f the openings through which the trail
ran; and until it was finally torn by shrapnel so that it slowly sank
into the forest, the men under and behind it were exactly in the focus
of the converging streams of bullets which it attracted from all parts
of the San Juan heights. The only useful discovery made by it was the
fact that there was a second or branch trail leading to a lower ford of
the San Juan River which General Kent's division might take, and thus
relieve the crowding on the main road.

Parts of the divisions of Generals Kent and Sumner crossed the San Juan
shortly after noon, and made an attempt to deploy on its western bank
and form in line of battle; but the jungle was so dense, and the fire
which swept the whole margin of the forest between them and the heights
of San Juan was so destructive, that they could do little more than seek
such cover as could be had and await orders. So far as I have been able
to ascertain, no orders were received at this critical time by either of
the division commanders. The narrow road, for a distance of a mile back
of the firing line, was crowded with troops pressing forward to the San
Juan ford; General Shafter, at his headquarters two miles in the rear,
had little knowledge of the situation, and no adequate means of getting
orders to his subordinates at the front; and meanwhile our advanced
line, almost lost in the jungle, was being decimated by a fire which the
men could not effectively return, and which it was impossible long to
endure. Exactly what happened at this turning-point of the battle, who
took the lead, and what orders were given, I do not certainly know; but
the troops nearest the edge of the forest, including the Rough Riders,
two regiments of General Hawkins's brigade (the Sixth and Sixteenth), a
few men from the Seventy-first New York under Captain Rafferty, and
perhaps squads or fragments of three or four other commands, suddenly
broke from cover, as if moved by a general spontaneous impulse, and,
with Colonel Roosevelt and General Hawkins as their most conspicuous, if
not their foremost, leaders, charged "Kettle Hill" and the heights of
San Juan. The advancing line, at first, looked very weak and thin; but
it was equal to its task. In less than fifteen minutes it had reached
the crest, and was driving the Spaniards along it toward the blockhouse,
and down the slope behind it into the next valley. With the aid of the
Ninth, Thirteenth, and Twenty-fourth Inf