The Rough Riders Essay, Research Paper

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, William McKinley defeated

Grover Cleveland for the presidency and there was a huge push for the

United States of America to expand beyond its continental boarders.

(Lorant, p. 281) With an enthusiasm for a new urge for international

Manifest Destiny, the American people wanted to match Europe^s imperial

power by making America^s weight felt around the world. (Boger p.714)

The extent of expansionism was felt in the Pacific Ocean with the

occupation of the Hawaiian Islands and Guam, but the most famous

example of Americas enthusiasm for international assertiveness came in

the Caribbean with the war for Cuban independence against Spain. (Boger

p.714) The Spanish-American war was a war that made the United States

emerge as a world power and has sense been thought of as the most

popular war in American history. (Lorant, p. 281) As John Hay had

said, ^It has been a splendid little war, begun with the highest

matters, carried on with mag! nificent intelligence and spirit,

favored by the fortune which loves the brave.^ (Lorant, p. 297) Words

that truly captured the feelings of all Americans at the time. In the

American people^s eyes, the war was not won by political jargon or a

decisive Naval campaign, but by a rugged Lieutenant Colonel and his

band of outlaws, cowboys, and Harvard polo-players, more commonly known

as the Rough Riders. (Lorant, p. 295) Although the war was not won by

Roosevelt^s Rough Rider charge up San Juan Hill, the battle gave the

war its romantic essence, which still fills history books today.

Roosevelt^s Rough Riders were a key part in the fight for Cuban

Independence by brave yet unconventional means that made them one of

the most popular fighting forces in American history.

Soon after McKinley^s presidential victory in 1896, he appointed

Theodore Roosevelt to the office of Assistant Secretary of the Navy

under John D. Long. (Lorant, p. 281) The main problems of the time

were the occupation of Cuba by Spain and the fact that relations with

Spain were steadily worsening. American sympathy was with the Cubans

who were rebelling against the corrupt and evil Spanish overlords.

(Lorant, p. 281) Americans attitude towards the Cuban people was

mainly on humanitarian motives, but other reasons came into play to

push the United States into a fight. The first reason was being

economic. (Lorant, p. 281) The trade with Cuba, which had been one

hundred million dollars in 1893, was badly disrupted by the

insurrection. (Lorant, p. 281) Another reason was geo-political. The

United States had always wanted to control the Caribbean area, with all

it^s islands and opportunities. The United States badly needed ports

for it^s growing Navy and the United States!

