The Battle of San Juan Hill, also known as the Battle for the San Juan Heights, was a major battle of the Spanish–American War fought between an American force under the command of William Rufus Shafter and Joseph Wheeler against a Spanish force led by Arsenio Linares y Pombo. The battle proved to be one of the most significant battles of the war and, along with the Siege of Santiago, a decisive battle in deciding the fate of the United States Army campaign in Cuba. The American forces, outnumbering the Spanish defenders 16-to-one, charged upon the heights and dispersed the Spanish after suffering heavy casualties.
Charge of the 24th and 25th Colored Infantry,
U. S. Army photo of a soldier pointing at the top of Kettle Hill, c. July 4, 1898. In the background are the block houses on San Juan Hill and the American encampment.
At the Bloody Ford of the San Juan by Frederic Remington, 1898
US Army photo showing trench and block house on San Juan Hill about July 4, 1898. Soldiers are from the 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment.
The Spanish–American War began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. The war led to the United States emerging predominant in the Caribbean region, and resulted in U.S. acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. It also led to United States involvement in the Philippine Revolution and later to the Philippine–American War.
(clockwise from top left) Signal Corps extending telegraph lines USS Iowa at the Victory Fleet Review in August 1898 in New York Harbor Filipino soldiers wearing Spanish pith helmets outside Manila The Spanish signing the Treaty of Paris Roosevelt and his Rough Riders at San Juan Hill Replacing of the Spanish flag at Fort San Antonio Abad (Fort Malate)
A Spanish propaganda drawing published in La Campana de Gràcia (1896) by Manuel Moliné criticizing U.S. behavior regarding Cuba. Upper text (in old Catalan) reads: "Uncle Sam's craving", and below: "To keep the island so it won't get lost".
An American cartoon published in Judge, February 6, 1897: Columbia (representing the American people) reaches out to the oppressed Cuba (the caption under the chained child reads "Spain's 16th century methods") while Uncle Sam (representing the U.S. government) sits blindfolded, refusing to see the atrocities or use his guns to intervene (cartoon by Grant E. Hamilton).
The sunken USS Maine in Havana harbor