Good morning, Whitewater.
A new month begins for Whitewater, with increasingly sunny skies throughout the day and a high of seventy-four. Sunrise is 5:20 and sunset 8:37, for 15h 16m 32s of daytime. We’ve a full moon.
The Whitewater CDA’s Seed Capital Screening Committee meets today at 4 PM.
Original title: “Colonel Roosevelt and his Rough Riders at the top of the hill which they captured, Battle of San Juan Hill.” US Army victors on Kettle Hill about July 3, 1898 after the battle of “San Juan Hill(s).” Left to right is 3rd US Cavalry, 1st Volunteer Cavalry (Col. Theodore Roosevelt center) and 10th US Cavalry. A second similar picture is often shown cropping out all but the 1st Vol Cav and TR.
On this day in 1898, Col. Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders participate in the successful taking of San Juan Heights (San Juan Hill, Kettle Hill) from entrenched Spanish troops:
As the troops of the various units began slowly creeping up the hill, firing their rifles at the opposition as they climbed, Roosevelt went to the captain of the platoons in back and had a word with him. He stated that it was his opinion that they could not effectively take the hill due to an insufficient ability to effectively return fire, and that the solution was to charge it full-on. The captain reiterated his colonel’s orders to hold position. Roosevelt, recognizing the absence of the other Colonel, declared himself the ranking officer and ordered a charge up Kettle Hill. The captain stood hesitant, and Colonel Roosevelt rode off on his horse, Texas, leading his own men uphill while waving his hat in the air and cheering. The Rough Riders followed him with enthusiasm and obedience without hesitation. By then, the other men from the different units on the hill became stirred by this event and began bolting up the hill alongside their countrymen. The ‘charge’ was actually a series of short rushes by mixed groups of regulars and Rough Riders. Within twenty minutes Kettle Hill was taken, though casualties were heavy. The rest of San Juan Heights was taken within the hour following.
The Rough Riders’ charge on Kettle Hill was facilitated by a hail of covering fire from three Gatling Guns commanded by Lt. John H. Parker, which fired some 18,000 .30 Army rounds into the Spanish trenches atop the crest of both hills. Col. Roosevelt noted that the hammering sound of the Gatling guns visibly raised the spirits of his men:
“There suddenly smote on our ears a peculiar drumming sound. One or two of the men cried out, “The Spanish machine guns!” but, after listening a moment, I leaped to my feet and called, “It’s the Gatlings, men! Our Gatlings!” Immediately the troopers began to cheer lustily, for the sound was most inspiring.”[6][7]
Trooper Jesse D. Langdon of the 1st Volunteer Infantry, who accompanied Col. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders in their assault on Kettle Hill, reported:
“We were exposed to the Spanish fire, but there was very little because just before we started, why, the Gatling guns opened up at the bottom of the hill, and everybody yelled, “The Gatlings! The Gatlings!” and away we went. The Gatlings just enfiladed the top of those trenches. We’d never have been able to take Kettle Hill if it hadn’t been for Parker’s Gatling guns.”[8]
A Spanish counterattack on Kettle Hill by some 600 infantry was quickly decimated by one of Lt. Parker’s Gatling guns recently emplaced on the summit of San Juan Hill, which killed all but forty of the attackers before they had closed to within 250 yards of the Americans on Kettle Hill.[9] Col. Roosevelt was so impressed by the actions of Lt. Parker and his men that he placed his regiment’s two 7mm Colt–Browning machine guns and the volunteers manning them under Parker, who immediately emplaced them—along with 10,000 rounds of captured 7mm Mauser ammunition—at tactical firing points in the American line.[10]
Colonel Roosevelt gave a large share of the credit for the successful charge to Lt. Parker and his Gatling Gun Detachment:
“I think Parker deserved rather more credit than any other one man in the entire campaign…he had the rare good judgment and foresight to see the possibilities of the machine-guns..He then, by his own exertions, got it to the front and proved that it could do invaluable work on the field of battle, as much in attack as in defence.”[11]
On this day in 1959, selling margarine becomes legal in Wisconsin:
On this date it became legal to purchase Oleomargarine in Wisconsin. For decades, margarine was considered a contraband spread. Sale of the butter imposter resulted in fines or possible jail terms. Oleomargarine was sold legally in Illinois and frequently smuggled into Wisconsin.
Here’s the Wednesday game from Puzzability:
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This Week’s Game — June 29-July 3
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One Nation, Divisible
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Get out your red, white, and blue-ray for this week’s filmfest. For each day, we’ll give you a series of clues, each of which leads to a word. You must drop one letter out of each of these answer words and put them together (in order), adding spaces as needed, to get a movie title that includes a word evoking the July 4th holiday—a different such word every day.
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Example:
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“We hold ___ truths to be self-evident” / “Fourscore and seven years ___” / composer of The Merry Widow / public defamation, legally / uninhibited part of the psyche
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Answer:
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The Eagle Has Landed (these / ago / Lehar / slander / id)
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What to Submit:
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Submit the movie title and the smaller words (as “The Eagle Has Landed (these / ago / Lehar / slander / id)” in the example) for your answer.
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Wednesday, July 1
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