wanted to protect the approaches to the present site of the Isthmain

canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. (Lorant, p. 281) As if

the fire needed anymore fuel, Joseph Pulitzer^s New York World and

William Randolph Hearst^s New York Journal continually published a

series of Cuban atrocity stories which told of the inhumanities of the

Spanish government, lead by the Spanish commander, General Weyler, who

herded non-combatant Cubans into concentration camps where 200,000

Cubans died. (Lorant, p. 282) More reports kept following in about

rapes, robbery, and unspeakable crimes. Although the American people

wanted to act, McKinley, and Cleveland before him, wanted to remain

neutral. Roosevelt disagreed with the decision and was convinced the

United States should fight for the independence and civil liberties of

Cuba. (Lorant, p. 282) Roosevelt was constantly trying to persuade

others, including McKinley, into listening to his beliefs on the

matter of war and was alway! s trying to bring the Navy to full

strength. Roosevelt felt that diplomacy is ^utterly useless,^ without

force behind it and that, ^the diplomat is the servant, not the master

of the soldier.^ (Lorant, p. 282) But more often than not, Roosevelt

was over stepping his boundaries and McKinley was set on giving Spain

the opportunity to reform their ways. Reform would not come in enough

time. Several events determined the destiny of Spain. The first was

being a letter intercepted in February of 1898 by a Cuban revolutionary

agent and turned over to the New York Journal. (Lorant, p. 282) The

letter was from Enrique de Lome, the Spanish Minister in Washington,

and stated that President McKinley was ^weak and a bidder for the

administration of the crowd, besides being a would-be politician who

tries to leave a door behind himself while keeping on good terms with

the jingoes in the party.^ (Lorant, p. 282) This infuriated the

American people, believing that Spain was taunting the United States,

not to mention the complete lack of respect for the President. Spain^s

arrogance was a complete slap in the face as far as Roosevelt and the

American people were concerned. Still, McKinley rema! ined unmoved by

the letter and remained neutral about Spain. The next chain of events

would prove to be disastrous for Spain. The U.S.S. Maine while at

anchor on a ^peaceful^ mission in Havana harbor, Cuba, was blown-up and

sank with the loss of two hundred and sixty lives. (Lorant, p. 283)

The explosion was thought to be either set by the Spanish, Cuban

provocateurs or an internal explosion on the ship, but the American

people were thoroughly convinced the Spanish government was responsible

for this horrible act of terrorism. Still Roosevelt argued intensely

for war but McKinley waited for terms for change. Without proper

authority, Roosevelt cabled Commodore Dewey, the head of the American

Naval forces, to hold the Spanish fleet on the Philippine islands and

to be prepared for war by keeping plenty of munitions and coal aboard

his vessels. (Lorant, p. 282) Then, After a long investigation in

Cuba, a Spanish underwater mine was determined to be the cause of the

explosio! n of the U.S.S. Maine. (It was later determined that an

inner coal fire was the cause of the explosion.) With the report of

the underwater mine racing across the country, on April 11 1898,

President McKinley delivered his War speech to Congress. (Lorant, p.

282) With ^Remember the Maine^ on the lips of all Americans, the

country prepared for battle, including an elated Theodore Roosevelt.

(Grantham, p. 51) Roosevelt immediately resigned his post as Assistant

Secretary of the Navy, ordered a new uniform from Brooks Brothers, half

a dozen pair of spectacles, some horses and was off to join a brand new

volunteer regiment in Texas. (Lorant, p. 282)

Although friends warned Roosevelt that to resign his post in the Navy

Department might mean the end of his political career, he ignored the

warnings because he felt he needed to prove himself in battle. (Lorant,

p. 295) Congress had authorized the recruitment of three volunteer

cavalry regiments in the United States and territories of the West and

Southwest. . (Lorant, p. 295) General Russell A. Alger, the Secretary

of War, was ready to place Roosevelt as the head of one of the

regiments, but Roosevelt declined the offer and proposed that his

friend Leonard Wood, a young Army surgeon, should be given the

command. Roosevelt settled for the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. .

(Lorant, p. 295) After several names were labeled to fit the new

regiment, the Rough Riders, as it was came to be known, was formed and

became one of the most extraordinary fighting forces ever to be

assembled in the United States military. . (Lorant, p. 295) The Rough

Riders was made up of hard riding cowbo! ys, iron-tough gamblers,

native Americans, and recruits whose relations with the law were

strained at best. On the other side of the spectrum, from the East

came adventurous college boys from Harvard, polo-players, and Long

Island fox hunters. . (Lorant, p. 298) The Rough Riders were a motley

and undisciplined regiment but was physically tough and were excellent

shots and horsemen. Most of all and especially to Roosevelt^s liking,

they were eager to fight. Colonel Wood had joked, ^ If we don^t get

them to Cuba quickly to fight Spaniards there is a great danger that

they^ll be fighting one another.^ (Jeffers, p. 170) They trained all

day long starting at 5:50 am and ending at 9:00 p.m., with constant

mounted and ground drilling to instill the discipline of military

life. They wore their blue shirts, loosely knotted handkerchiefs

around their necks, brown pants, and leggings, boots and

slouched-brimmed hats that quickly became the regiments trademark. The

rifles they carr! ied were regular army carbines and they were also

issued army revolvers. Sabers, the traditional symbol of the cavalry

were not issued because of their ineffectiveness in battle. (Jeffers,

p. 175) The men quickly grew used to the life of a cavalry soldier.

