Rough Riders
Rough Riders was the name given to the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment by the American press during the Spanish-American War .
origin of the name
The 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry , as the correct name was, was one of three cavalry regiments made up of volunteers that were raised on the occasion of the Spanish-American War in 1898. It was the only one actively participating in the war. The regiment 's original nickname was Wood's Weary Walkers (Woods Tired Pedestrians), named after its first in command, Colonel Leonard Wood . The name refers to the fact that although the regiment was a cavalry unit , it eventually had to fight on foot.
When Theodore Roosevelt took command of the regiment, the nickname changed to Roosevelt's Rough Riders (Roosevelt's rough or rough riders). "Rough Rider" was a common name for armed riders and "soldiers of fortune" in the Wild West.
Creation and development of the regiment
The leadership of the association was initially proposed by War Minister Russell Alexander Alger Theodore Roosevelt . Although he had served as an infantry officer in the New York National Guard, he did not feel up to the task and suggested Colonel Leonard Wood instead. Wood was a doctor in the Army Medical Corps and a Medal of Honor holder . Besides, he had already served in cavalry regiments. Roosevelt became a lieutenant colonel and deputy commander of the regiment.
In order to participate in the war, Roosevelt gave up his position as deputy naval minister . His fame and the coverage of the press contributed not insignificantly to the popularization of the regiment, even before it had taken part in combat operations.
The regiment was recruited between May 1 and May 21, 1898 in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ), Texas, and New Mexico . A cavalry regiment then consisted of around 1,000 soldiers . The recruiting was mainly carried out by Roosevelt. In addition to the typical cross-section of American society, people were represented such as casual workers , pawne scouts, Ivy League athletes, police officers and polo players from the East Coast upper class. Many of the recruits knew Roosevelt from his time in the "badlands" of the Dakota area and as police chief of New York. Since more volunteers signed up than soldiers were needed, many had to be turned down. One that was rejected was e.g. B. the writer of "Tarzan" Edgar Rice Burroughs .
For a month the association underwent rigorous cavalry training at Camp Wood in San Antonio , Texas. The regiment was then transferred to Tampa , Florida , the disembarkation port for the Cuban campaign. Due to insufficient transport capacities, all horses and a third of the troops had to be left behind. On June 22, 1898, the regiment landed as part of Major General Joseph Wheeler's cavalry division of the 5th Army Corps at Daiquirí , Cuba . Although it was actually a cavalry unit, the regiment had to fight on foot. It began immediately with the advance towards the destination of the expedition, the city of Santiago . Two days later it took part in the battle of Las Guásimas . Despite a slight numerical superiority of the Spaniards, they could be moved to retreat to Santiago.
Battle of San Juan Hill
On June 30, 1898, Colonel Wood was promoted to commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, on the one hand because the previous commander, Brigadier General Samuel Young , fell ill with a fever and on the other hand because Wood's regiment had done so well at Las Guásimas . This moved Roosevelt to the commander of the Rough Riders, at the same time he was promoted to colonel. The next day, the US armed forces began the attack on Santiago, the port of which had long been blocked by the navy .
The Rough Riders, in which only Roosevelt was mounted, attacked a hill called Kettle Hill . After taking the hill, they continued to storm San Juan Hill (Spanish: Loma de San Juan ). They were supported by the regular units of the 1st US Cavalry and the 10th US Cavalry, which consisted of black soldiers . The Rough Riders' storm was also successful because they received fire support from three Gatling Guns , cal. 30-40 Krag , commanded by 1st Lieutenant John "Machine Gun" Parker .
Headlines the next day reported "Teddy's attack on San Juan Hill," which was an exaggeration, however, as Roosevelt found himself at the head of some of the advancing forces by chance. The Spanish units withdrew more and more into the center of Santiago and finally capitulated on July 17th after the defeat of the Spanish Navy in the naval battle of Santiago de Cuba on July 3rd.
Review
The losses of the rough riders were very high. They lost about 37% of their soldiers to death, wounding or tropical diseases. Theodore Roosevelt contracted malaria but was one of the few who recovered from it. Towards the end of July, the disease situation became dramatic. Roosevelt wrote to the War Department, "The army must be relocated or will disband." The Rough Riders were then recalled from Cuba and shipped by ship to Montauk , Long Island , where they received an enthusiastic reception on August 14th. This area was deliberately chosen because it was relatively uninhabited and therefore suitable as a quarantine location for the sick.
Camp Wikoff, which was hastily built shortly before, was poorly supplied with food and medicine due to logistical problems. However, the people of Long Island did their utmost to change this situation. On September 14, 1898, the Rough Riders regiment was disbanded. There were annual meetings thereafter until 1968. Roosevelt used his popularity increased by the regiment again and again in his election campaigns for the presidency.
The use of the rough riders in Cuba was dramatized by Buffalo Bill in his wild west show "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World".
Last survivor
The last surviving veterans of the regiment were Frank C. Brito, Jesse Langdon, and Ralph Waldo Taylor. Frank Brito was a Yaqui native of Las Cruces , New Mexico. He was 21 when he checked in, but did not see Cuba at the time because he was one of those who had to be left behind in Tampa due to the tight transport capacity. He died on April 22, 1973 at the age of 96.
Born in North Dakota in 1881, Jesse Langdon hitchhiked the train to Washington to enroll. There he went to see Roosevelt at the Department of the Navy and reminded him that his father was a veterinarian and used to treat Roosevelt's cattle on his farm in Dakota. Roosevelt got him a train ticket to San Antonio, where Langdon, only 16 years old, could enroll. He was the last survivor of the regiment. He died on June 29, 1975 at the age of 94.
Movies
- Rough Riders - The Intrepid Regiment ( Rough Riders ), TV-USA 1997, directed by John Milius , with Tom Berenger as Theodore Roosevelt.
literature
- Theodore Roosevelt: The Rough Riders . New York, 1899. ( eText from gutenberg.org)
- DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, American Military History 1607-1953 ROTC Manual 145-20, Washington 25 DC, 1956
- Konrad F. Schreier Jr .: United States Machine Guns . Normount Technical Publications, Wickenburg, AZ 1975, ISBN 0-87947-028-3 .