Assigned Blog #2
Roosevelt’s Rough Riders
During the Spanish- American War, a cavalry unit was created, called the First United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three to be created and the only one to see combat. The public quickly nicknamed them the Rough Riders, which I think fits them well. Theodore Roosevelt was chosen to be Colonel, but he didn’t feel ready enough to lead the men, so he suggested that his good friend, Dr. Leonard Wood become Colonel and he himself be a Lieutenant Colonel.
Dr. Wood was an army surgeon when the Americans had harassing campaigns against the Apache Indians. For his courage, Dr. Wood received the Medal of Honor. Teddy wrote about his friend, saying he was an excellent doctor, but he wanted the chance to lead men in a dangerous situation. He got his chance with the Rough Riders. I think that it is cool that the doctor was the head of this cavalry unit. Dr. Wood seems like a good guy to lead this group of men in battle. He has experience and bravery, a good mind and strong body.
The Rough Riders were made up of 1,000 men from New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma and consisted of police officers, war veterans, Indians, cowboys, and miners. Once they had gathered all their men together, Wood focused on getting all the equipment ready for war, so the training was left for Teddy to deal with. Once training was done, they were rushed on a train down to Tampa, where they had to wait for further instructions, and a ship down to Cuba. On June 22nd, they got the order to land on Cuban land.
Their first battle was days after they landed and had marched for long periods of time, which they were unaccustomed to. This was the Battle of Las Guasimas. The Rough Riders received word that a Spanish camp was nearby, so they planned to attack it. The Americans were at a disadvantage because they did not know the surrounding area like the Spaniards. The Rough Riders had steep slopes to walk up to get to where the camp was, and after the last day of marching, some men dropped out of line. Only about 500 Rough Riders fought in this battle. They sent the Spanish in retreat to Santiago.
The second battle was at San Juan Hill. On June 30th, they were ordered to start marching. Roosevelt led his men up San Juan Hill, to attack the Spaniards. They charged at the Spanish from atop their hill. Within twenty minutes, the Rough Riders along with the other brigades, took over Kettle Hill. They won this battle also. Roosevelt received a medal for his brave actions during this battle.
This picture shows the map of the Rough Riders time in Cuba. They landed in Daiquiri, marched to Las Guasimas, to Santiago, and then to San Juan. After Las Guasimas, they buried their eight dead men in Siboney.
This is a picture of Teddy in his Rough Riders Uniform.
"The Rough Riders Storm San Juan Hill, 1898." The Rough Riders Storm San Juan Hill, 1898. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/roughriders.htm>;.
Roosevelt, Theodore. "Roosevelt, Theodore. 1899. The Rough Riders: III. General Young's Fight at Las Guasimas." Roosevelt, Theodore. 1899. The Rough Riders: III. General Young's Fight at Las Guasimas. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. <http://www.bartleby.com/51/3.html>;.
Comments
Great job Megan!