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Rough Riders
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The Rough Riders was the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the United States' war with Spain and the only one of the three to see action. It was also called "Wood's Weary Walkers" after its first commander, Colonel Leonard Wood as an acknowledgment of the fact that despite being a cavalry unit they ended up fighting on foot as infantry.
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The Rough Riders was the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the United States' war with Spain and the only one of the three to see action. It was also called "Wood's Weary Walkers" after its first commander, Colonel Leonard Wood as an acknowledgment of the fact that despite being a cavalry unit they ended up fighting on foot as infantry. When Colonel Wood became commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade (1st U.S. Cavalry, 10th U.S. Cavalry, and 1st U.S.V. Cavalry) the Rough Riders then became "Roosevelt's Rough Riders". That term was familiar in 1898, from Buffalo Bill who called his famous western show "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World".
Formation and early history
Command of the regiment was initially offered by War Secretary Russell Alger to Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, however, having limited military experience as an infantry officer in the New York National Guard, deferred to his more experienced associate. Colonel Leonard Wood, a Medal of Honor recipient and a doctor in the Army's medical corps who had served with regular cavalry regiments. Roosevelt was made a Lieutenant Colonel and second in command of the regiment.
Roosevelt had resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to fight in the war, and his forceful personality and notoriety among the popular press of the period were probably the main driving factors resulting in the fame of this regiment. Roosevelt used his connections to ensure that this regiment was equipped with the Krag-Jorgensen carbines carried by the regular cavalry regiments instead of the Springfield Model 1873 single shot carbines issued to infantry. The regiment consisted of seasoned ranch hands, Pawnee scouts, Ivy League athletes, cowboys, policemen, and east-coast polo players, among others who represented a broad cross-section of American society. Many of the volunteers had known Roosevelt from his earlier years in the "Badlands" of the Dakota territory and as the New York City commissioner. As there were more applicants than positions available, Roosevelt had to turn away large numbers of applicants. One of those disappointed was Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Cavalry training was conducted for about a month at Camp Wood in San Antonio, Texas and was highly rigorous. The regiment was then moved to Tampa, Florida, the port of embarkation for the Cuban Campaign. They departed on June 14, though a serious lack of transport resulted in almost all of the unit's horses and four of its twelve troops being left behind.
The regiment landed near Daiquirí, Cuba on June 22 as part of the Cavalry Division under the command of Major General Joseph Wheeler, of the Army's V Corps. Although officially a cavalry unit, the regiment fought on foot because of the lack of horses. They immediately began marching towards Santiago, their objective. Two days later, the unit participated in the Battle of Las Guasimas. Slightly outnumbered, the American contingent was nonetheless able to stand a firefight with regular Spanish troops, in which the Rough Riders sustained the heaviest losses.
Assault on Kettle Hill and San Juan Heights
At San Juan Hill, 760 Spanish soldiers were ordered to hold the heights against an American offensive on July 1, 1898. For reasons still not quite clear, Spanish General Arsenio Linares failed to reinforce this position, choosing to hold nearly 10,000 Spanish reserves in the city of Santiago. Spanish hilltop entrenchments, while typically well-constructed, had been poorly positioned, which would make even point-blank rifle volleying at the advancing Americans difficult.
General Jeff commanded about 15,000 troops in three divisions. Jacob F. Kent commanded the 1st Division, Henry W. Lawton commanded the 2nd Division, and Joseph Wheeler commanded the dismounted Cavalry Division but was suffering from fever and had to turn over command to General Samuel S. Sumner. Shafter's plans to attack Santiago de Cuba called for Lawton's division to move north and reduce the Spanish stronghold at El Caney, which was to take about 2 hours then join with the rest of the troops for the attack on the San Juan Heights. The remaining two divisions would move directly against San Juan Hill with Sumner in the center and Kent to the south. Shafter was too ill to personally direct the operations and instead set up his headquarters at El Pozo two miles (3 km) from San Juan Hill and communicated through mounted staff officers.
