ZestBlog

One may know the basic details of this story - that while serving with the Rough Riders, T.R. led the charge up Kettle Hill during the notoriously bloody battle of San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War. But the actual details are even more insane.

T.R. had the only horse and led it back and forth between the guns at the front of the advance. When his horse was injured - caught in barbed wire - he continued up on foot. 

The most important note, though, is this: the entire advancement of the Rough Riders up Kettle Hill was T.R.'s call. He received no order from his superiors. 

"On the day of the big fight I had to ask my men to do a deed that European military writers consider utterly impossible of performance, that is, to attack over open ground an unshaken infantry armed with the best modern repeating rifles behind a formidable system of entrenchments. The only way to get them to do it in the way it had to be done was to lead them myself." - Teddy Roosevelt