hat they might be signed at one sitting. He made
requisitions for materials that he needed {71} and when these
materials were not to be found in the Government stores he wrote out
orders directed to himself for the purchase in the open market of the
things required. Alger recognized immediately that in Wood he had a
man accustomed to action and full of vision--a man whom nothing could
frighten. The two men understood one another. If those who surrounded
the Secretary of War in those days had been as capable of
organization, the history of Washington during wartime would have been
quite different. But for the most part they failed. The see-nothing,
hear-nothing, do-nothing, keep-your-finger-on-your-number spirit
among many of them was quite great enough to throw the War Office into
chaos. The game of "passing the buck" did not appeal to Wood; neither
did he stop to sympathize with a certain highly placed bureaucrat who
complained:

"My office and department were running along smoothly and now this
damned war comes along and breaks it all up."

When all of his papers and documents were ready. Wood appeared before
Secretary Alger. {72} "And now what can I do for you?" said the
Secretary.

"Just sign these papers, sir. That is all," replied the Rough Riders'
Colonel.

Alger, beset by incompetence, hampered by inefficiency in his staff,
was dumbfounded as he looked through the papers Wood had prepared for
him to sign. There were telegrams to Governors of states calling upon
them for volunteers; requisitions for supplies and uniforms; orders
for mobilization and requisitions for transportation. Alger had little
to say. He placed enough confidence in Wood to sign the papers and
give him his blessing.

When the army depots said that they could not supply uniforms, Wood
replied that his men could wear canvas working clothes. As a result
the Rough Riders, fighting through the tropical country in Cuba, were
far more comfortable than the soldiers in regulation blue. The new
colonel seemed to know what he wanted. He wanted Krag rifles. There
were few in existence, but General Flagler, Chief of Ordnance,
appreciated what the young officer had done and saw that he got them.
{73} He did not want sabers for the men to run through one another in
the pandemonium of cavalry charges of half wild western horses. The
Rough Riders therefore went into action carrying machetes, an ideal
weapon for the country in which they were to see ser