The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rough Riders, by Theodore Roosevelt

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: Rough Riders

Author: Theodore Roosevelt

Release Date: July 23, 2004 [EBook #13000]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROUGH RIDERS ***

Produced by Dagny Wilson

THE ROUGH RIDERS

BY

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

1899

ON BEHALF OF THE ROUGH RIDERS
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FIVE REGULAR REGIMENTS
WHICH TOGETHER WITH MINE MADE UP THE CAVALRY DIVISION AT SANTIAGO

I

RAISING THE REGIMENT

During the year preceding the outbreak of the Spanish War I was
Assistant Secretary of the Navy. While my party was in opposition, I
had preached, with all the fervor and zeal I possessed, our duty to
intervene in Cuba, and to take this opportunity of driving the
Spaniard from the Western World. Now that my party had come to power,
I felt it incumbent on me, by word and deed, to do all I could to
secure the carrying out of the policy in which I so heartily believed;
and from the beginning I had determined that, if a war came, somehow
or other, I was going to the front.

Meanwhile, there was any amount of work at hand in getting ready the
navy, and to this I devoted myself.

Naturally, when one is intensely interested in a certain cause, the
tendency is to associate particularly with those who take the same
view. A large number of my friends felt very differently from the way
I felt, and looked upon the possibility of war with sincere horror.
But I found plenty of sympathizers, especially in the navy, the army,
and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Commodore Dewey, Captain
Evans, Captain Brownson, Captain Davis--with these and the various
other naval officers on duty at Washington I used to hold long
consultations, during which we went over and over, not only every
question of naval administration, but specifically everything
necessary to do in order to put the navy in trim