Book review: "Rough Riders" by Mark Lee Gardner

A good place to start with "Rough Riders," Mark Lee Gardner's 2016 book, is at the end.

In the "Note on Sources," at the back of the book, Gardner explains why this work goes deeper than previous histories of the Rough Riders, the legendary American cavalry led by Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War. Earlier books failed to take advantage of many first-hand accounts written by soldiers that were published at the time in newspapers around the country, simply because the authors were unaware that those accounts existed. 

But today, with millions of historic newspaper pages available on the Internet, Gardner was able to find those published letters and use them to make a much more complete picture of the Rough Riders. This book, Gardner asserts, is "the first to make use of this previously unknown and significant body of firsthand accounts."

Gardner, whose 2010 book "To Hell on a Fast Horse" was also thoroughly researched, supplemented the letters he found with material culled from unpublished Rough Riders' diaries as well as books and news accounts.

The result is an meticulously detailed book about the Rough Riders, a cavalry made largely from "cowboy" volunteers from the American West the was specially created for the 1898 war on the island of Cuba. The full title of the book is "Rough Riders: Theodore Roosevelt, His Cowboy Regiment, and the Immortal Charge Up San Juan Hill."

Before reading this book, the story of the Rough Riders had long existed on the periphery of my historical knowledge. Yeah, I'd heard of them, but I didn't really know the whole story. I'd also heard a few things that suggested the supposed charge up San Juan Hill either never happened or was blown out of proportion. 

I was first surprised to learn that the Rough Riders were famous even before they even set foot in Cuba and began battle with the Spanish occupiers of the island. The whole creation of the regiment, in part because Roosevelt was involved, was widely reported across the country (Roosevelt was not president yet, but was well-known for his writings and speeches). They were, in effect, celebrity soldiers.

Theodore Roosevelt is my favorite president, but I was dismayed to read how much he and other war hawks selfishly pushed to start this conflict — any war would do — simply so they could join in the battle.

That said, the book makes it clear that the fighting on San Juan Hill (and elsewhere on Cuba) was real and deadly, and that Roosevelt was in the thick of it. Men died all around him. The fact that a bullet never hit him, even though he was often sitting high on his horse Little Texas, is remarkable (and certainly added to his mystique).

Not only did Roosevelt lead the charge up San Juan Hill, he did so twice. The first time, almost no one heard him give the order and only five men followed. They regrouped and the second charge was much more successful.

"Unfortunately, the myth that Roosevelt and his Rough Riders did not charge up San Juan Hill survives to this day, mostly perpetuated by historians who, quite frankly, either have some bias against Roosevelt or have not done their research, or both," Gardner says. 

It's important to note that this book is narrowly about the Rough Riders. I would have liked more "big picture" information on the issues that led to the war and some perspective from the Spanish side, but there's almost none of either.

Even though the Rough Riders suffered through difficult conditions from the start of their training through the end of the war, the soldiers' accounts tend to be upbeat, even "chipper." For instance, one man who was ordered by Roosevelt to stay put in a location exposed to relentless enemy fire, said, "It was a ticklish place, but we'd have lain on a gridiron of hell, if he'd given the order."

Were the soldiers truly so positive? Or was it just not fashionable at that time to complain? Even after reading the whole book I'm not sure. 

If you'd like another good book about Theodore Roosevelt , consider "River of Doubt," the story of his arduous trip through the Amazon in 1914.