In their push to capture the strategically important city of Santiago de Cuba, some 8,000 Americans battled for the two nearby hills of San Juan Heights, including Rooseveltâs volunteer regiment and some 1,250 Black soldiers. Unlike in most U.S. wars, the fighting was an integrated effort. âRegulars and volunteers, blacks and whites, fought side by side, endured the blistering heat and driving rain, and shared food and drink as well as peril and discomfort,â wrote U.S. Defense Department historian Frank Schubert in 1998. âThey forged a victory that did not belong primarily to TR, nor did it belong mainly to the Buffalo soldiers. It belonged to all of them.
Twenty-six Buffalo Soldiers died that day and several troopers from the 9th and 10th Calvary, and the 24th and 25th Infantry were later recognized and awarded for their bravery. Quarter Master Sergeant Edward L. Baker, Jr of the 10th Calvary, for example, was wounded by shrapnel and was awarded The Medal of Honor for his heroism.
MILITARY HISTORY SOCIETY OF ROCHESTER
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