in the dense thicket the one on the rights of the line and several of the regiment on various parts. It was all swept by fire. Then we were successively in the open field. At one time "A" company which I joined when the fighting began was in the field where I marked up above. I was where the dot is and for some reason none of the men in my immediate vicinity were hit but the right was shot all to pieces and had to draw back and we were left alone and had to run for shelter. In trying to get through the fence I was caught by my sword belt and for thirty seconds was the only man in sight of the Spaniards and it is a miracle that I was not hit twenty times. A soldier reached up and unbuckled my belt and I got through. About ten minutes afterward we went through the fence and after them. Capt. Wetherill went through our opening and I followed him. Some of the men did not come and I turned back and yelled at them and swore at them and stayed at that fence holding apart the wires for several minutes. When I turned to the fence I saw Wetherill and 30 seconds afterward I missed him and we never got a chance to look for him until 24 hrs. afterward Atkinson found his body. He was shot through the forehead and did not go a yard after he got through the fence. I ran on up to the top of the hill. When I got there the enemy was in full retreat. Ord was killed leading the charge right at the top. Our regiment outfired terribly, losing 137 killed, wounded, and missing out of 450. "A" company lost 4 killed and 9 wounded, 2 not accounted for, probably dead. Sc was shot in the foot the next day.



Well after it was over the enemy fell back to a new position and commenced a most terrific fire. We were put in the second line but were under such fire that we could not get more than three feet above the ground and beside their shells were shrieking over our heads and occasionally bursting right over us. This kept up until dark and then we could not light fires and had to live on hard tack and sleep without any shelter. The next morning bright and early it started and kept up till dark and we had to hug the ground all day while a stream of bullets never ceasing screamed over and every once in a while a big shell would scream and shriek along and twice they burst directly over our heads throwing fragments all among us, fortunately hitting no one. Just before sundown it rained very hard and we had to lay flat and take it. At sundown it stopped only to be renewed by an hour of terrific firing, about none o' clock and then it ceased and wet through with no cover but a piece of wet canvas and lying in the mud cold and raw I went to sleep and slept soundly onto be awakened at daybreak by the same firing. About eleven o' clock an order came for me to report back to the corps headquarters as issuing commissary for the whole corps and while it reduced me from captain's pay to lieutenant's it was a welcome order, I had all I wanted and more. I had to make a dangerous trip through country infested with Spanish Guerilla, but about the time I started a flag of truce was sent in to demand the surrender of the city and all firing ceased and now is, they say, to be resumed tomorrow. The 48 hour's rest has been everything for our troops however, and we may have to wait for reinforcements but we will lick them. I have been through one of the most, if not the most terrible battle in history and I never want to hear another shot. The courage displayed by all was simply sublime, but the position is a terribly difficult one to take and anyone who says the Spaniards will not fight is a terrible liar. You need not worry about me as my duty for sometime to come will keep me several miles from danger, It is hard work. I never did a harder day's work in my life than today, but I want to keep out of danger and see my darling again. Poor dear you must have suffered terribly at the reports and will till you can hear definitely from me. Poor Truman was shot through the spine and died today. It brings tears to my eyes every time I think of Wetherill. Col. Egbert though shot right over the heart, through the lung will in all probability recover. All the others will get well with the possible exception of Robertson. Walter Gros, Purphy, Torrey were all shot in the leg. Walker through bone which was not shattered and Simons flesh wound in arm. Chas. Byrne and Hunt were shot through clothing but were not touched. I can't keep my eyes open longer, sweetheart, so goodnight. Lovingly, Edwin." Added postscript reads, "I wrote 15 letters this afternoon for officers at the front of the regiment."



The Battle of San Juan Hill was fought on July 1, 1898, near Santiago, Cuba. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt led his Rough Riders on the charge up the hill. The regiment took many casualties, but captured the Spanish stronghold at the top. Henry C. Egbert was commissioned first lieutenant in the 12th U.S. Infantry, 9/23/1861, becoming a captain in 1865, having won 2 brevets and being twice captured, once exchanged and once escaped. After service in the east he was posted to California, commanding Fort Independence in the Owens River Valley from 1869-73 and Fort Yuma, 1874-75. He was captain of the 12th Infantry Battalion during the Nez Perce Campaign of 1877 and in the Bannock War of 1878 in Idaho and surrounding states. Egbert commanded Fort Verde, Arizona in 1880-82, serving in the field against Chiracahua and White Mountain Apaches. During this time he investigated in depth the Cibecue Affair of 1881, his report of 12/10 being a primary source about Indian participation in that and peripheral events. Egbert served at Fort Sully, South Dakota from 1889. He became colonel of the 22nd Infantry in 1898, and served briefly as a Brigadier General of Volunteers during the Spanish American War. He was killed in action at Malinda, Philippine Islands. Fort Egbert, near Eagle, Alaska was "officially named in memory of Egbert. Alexander Macomb Wetherill of Pennsylvania was appointed From Pennsylvania, Second Lieutenant, 6th United States Infantry, 9 May 1867, First Lieutenant, 28 April 1875, Regimental Quartermaster March 1887 to January 1890, Captain, in January 1890, killed, July 1, 1898 at the battle of San Juan, Santiago, Cuba. Fort Wetherill State Park in Rhode Island is named after the fallen Colonel.



The author of the letter, Major Edwin T. Cole went on to become the chairman of the Department of Military Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, later becoming the first tech director on the Board of Directors of Harvard Cooperative Society in the 1920s.



The 31" x 28" linen flag, likely a Spanish colonial flag, bears two red horizontal stripes above and below a faded yellow stripe, with a .25" fringe along one end and a stamped identification at the margin, recto and verso, "COL.LOUIS A. CRAIG 18 V.F.W."  Several tears and moth holes, colors faded due to age, some soiling, else very good.



The flag was recovered and brought to the United States by Col. Louis Aleck Craig, who commanded the 32nd U. S. Volunteers in Bataan from October 1899 to March 1901. Craig (1851-1904) was a career officer who graduated West Point in 1874, serving on the frontier in Wyoming and Arizona until the 1890s. In 1898, with the 1st Division, he went to Puerto Rico and was present at the surrender of Spanish forces at Coamo and saw action near San Juan.  Following his service in the Caribbean, he became Colonel of the 32nd United States Volunteers which arrived in the Philippines in October 1899.  He commanded the regiment in the Philippines until March 1901 when he and his men returned to the United States. Soon after his return, Craig served briefly as Acting Superintendent of Yosemite National Park (June-November 1901).



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