14. Roosevelt assaulted Kettle Hill against orders
The plan to take Kettle Hill was through a gradual assault, exchanging fire with the enemy above while using natural cover offered by the terrain to slowly approach the crest. The Rough Riders were ordered to hold the position as a covering force at the base of the hill, moving upwards when called from the troops above. Roosevelt disliked the slow pace and when he realized that he was the senior officer present at the base of Kettle Hill, he ordered a full charge up its slope. Gatling guns at the base of the slope covered the charge and suppressed Spanish fire, though casualties were nonetheless heavy during the assault.
The troops advanced in small groups, covering each other, until they reached the crest and captured the Spanish positions. The entire affair took less than twenty minutes, and the rest of the San Juan heights were secured within an hour. Thus, the famed charge-up San Juan Hill by the Rough Riders was in reality an attack on Kettle Hill, using standard infantry tactics, supported by Gatling and machine guns, which also broke up Spanish counterattacks. The naval battle of Santiago and the capture of the heights allowed the United States to capture Santiago de Cuba in a short siege, and the war with Spain was effectively over by the beginning of August. On August 14, the Rough Riders who had served in Cuba were landed at Montauk, New York.
