Teddy roosevelt rough riders
One General William Rufus Shaffer gave a command at the docks for an early departure to Cuba, thus resulting in not enough room aboard the ships. The Rough Riders left by train on May 29, 1898, from the south west region of the US, and headed to Tampa, FL, along with 1,258 mules and horses. Most of the men were experienced riders already, but the techniques were refined through military protocols, drills, practicing in formation and shooting on horseback.
![teddy roosevelt rough riders teddy roosevelt rough riders](https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Rough-Rkders-1200.jpg)
The Rough Riders sported a unique cowboy-cavalry look with a “rough and tumble” appearance of boots and leggings, brown trousers, and a blue flannel shirt, all topped off with a slouch hat and a handkerchief tied loosely about the neck. They also secured two tripod-mounted, gas-operated, 7 MM Mauser caliber M 1895 Colt-Browning machine guns. 30 caliber carbine gun, (Colt Single Action Army Revolvers), horse gear, saddles, tents, and clothing for the men. The equipment consisted of Bowie knives and the Model 1896. There were even some Native Americans, policemen, and soldiers, all of whom could ride a horse and shoot a gun. The Rough Riders included the outdoorsmen, ranchers, and cowboys, and even miners and college athletes, and they were very good horsemen. It is thought the nickname stemmed from Buffalo Bill’s famous traveling western show of the day, the “Buffalo Bill Wild West & Congress of Rough Riders of the World.” (3) The Brigade became known as Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. (2)Ĭolonel Leonard Wood’s second in command was none other than Theodore Roosevelt, the former Assistant Secretary of the US Navy.Ĭolonel Leonard Wood then went on to become commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, and the 1st Brigade was taken over by TR.
![teddy roosevelt rough riders teddy roosevelt rough riders](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/troAAOSw3ZRY~9Y5/s-l300.jpg)
“Wood’s Weary Walkers” was a name attached to the 1st Cavalry unit, because despite being a cavalry unit with horses, they ended up doing battle as foot soldiers and infantry. The regiment was under the command of Colonel Leonard Wood, a former Army Doctor. The volunteers from the south west part of the USA were cowboys and ranchers, and they were sent to the three cavalry units. President William McKinley called up some 125,000 volunteers for the Spanish-American War. In the years after the American Civil War, the US Military had dwindled down severely and was extremely understaffed. The Rough Riders were the only ones to see any action during the war. There were raised specifically for the 1898 Spanish-American War, one of three cavalry units.
![teddy roosevelt rough riders teddy roosevelt rough riders](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWzTyjjX4AI67pR.jpg)
Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, also known as “Wood’s Weary Walkers,” were the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, and are famously known for the Battle of San Juan Hill. to declare war on Spain, and it proved all Theodore Roosevelt needed to hear to quit his job and go where the action was.…and on the eighth day God created the horse in perfect image, to romp, graze, gallop, play and make manure wherever it darn well pleases, in divine grace. Though Spain denied any involvement in the explosion, the media and a tidal wave of public opinion had already decided who to blame. At the time, Cuba was occupied by Spain, and after an uprising in Havana earlier in the year, the battleship was dispatched to protect American interests on the island.
![teddy roosevelt rough riders teddy roosevelt rough riders](https://66.media.tumblr.com/af8dd39d0b8c7ececaa4a1255db6e045/tumblr_n7sormUMO21r2u8sso1_640.jpg)
On February 15 th, 1898, the USS Maine, a battleship docked outside of Cuba, exploded, killing 262 sailors on board. But many remember him most fondly for his days as leader of the Rough Riders, America’s first volunteer cavalry, composed of Native Americans, Ivy League athletes, Texas Rangers and even glee club singers. In addition to being the 26 th president of the United States, Teddy, as he’s affectionately referred to, was also at varying periods of his life a New York state assemblyman, a cowboy in the Dakota territory, the assistant secretary of the Navy, and an author. Theodore Roosevelt was nothing if not a renaissance man.