wars.? (Jeffers, p. 248)
Still, though the infantry fought hard, the war was not decided by their bravery. It was the Navy who delivered the final blow by destroying the Spanish fleet trying to flee into open water from Santiago harbor. Because of the mismanagement of the War Department with the lack of supplies and food, that the United States won the war was a miracle. What saved the day was not American efficiency but the incompetence of the Spanish, whose navy was untrained and who used only a small number of the 200,000 troops they assembled in Cuba. (Gatewood, p. 26)
In October, formal negotiations began in Paris with America represented by a five-man commission. A treaty was devised that granted Cuban independence and Spain assumed Cuba?s debt of 400 million dollars. (Morris p. 597) The signing of the treaty in Paris marked the United States emergence as a world power. The United States was now able to regulate it?s own navy rather than England?s to enforce such diplomatic law as the Monroe Doctrine. The United States was now educated by its military mistakes into creating an adequate standing army with a permanent general staff. (Morris p. 597)
To Roosevelt, the war had been a glorious adventure, proof of his physical courage and his abilities as a leader. Roosevelt had become one of the most popular men in America and a permanent figure in history. (Hill, p. 15) On the final day of the Rough Riders, the troops all met at Camp Wilkoff and presented their Lieutenant Colonel with a bronze bronco buster. After the cheering had stopped, Roosevelt addressed his beloved Rough Riders. ? I am proud of this regiment beyond measure. I am proud of it because it is a typical American regiment. The foundation of the regiment was the cowpuncher?No gift could have been so appropriate?The men of the West and Southwest ? horseman, rideman, and the leaders of cattle ? have been the backbone of this regiment, which demonstrates that Uncle Sam has another reserve of fighting men to call upon if necessity arises. Outside of my own immediate family, I shall never show a strong ties as I do toward you. I am more than pleased that you feel the same for me. Boys, I am going to stand here, and I shall esteem it a privilege if each of you will come up here. I want to shake your hands, I want to say goodbye to each of you in person.? (Collin, p. 105-106) With wet eyes, the men of the 11th United States Horse filed before Roosevelt to say goodbye to a man who had lead them into battle and into history. Roosevelt?s Rough Riders were a rare bread of men who had lived, trained, and fought hard to accomplish a goal many thought would never be possible, to emerge victorious against difficult and harsh odds to become one of the renowned regiments ever to be assembled. (Beale, p. 43) Americans will always remember them as the Western cowboys and the Eastern polo-players who were lead by a man of immeasurable character and spirit in a fight that lead them down the path into their place in history.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1). Beale, Howard K. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World
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2). Boger, Paul S. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. 2nd Edit.
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3). Collin, Richard H. Theodore Roosevelt, Culture, Diplomacy, and Expansion: A
New View of American Imperialism. Louisiana St. Univ. Press, Baton Rouge, La. 1985. P. 3-30
4). Grantham, Dewey W., Editor. Theodore Roosevelt. Prentice-Hall,
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Louisiana St. Univ. Press, Baton Rouge, La. 1970. P. 3-30
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