The Roughest Riders
The Untold Story of the Black Soldiers in the Spanish-American War
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- $24.99
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
The inspiring story of the first African American soldiers to serve during the postslavery era
Many have heard how Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders charged up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War. But often forgotten in the great swamp of history is that Roosevelt's success was ensured by a dedicated corps of black soldiers—the so-called Buffalo Soldiers—who fought by Roosevelt's side during his legendary campaign. This book tells their story. They fought heroically and courageously, making Roosevelt's campaign a great success that added to the future president's legend as a great man of words and action. But most of all, they demonstrated their own military prowess, often in the face of incredible discrimination from their fellow soldiers and commanders, to secure their own place in American history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Biographer and novelist Tuccille (Art Heist) mines a mostly forgotten chapter of the 1898 Spanish-American War, documenting how contemporary racial attitudes dashed the expectations of the many African-American men who, post-Civil War, believed that military service would be the catalyst for equitable treatment. Believing blacks to be better suited to the tropics, U.S. military leaders tapped the "Buffalo Soldiers" for service in Cuba. But black troops fared no better than whites, suffering from the intense heat, disease, and menacing flora and fauna. Those who survived earned various accolades, yet their service was overshadowed by Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. As the war moved to Puerto Rico and the Philippines, the contradiction of blacks fighting other men of color in American imperialistic campaigns drove some soldiers into the arms of rebel forces; while those who returned stateside found renewed hostility or death at the hands of whites. Roosevelt occasionally overwhelms this brief history, which is twinned with a lengthy coda that breezes through subsequent conflicts up through Gen. Colin Powell's fateful decision to commemorate the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers. Tuccille's excellent descriptions give readers a graphic feel for the vicissitudes of jungle warfare and the grim racial and social realities that these men endured. Maps and b&w photos.
