The Cuban invasion was led by the 9th and 10th Cavalries, the 25th Infantry and Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt’s 1st Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders). American forces engaged the enemy at El Caney, Las Guasimas, and San Juan Hill. As the 1st Volunteer Cavalry approached San Juan Hill they met the enemy at Las Guasimas. It was at Las Guasimas were the 9th and 10th Cavalries knocked down the enemy’s improvised fort, cut the barbed wire, and made an opening for the Rough Riders and their reinforcements, the 25th Infantry, who then routed the Spaniards. [July 1, 1898] [Three days of fighting June 30th –July 2nd] It was said, “that the 9th and 10th Cavalries saved the day at Las Guasimas.” One Southern white officer said, “If it had not been for the negro cavalry the Rough Riders would have been defeated, and I’m no negro lover.”
The Cuban invasion was led by the 9th and 10th Cavalries, the 25th Infantry and Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt’s 1st Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders). American forces engaged the enemy at El Caney, Las Guasimas, and San Juan Hill. As the 1st Volunteer Cavalry approached San Juan Hill they met the enemy at Las Guasimas. It was at Las Guasimas were the 9th and 10th Cavalries knocked down the enemy’s improvised fort, cut the barbed wire, and made an opening for the Rough Riders and their reinforcements, the 25th Infantry, who then routed the Spaniards. [July 1, 1898] [Three days of fighting June 30th –July 2nd] It was said, “that the 9th and 10th Cavalries saved the day at Las Guasimas.” One Southern white officer said, “If it had not been for the negro cavalry the Rough Riders would have been defeated, and I’m no negro lover.”