Aftermath
By the end of July, the situation with disease had become dire. Roosevelt and a "round robin" of high-ranking officers and doctors wrote to the War Department on July 31, "The army must be moved at once, or perish."
Consequently, on August 8, the remains of the regiment went by ship, along with other troops, to Montauk, Long Island, arriving to a heroes' welcome on August 14. This area was chosen because at the time it was relatively unpopulated, and therefore thought to be a good place for quarantine. They occupied the hastily-built Camp Wikoff, which, due to continuing Army logistical problems, was significantly short on food and medicine. Long Islanders did their part to remedy this situation.
The unit was mustered out on September 14, 1898, but held annual reunions until 1968. Roosevelt used his experience with the regiment in subsequent campaigns for Governor of New York and Vice-President for McKinley.
Rough Rider Theatrical Productions
Col. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders were popularly portrayed in Wild West Shows such as Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World and in Minstrel shows such as William H. West's Big Minstrel Jubilee. More than anyone else, William Frederick Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, can be credited with helping to create and preserve the dramatic myth of the Rough Riders and American Old West. His extravaganzas glamorized it into an appealing show for Eastern U.S. audiences and helped permanently preserve the legends.
Last survivors
The last two surviving veterans of the regiment were Frank C. Brito and Jesse Langdon.
Brito, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, whose father was a Yaqui Indian stagecoach operator, was 21 when he enlisted with his brother in May 1898. He never made it to Cuba, having been a member of H Troop, one of the four left behind in Tampa. He later became a mining engineer and lawman. He died 22 April 1973, at the age of 96.
Langdon, born 1881 in what is now North Dakota, "hoboed" his way to Washington, D.C., and called on Roosevelt at the Navy Department, reminding him that his father, a veterinarian, had treated Roosevelt's cattle at his Dakota ranch during his ranching days. Roosevelt arranged a railroad ticket for him to San Antonio, where Langdon enlisted in the Rough Riders at age 16. He was the last surviving member of the regiment and the only one to attend the final two reunions, in 1967 and 1968. He died June 29 1975 at the age of 94, twenty-six months after Brito.
World War I
Just after the United States entered the war against the Central Powers, the U.S. Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise up to four divisions similar to the Rough Riders. Roosevelt immediately selected eighteen officers (including: Seth Bullock, Frederick Russell Burnham, and James Rudolph Garfield) to raise a volunteer infantry division, and began corresponding with Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War. After several months, many more men joined Roosevelt's World War I volunteers, but Baker refused to offer any assistance or guidance to the new unit. Frustrated, Roosevelt telegrammed President Woodrow Wilson requesting his assistance; however, as Commander-in-chief, Wilson refused to make use of the volunteers and Roosevelt disbanded the unit.
Muster Roll
- Officers: 456
- Enlisted Men: 994
- Officers: 76
- Enlisted Men: 1,090
- Total Number Accounted for on Muster Out Roll:
- Officers: 52
- Enlisted Men: 1,185
Promoted or Transferred: 0
Resigned or Discharged: 2
Dismissed: 0
Killed in Action: 2
Died of Wounds: 0
Died of Disease: 1
Died of Accident: 0
Drowned: 0
Suicide: 0
Murdered: 0
TOTAL OFFICER LOSSES: 5
Transferred: 0
Discharged for Disability: 9
Discharged by General Court Martial: 0
Discharged by Order: 31
Killed in Action: 21
Died of Wounds Received in Action: 3
Died of Disease: 19
Died of Accident: 0
Drowned: 0
Suicide: 14
Murdered or Homicide: 0
Deserted: 12
TOTAL ENLISTED LOSSES: 95
- Officers: 7
- Enlisted Men: 97
- (Source: The Adjutant General's Office, Statistical Exhibit of Strength of Volunteer Forces Called Into Service During the War With Spain; with Losses From All Causes. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899) As presented in an Electronic Edition by the US Army Center of Military History)
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