Wheeler's division headed the
column, although that general was not commanding. He had been relieved
on the afternoon of the 30th and did not resume command until about 4
o'clock on July 1,[19] long after the heights had been carried,
although he was on the field shortly after 1 o'clock of that day.
The Dismounted Cavalry Division on the morning of July 1 presented
2,663 fighting men, including officers. The First Brigade, commanded
by Colonel Carrol, had 50 officers and 1,054 men, in regiments as
follows: Third Cavalry, 22 officers, 420 men; Sixth Cavalry, 16
officers, 427 men; Ninth Cavalry, 12 officers, 207 men, the Ninth
having hardly one-half the strength of either of the other regiments
of the brigade. The Second Brigade, commanded by General Wood,
contained 1,559 persons, distributed as follows: Brigade staff, 9
officers, 14 men; First Cavalry, 21 officers, 501 men: Tenth Cavalry,
22 officers, 507 men; First Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders), 25
officers, 517 men.
Before the troops left El Poso, Grimes' battery had been put in
position and had fired a few shots at a blockhouse on San Juan Hill,
distance 2,600 yards. Using black powder, which created a cloud of
smoke with every shot, the battery was readily located by the foe, and
the shrapnel from their guns was soon bursting among our forces.
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