^Above all,^ Roosevelt wrote in his book The Rough Riders, ^every man

felt, and had constantly instilled into him, a keen pride of the

regiment, and a resolute purpose to do his whole duty uncomplainingly,

and, above all, to win glory the way he handled himself in battle.^

(Jeffers, p. 177) The term Rough Rider did not sit well with the

soldiers in the beginning. They did not want people to think they were

some kind of sideshow. They wanted to be known as a ^ regiment that

may be of rough riders, but they will be as orderly, obedient, and

generally well disciplined a body as any equal number of men in any

bunch of the service.^ (Jeffers, p. 151) The reason why the Rough

Riders were such good soldiers was largely due t! o the fact that they

counted the cost before entering the regiment. (Grantham, p. 51) All

members of the Rough Riders were prepared for their own deaths and the

death of their enemy. (Jeffers, p. 154) The Rough Riders had become a

full military regiment and had the pride to match any in the regular

army.

While the Rough Riders were training in San Antonio, Texas, Commodore

Dewey won the first victory in the war in the Philippines. (Lorant, p.

283) One of the main reasons for this decisive victory was due to the

state of readiness he had assumed on Roosevelt^s orders while Assistant

Secretary of the Navy. Dewey sailed from Hong Kong with his squadron

and on the night of April 30, he slipped into Manilla Bay, where the

Spanish fleet lay at anchor. At dawn he closed into range before

giving his famous order of, ^You may fire when ready, Gridley.^

(Lorant, p. 295) Five times he passed the Spanish fleet, raking it with

heavy gunfire. The Spanish fleet was successfully destroyed.

Now it was time for the ground troops to make their way to Cuba for the

land war. Lack of transportation and horrible accommodations made the

journey from Key West, Flordia very difficult and uneasy for men who

were mostly used to being on open pastures, not open waters. (Lorant,

p. 296) The vessels allowed standing room only because of the capacity

of the ships were stretched to twice the expected limit. (Lorant, p.

296) Upon the arrival of Cuba, ruff seas and lack of sufficient docks

caused many of the boats to capsize, resulting in the loss of

ammunition, rifles and food. The ruff seas also took the lives of two

Rough Riders coming ashore in the choppy waters. (Jeffers, p. 209)

The conditions on shore did not get any better. Heat and humidity

along with strange surroundings caused for an unsettling setting for a

war. While landing, they were not met by any of the expected

resistance in the town of Daiquiri because the Spaniards fled after

being bombarded with shell! s from the war ships in the harbor.

(Jeffers, p. 209) They were met by a group of four hundred Cuban

insurgents who were brandishing rifles from several periods of history,

and proved only to be useful as scouts for the army. (Jeffers, p. 209)

Another problem that arose was the fact that the Rough Riders were a

mounted cavalry but on their way to Cuba there was no room for the

horses. The Rough Riders soon became known by the regular army troops

as ^Wood^s Weary Walkers.^ (Jeffers, p. 210) Even with all the

difficulties that had arisen, the Rough Riders were still ready to

fight.

Their mission was to push towards the main town of Santiago were the

main concentration of Spanish soldiers had been stationed. (Jeffers, p.

