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By  Patrick McSherry

A stereocard that reputedly shows the "Rough Rider" at Tampa, Florida. The railway which delivered the troops and supplies are on the right. The transports are on the left in the distance.

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General:

Unit History:

When word went out that Roosevelt and Colonel Leonard Wood, were raising a regiment, volunteers from all over appeared. Twenty-three hundred men volunteered in the first twenty-four hours, of which only a small percentage could be accepted. Even the future creator of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs tried to enlist.

The unit was mustered into service between May 1 and May 21, 1898 in various locations in Texas, New Mexico and what was then termed “Indian Territory” (Arizona and Oklahoma). At the time of muster in, the unit consisted of 47 officers and 994 enlisted men. The uniqueness of the regiment, the bombastic energy of Roosevelt (until recently the assistant secretary of the navy) and Roosevelt’s gift for public relations and self-promotion brought the unit much publicity even before its worth was proven in battle.

From San Antonio, Texas, the unit was ordered, on May 27, to Port Tampa, Florida, for the invasion of Cuba. On June 4, the regiment was assigned to the First Cavalry Brigade of the Fifth Army Corps. At Port Tampa, things were in great disarray, and the Fifth Corps was highly disorganized. In the confusion of embarking of the invasion force on the transports, several regiments were assigned to the same transport, the YUCATAN. Roosevelt got his men aboard, realizing that once aboard, would probably not be forced to disembark. The Rough Riders stayed aboard, to the chagrin of the other regiments. Sadly for some, because of a lack of room in the army transports, only eight of the regiment's twelve troops (troops A, B, D, E, F, G, K, and L)  went to Cuba, with the other four (troops C, H, I, and M) remaining behind in Florida. Also, the regiment had to leave its horses behind in Florida, and essentially served in Cuba as an infantry regiment. On June 14, the regiment left Port Tampa for Cuba.

In Cuba, the regiment fought at Las Guasimas, and then at the famous San Juan and Kettle Hills. The regiment proved its worth and truly lived up to all of the publicity it had already received. For his efforts to lead in the assault at Kettle and San Juan hills, Roosevelt would eventually be awarded the Medal of Honor (an honor he truly earned, but which, for political reasons, he would not receive until over eighty years after his death).

After the fighting ended and the summer wore on, disease among the troops began to rise. Eventually the War Department was embarrassed into bringing the battle-worn troops back home, to be replaced by other, fresh troops. On August 8 the portion of the regiment that saw service in Cuba departed Santiago, arriving at Montauk Point, Long Island six days later.  The portion of the regiment that had been left behind in Florida - Companies C, H, I and M - departed Port Tampa, Florida also on August  8 arriving at Montauk Point on August 12. The armistice ending the war's fighting was agreed to on August 12. The reunited regiment into camp at Montauk Point's Camp Wikoff, New York (click here to read about their time at Camp Wikoff).

The unit was mustered out of service on September 15, 1898 at Camp Wikoff. At the time of muster out, the unit consisted of 47 officers, and 1,090 enlisted men. During its term of service, the unit lost two officers and 21 enlisted men killed in action, with an additional seven officers and 97 enlisted men being wounded in action. Three of the wounded would die of their wounds. One officer and nineteen enlisted men died of disease, and twelve men deserted. The Rough Riders had the highest casualty rate of all of the regiments involved in the actions in Cuba.

For only being in existence for 133 days, the unit won its place in history, and has since passed into legend.

Bibliography:

Correspondence relating to the War with Spain And Conditions Growing Out of the Same Including the Insurrection in the Philippine Island and the China Relief Expedition. Vol. 1 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902) 625.

Jones, Virgil Carrington, Roosevelt's Rough Riders. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1971) 150-151.

Nofi, Albert A., The Spanish-American War, 1898 . (Conshohocken, PA: Combined Books, 1996).

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).