 The
Rough Riders
was a nickname given to the 1st United
States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three
such regiments raised in 1898 for the
Spanish–American War
and the only one of the three to see action. President
William McKinley
called upon 1,250 volunteers to assist in the war efforts. The regiment
was also called "Wood's Weary Walkers" in honor of its first commander,
Colonel
Leonard Wood.
This nickname served to acknowledge that even though they were a
cavalry
unit (horse riders) they ended up fighting on foot as
infantry
(foot soldiers).Wood's second in command was former
Assistant Secretary of the Navy,
Theodore Roosevelt.
When Colonel Wood became commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, the Rough
Riders then became "Roosevelt's Rough Riders." The Rough Riders were
mostly made of college athletes,
cowboys,
ranchers,
miners, and other outdoorsmen. With these men being from southwestern
ranch country, they were quite skilled in
horsemanship. |
