Robert B. Huston
A Hamilton-born captain played a role in the legendary U. S. victory in the Battle of San Juan Hill, the climatic combat in Cuba in the Spanish-American War. Robert B. Huston commanded one of the two squadrons of the Rough Riders in the July 1, 1898, encounter.
The Rough Riders -- a collection of cowboys, expert horsemen, miners, lawmen and college students from the west -- have been described as "the most widely publicized single regiment in American military history."
Much of the regiment's fame was the work of its media-conscious organizer, Theodore Roosevelt. The future president of the United States was assistant secretary of the navy when the Spanish-American War started. He left that desk job to help raise the Rough Riders, officially the First U. S. Cavalry Volunteers.
Commander of the Rough Riders was Dr. Leonard Wood, a Roosevelt friend who had received his medical degree from Harvard in 1884 and entered the Army Medical Corps in 1885.
Because of transportation problems, the regiment had to leave its horses in Florida. That forced the Rough Riders to fight dismounted in the successful assault on San Juan Hill, the high ground overlooking the city of Santiago, Cuba.
Captain Robert B. Huston had succeeded to command of one of the two squadrons a few days earlier when a major leading the group was wounded.
The Rough Riders joined the Ninth and 10th U. S. Cavalry regiments (both black units) on the right flank in the scramble up San Juan Hill. At the same time, the Sixth and 16th U. S. Cavalry regiments advanced on the left and are credited with being the first Americans to reach the top of the hill 100 years ago today.
Five Hamilton men were in the Sixth U. S. Infantry Regiment, a regular army unit. They were Sergeant I. W. Green and Privates William Conlin, Michael P. Connaughton, Augustus Kienzle and Jacob Morton. Another Hamilton soldier in action that day was Charles Stillmacher, a member of the Seventh U. S. Infantry Regiment, fighting at El Caney, about two miles north of San Jaun Hill..
Among the U. S. dead was a Butler County native, Lt. W. A. Sater of the 13th Infantry. The 25-year-old West Point graduate had been born in Morgan Township before moving to Kansas with his parents
Captain Huston, born in 1865 in Hamilton, was educated in the local public schools before attending National Normal University in Lebanon, Ohio.
At the age of 18, Huston moved to Kansas where he taught school while attending college and studying law. Huston also joined the Kansas National Guard. He was admitted to the Kansas bar in 1892. That same year, he moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma, where he joined a brother, H. H. Huston, in a law practice for several years.
In 1894 he was appointed captain of Company A of the First Regiment, Oklahoma National Guard. In 1895 -- the year he married Viannia Rhodes of Worcester, New York -- Huston was promoted to lieutenant colonel. April 2, 1898, he was appointed colonel and commander of the Oklahoma regiment.
After the U. S. declared war on Spain, Oklahoma was asked to provide a company of expert horsemen to join the First Regiment, U. S. Volunteers. May 11, 1898, Huston was commissioned captain of the group that was sent to San Antonio, Texas, to become part of the Rough Riders.
After its service in Cuba, the unit was mustered out Sept. 15, 1898, but Huston remained in the army as a paymaster with a promotion to major. He served until July 29, 1899.
A few days later, Huston returned to the army when he was commissioned captain of Company I of the 47th U. S. Infantry Aug. 17, 1899. He was sent to the Philippines, where he died July 6, 1900, in a Manila hospital.
Huston's body was returned to Hamilton for burial Aug. 20, 1900, in Greenwood Cemetery.
The Rough Riders -- a collection of cowboys, expert horsemen, miners, lawmen and college students from the west -- have been described as "the most widely publicized single regiment in American military history."
Much of the regiment's fame was the work of its media-conscious organizer, Theodore Roosevelt. The future president of the United States was assistant secretary of the navy when the Spanish-American War started. He left that desk job to help raise the Rough Riders, officially the First U. S. Cavalry Volunteers.
Commander of the Rough Riders was Dr. Leonard Wood, a Roosevelt friend who had received his medical degree from Harvard in 1884 and entered the Army Medical Corps in 1885.
Because of transportation problems, the regiment had to leave its horses in Florida. That forced the Rough Riders to fight dismounted in the successful assault on San Juan Hill, the high ground overlooking the city of Santiago, Cuba.
Captain Robert B. Huston had succeeded to command of one of the two squadrons a few days earlier when a major leading the group was wounded.
The Rough Riders joined the Ninth and 10th U. S. Cavalry regiments (both black units) on the right flank in the scramble up San Juan Hill. At the same time, the Sixth and 16th U. S. Cavalry regiments advanced on the left and are credited with being the first Americans to reach the top of the hill 100 years ago today.
Five Hamilton men were in the Sixth U. S. Infantry Regiment, a regular army unit. They were Sergeant I. W. Green and Privates William Conlin, Michael P. Connaughton, Augustus Kienzle and Jacob Morton. Another Hamilton soldier in action that day was Charles Stillmacher, a member of the Seventh U. S. Infantry Regiment, fighting at El Caney, about two miles north of San Jaun Hill..
Among the U. S. dead was a Butler County native, Lt. W. A. Sater of the 13th Infantry. The 25-year-old West Point graduate had been born in Morgan Township before moving to Kansas with his parents
Captain Huston, born in 1865 in Hamilton, was educated in the local public schools before attending National Normal University in Lebanon, Ohio.
At the age of 18, Huston moved to Kansas where he taught school while attending college and studying law. Huston also joined the Kansas National Guard. He was admitted to the Kansas bar in 1892. That same year, he moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma, where he joined a brother, H. H. Huston, in a law practice for several years.
In 1894 he was appointed captain of Company A of the First Regiment, Oklahoma National Guard. In 1895 -- the year he married Viannia Rhodes of Worcester, New York -- Huston was promoted to lieutenant colonel. April 2, 1898, he was appointed colonel and commander of the Oklahoma regiment.
After the U. S. declared war on Spain, Oklahoma was asked to provide a company of expert horsemen to join the First Regiment, U. S. Volunteers. May 11, 1898, Huston was commissioned captain of the group that was sent to San Antonio, Texas, to become part of the Rough Riders.
After its service in Cuba, the unit was mustered out Sept. 15, 1898, but Huston remained in the army as a paymaster with a promotion to major. He served until July 29, 1899.
A few days later, Huston returned to the army when he was commissioned captain of Company I of the 47th U. S. Infantry Aug. 17, 1899. He was sent to the Philippines, where he died July 6, 1900, in a Manila hospital.
Huston's body was returned to Hamilton for burial Aug. 20, 1900, in Greenwood Cemetery.