Rough Riders
Theodore Roosevelt, His Cowboy Regiment, and the Immortal Charge Up San Juan Hill
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THE AWARD-WINNING, NEW DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF TEDDY ROOSEVELT AND THE ROUGH RIDERS
"Thrilling. ... A CLASSIC." —True West
WINNER: Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award; New Mexico-Arizona Book Award; and Colorado Book Award
The now-legendary Rough Riders were a volunteer regiment recruited in 1898 to help drive the Spaniards out of Cuba. Drawn from America’s southwestern territories and led by the irrepressible Theodore Roosevelt, these men included not only cowboys and other Westerners, but also several Ivy Leaguers and clubmen, many of them friends of “TR.” Roosevelt and his men quickly came to symbolize American ruggedness, daring, and individualism. He led them to victory in the famed Battle of San Juan Hill, which made TR a national hero and cemented the Rough Riders’ iconic place in history.
Now Mark Lee Gardner synthesizes previously unknown primary accounts—private letters, diaries, and period newspaper reports from public and private archives across the country—to breathe fresh life into the Rough Riders and pay tribute to their daring feats and indomitable leader.
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Gardner (To Hell on a Fast Horse), a historian specializing in the American West, uses new primary sources to reintroduce the public to the Rough Riders of the Spanish-American War. Following the national uproar over the 1898 sinking of the USS Maine, President McKinley agrees to prepare for war in order to expel the Spanish from Cuba. McKinley's forces include a volunteer cavalry suggested by Theodore Roosevelt, who was then assistant secretary of the Navy. Gardner examines Roosevelt's notions of war's redeeming qualities in light of his sickly youth, his father's reluctance to fight in the Civil War, and the dual heartbreaks of his wife and mother dying within hours of each other in 1884. Once the military buildup was authorized by Congress, the press called the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry "Roosevelt's Rough Riders" a motley unit made up of cowpunchers, Native American warriors, Ivy League athletes, sharpshooters, and assorted mavericks. Gardner provides some terrifying, exhilarating stories of the battle, including the valiant charge up San Juan Hill through enemy gunfire. Throughout, Gardner celebrates Roosevelt, who as a postwar commander-in-chief never forgot the lesson of war and the heroic sacrifices of the fighters.
