The Spanish-American War was declared on this date in 1898. In this conflict, the Black men of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalries of the United States further proved their military abilities in battles and in guarding the Mexican border.
Members of both regiments fought in Cuba, participating in the battle at San Juan Hill in eastern Cuba, near the city of Santiago de Cuba. It was the scene (July 1898) where Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders took part. The Tenth also served under General John J. Pershing in the expedition against Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.
To Have a Military Career
Black Leaders of the Nineteenth Century.
Edited by Leon Litwack and August Meier
Copyright 1998, the University of Illinois Press
ISBN 0-252-06213-2
