July 1, 1898. Cuba. American forces have massed at the bottom of a hill, Kettle Hill in the San Juan Heights. Spanish troops are dug into a dominant position on the hilltop. The Americans appear to be stuck, unwilling to charge into the teeth of entrenched gunfire, but unable to retreat due to advancing troops behind them, clogging up the road.
Suddenly, Theodore Roosevelt appears from the woods on horseback–one of the few men with a horse after an earlier SNAFU forced the Rough Rider regiment to leave behind almost all of their horses.
Then Teddy Roosevelt charged up the hill.
. . .
For more, listen to the Podcast episode and check out my book, History Stories for Everyone, where I dive deeper into this and some of history’s other most fascinating and relatable human stories:
