Battle of San Juan Hill - Definition and Overview

The Battle of San Juan Hill was the bloodiest and most famous battle of the Spanish-American War.

At San Juan Hill, 750 Spanish soldiers were ordered to hold the heights against an American offensive on June 1, 1898. For reasons still not quite clear, Spanish General Arsenio Linares failed to reinforce this position, choosing to hold nearly 10,000 Spanish reserves in the city of Santiago.

Despite this, the struggle lasted for more than twelve hours, and cost at least two hundred American and an equal number of Spanish lives.

During the engagement, Theodore Roosevelt became famous for his bold "charge up San Juan Hill" (the actual name of the hill was Kettle Hill but various reports incorrectly gave the name as "San Juan").

References

• Nofi, Albert A., The Spanish American War, 1898, 1997.
• Carrasco García, Antonio, En Guerra con Los Estados Unidos: Cuba, 1898, Madrid: 1998.

External link

• Spanish-American War Centennial Website (http://www.spanamwar.com)