215) Two days after their arrival in Cuba, while advancing through

thick jungle in the mountains at Las Guansimas, the Rough Riders were

introduced to their ^baptism of fire.^ (Lorant, p.296) Although the

skirmish was brief, Richard Davis, a news correspondent who accompanied

the regiment, said the skirmish was ^the hottest, hastiest fight I ever

imagined.^ (Jeffers, p. 215) Sixteen Rough Riders lost their lives and

another fifty were wounded. (Jeffers, p. 215) As the men were being

wounded they continued to fight. One of the soldiers who was mortally

wounded through the hip, asked for his canteen and his rifle and

continued to fight until he died. (Jeffers, p. 220) This was a common

occurrence and showed the strong personal fortitude of the Rough

Riders. The battle was considered a victory, which was the first for

the Rough Riders ! and an embarrassment for the regular army brass

that produced little effectiveness. (Grantham, p. 51) They set camp in

the small town called Sevilla of Las Guansiamas. There was little food

and other supplies which Roosevelt considered this a failure of the

Army Commisionary Department as one more evidence of the nations

unprepardness for war. (Jeffers, p. 222) But despite all the problems,

Roosevelt wrote, ^From the generals to the privates, all were eager to

march against Santiago.^ (Jeffers, p. 223) After a long look of

Santiago, the commanders decided to take the trenches on San Juan Hill

in order to have the high ground advantage over the town and the fort

of El Caney. On July 1st and 2nd, at San Juan Hill, the Rough Riders

would endure their greatest test with the capture of the Spanish

entrenchment at the summit of the hill.

As the troops set up at the foot of San Juan Hill, the United States

artillery forces opened fire on the Spanish troops guarding the hill.

The Spanish quickly returned fire and the exact strength and position

of the enemy was not known. The troops had become pinned down at the

foot of the hill by a heavy barrage of artillery fire. (Jeffers, p.

223) While the men hid behind whatever they could find for protection,

Roosevelt sat upon his horse ^Texas^ with his revolver drawn (which he

given by his brother-in-law from the sunken Maine), shouting and riding

among his men so they would be ready for the charge. He wore a dark

blue shirt, with yellow suspenders with silver fasteners. (Jeffers, p.

230) He was determined to set an example of courage, but he also set a

tempting yet elusive target for the Spanish^s German Mauser rifles. As

Roosevelt and the other commanders waited for a signal to start the

upward charge, men all around were being picked off by the Spanish.

With gr! eat frustration, Roosevelt sent messenger after messenger to

find a general to give the forward charge command. He was finally

given the welcomed command to move forward and support the regular army

troops hesitated to advance because of confusion in the orders. So

Roosevelt led his Rough Riders up the hill in front of everyone else.

With the 9th regiment in front, the 1st on the left and the 3rd, 6th,

and 10th behind, the troops soon saw the Lieutenant Colonel charging up

the hill with his regiment following loyally behind and joined in the

gallant charge. (Jeffers, p. 232) The regiments soon became

intermingled with Roosevelt spear heading the charge in what he called

^my crowded hour.^ (Jeffers, p. 234) From all sides the troops were

overpowering the Spanish lines. Roosevelt managed to kill two

Spaniards on his way up the summit. The Rough Riders, the 9th and

scattered members of the 1st cavalry scrambled up the hill. Roosevelt

breathlessly reached the top and almos! t immediately the Rough Riders

and the 9th swarmed around him. The Rough Riders, along with other

members of the regular and volunteer troops, had successfully taken San

Juan Hill but American history would assign the glory to only one man,

Theodore Roosevelt. (Jeffers, p. 237) But their glory was shot lived.

Immediately, the Spanish troops started firing and shooting cannons at

the men on top of San Juan Hill and the rest of the regular army troops

battling to reach the summit. (Jeffers, p. 237) Roosevelt immediately

led a heavy charge of all the troops, both regulars and volunteer

straight into the fire in the trenches to give coverage for the

advancing men. White and black soldiers became intermixed during the

attack but advancing as one causing the Spaniards to flee or

surrender. Roosevelt had fragments of six cavalry regiments under his

command. Finally, the regiments took over the trenches and managed to

capture food and supplies. They found shovels, trenching too! ls,

picks, coffee, and food found still hot on the stoves. (Jeffers, p.

