ROUGH RIDERS "The Riders are the toughest set of men I have met. . . ." |
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| The most famous regiment
of the Spanish-American War was the First United States Volunteer Cavalry, better known as
"Roosevelt's Rough Riders." The idea for the regiment originated with Prescott's
own Buckey O'Neill, who, as Territorial Adjutant General in 1890, had offered to raise a
regiment of Arizona cowboys to fight the Plains Indians.
Guidon for B Troop, First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry As war threatened in early 1898, O'Neill, James McClintock, and Alexander Brodie petitioned Governor McCord for permission to raise "one thousand Arizona cowboys" to fight in Cuba. On April 25 the regiment was approved, but only 170 of the men were to come from Arizona. The rest would be recruited in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and the Indian Territory. On June 7 thirty-three Rough Rider officers and 578 enlisted men boarded the Yucatan at Tampa, Florida, their destination Cuba. Because of a shortage of transports, Troops C, H, I, and M and fifteen men from each of the other troops remained in Tampa. The regiment's horses, much equipment, and the troopers' revolvers were also left behind. In one of the worst bureaucratic blunders of the war, the invasion fleet of twenty-one transports and fourteen warships was delayed in Tampa harbor by a false rumor of lurking Spanish warships. 17,000 men-most in wool uniforms-were kept sweltering on iron ships, without fresh food or ice, for a week. Their anchorage was described as a "sea of sewage." On June 14, the fleet finally departed for Cuba.
"Charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill," by Frederic Remington. Courtesy Frederic Remington Art Museum. On July 1 the Americans halted below a strong Spanish position on a hill topped by iron sugar-refining kettles. Heavy fire killed several Rough Riders, including Troop A's Captain Buckey O'Neill. In the most famous action of the war, Theodore Roosevelt led successful charges up "Kettle Hill" and the heavily defended San Juan Heights overlooking the town of Santiago.
Spanish defensive blockhouse, Cuba, 1898. Courtesy Charles Bennett. On August 7, after 47 days in Cuba, the Rough Riders left Santiago Harbor aboard the transport Miami. They recuperated at Camp Wikoff near Montauk Point on Long Island, New York. On September 15 the regiment disbanded and the troopers went home.
Memorial needlework with a photograph of Buckey O'Neill and the names of fallen Rough Riders.
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"No better material for cavalry purposes can be found anywhere in the world than among the cowboys of Arizona." Arizona Territorial Governor Myron McCord to President William McKinley, April 2, 1898. The Arizona volunteers mustered at Fort Whipple and on May 4 left Prescott on a special train for San Antonio, Texas. There they trained; were issued uniforms, weapons, horses, and equipment; and were christened "Rough Riders" by the newspapers. Arizonans comprised Troops A, B, and C of the regiment.
Troops board transport ships at the Tampa docks June 6 or 7, 1898. Courtesy Minnesota Historical Society. Surprisingly, the Spanish army did not oppose the Americans' landing at Daiquiri, Cuba. On June 24 American soldiers pushing toward Santiago overran retreating Spaniards near Las Guasimas. In the short but bitter battle that followed, eight Rough Riders were killed and thirty-four (including Arizonans McClintock and Brodie) were wounded.
Map of the campaign in Cuba, 1898. From July 2 through 11 the Rough Riders dug in on San Juan Heights and waited to attack Santiago. Constant rain and bad food sapped their strength. Malaria and dysentery sickened many. On July 17 Santiago surrendered without further combat.
The San Juan Heights battlefield as it looks today. Kettle Hill is partly visible at middle right of photo. Courtesy Charles Bennett.
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