241)

Out of the four hundred and ninety Rough Riders who had marched into

the battle for San Juan Heights, eighty nine had been killed or

wounded, the heaviest loss suffered by any regiment in the cavalry

division. (Jeffers, p. 241) Roosevelt attributed the heavy losses to

the fact that his men had done the charging. That the Rough Riders had

suffered more heavily than their opponents was a point of pride for

Roosevelt. Everyone who had witnessed both charges on San Juan Hill

and the trenches agreed that they had occurred only because of the man

who had led them. Roosevelt was highly regarded by everyone fighting

against the Spanish, which was made known by a recommendation sent to

secretary of War Alger that Roosevelt be awarded the Congressional

Medal of Honor, which is the highest honor awarded to a soldier, and

was signed by Colonel LeonardWood. (Jeffers, p. 243) Great admiration

had also been directed toward the Rough Rider regiment received a new

Official name, the 11th United States Horse. (Jeffers, p. 248) But

no one admired the Rough Riders more than the man who trained and led

them into their place in history. Roosevelt proudly wrote, ^ In less

than sixty days the regiment had been raised, organize, equipped,

drilled, mounted, dismounted, kept for a fortnight on transports and

put through two victorious aggressive fights in very difficult country,

the loss in killed and wounded amounting to a quarter of those

engaged. This is a record, which is not easy to match in the history

of the volunteer organization^. It may be doubted whether there was

any regiment which made such a record during the first months of any of

out wars.^ (Jeffers, p. 248) Still, though the infantry fought hard,

the war was not decided by their bravery. It was the Navy who

delivered the final blow by destroying the Spanish fleet trying to flee

into open water from Santiago harbor. Because of the mismanag

To Roosevelt, the war had been a glorious adventure, proof of his

physical courage and his abilities as a leader. Roosevelt had become

one of the most popular men in America and a permanent figure in

history. (Hill, p. 15) On the final day of the Rough Riders, the

troops all met at Camp Wilkoff and presented their Lieutenant Colonel

with a bronze bronco buster. After the cheering had stopped, Roosevelt

addressed his beloved Rough Riders. ^ I am proud of this regiment

beyond measure. I am proud of it because it is a typical American

regiment. The foundation of the regiment was the cowpuncher^No gift

could have been so appropriate^The men of the West and Southwest ^

horseman, rideman, and the leaders of cattle ^ have been the backbone

of this regiment, which demonstrates that Uncle Sam has another reserve

of fighting men to call upon if necessity arises. Outside of my own

immediate family, I shall never show a strong ties as I do toward you.

I am more than pleased that y! ou feel the same for me. Boys, I am

going to stand here, and I shall esteem it a privilege if each of you

will come up here. I want to shake your hands, I want to say goodbye

to each of you in person.^ (Collin, p. 105-106) With wet eyes, the men

of the 11th United States Horse filed before Roosevelt to say goodbye

to a man who had lead them into battle and into history. Roosevelt^s

Rough Riders were a rare bread of men who had lived, trained, and

fought hard to accomplish a goal many thought would never be possible,

to emerge victorious against difficult and harsh odds to become one of

the renowned regiments ever to be assembled. (Beale, p. 43) Americans

will always remember them as the Western cowboys and the Eastern

polo-players who were lead by a man of immeasurable character and

spirit in a fight that lead them down the path into their place in

history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1). Beale, Howard K. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World

Power. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, Md. 1956 p.14-55

2). Boger, Paul S. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. 2nd Edit.

Vol.2. D.C. Heath and Company. Lexington, Mass. 1993. P.714

3). Collin, Richard H. Theodore Roosevelt, Culture, Diplomacy, and Expansion: A

New View of American Imperialism. Louisiana St. Univ. Press, Baton Rouge, La. 1985. P. 3-30

4). Grantham, Dewey W., Editor. Theodore Roosevelt. Prentice-Hall,

Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1971. P.46-54

5). Gatewood, Willard B. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of Controversy.

Louisiana St. Univ. Press, Baton Rouge, La. 1970. P. 3-30

6). Hill, Howard C. Roosevelt and the Caribbean. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago,

Ill. 1927. P. 1-17

7). Jeffers, H. Paul. Colonel Roosevelt. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York, N.Y.

1996. P.134-273

8). Lewis, WM. Draper. The Life of Theodore Roosevelt. United Publishers. 1919.

P.119-134

9). Lorant, Stefan, The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt. Doubleday and

Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y. p. 281-332

10). Morris, Edmund. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. Coward, McCann and

Geoghegan, Inc. New York, N.Y. 1979. P. 565-662