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The Rough Riders were a volunteer regiment recruited in 1898 to help drive the Spaniards out of Cuba. Drawn from America’s southwestern territories and led by the irrepressible Theodore Roosevelt, these men included not only cowboys and other Westerners, but also several Ivy Leaguers and clubmen, many of them friends of “TR.” Roosevelt and his men quickly came to symbolize American ruggedness, daring, and individualism. He led them to victory in the famed Battle of San Juan Hill, which made TR a national hero and cemented the Rough Riders’ iconic place in history.
Now Mark Lee Gardner synthesizes previously unknown primary accounts—private letters, diaries, and period newspaper reports from public and private archives across the country—to breathe fresh life into the Rough Riders and pay tribute to their daring feats and indomitable leader.
About the author
Mark Lee Gardner is the author of Rough Riders, To Hell on a Fast Horse, and Shot All to Hell, which received multiple awards, including a Spur Award from Western Writers of America. An authority on the American West, Gardner has appeared on PBS’s American Experience, as well as on the History Channel, the Travel Channel, and on NPR. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, True West, Wild West, American Cowboy, and New Mexico Magazine. He lives with his family in Cascade, Colorado.
Summary
The award-winning, new definitive history of Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders
"Thrilling. ... A CLASSIC." —True West
WINNER: Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award; New Mexico-Arizona Book Award; and Colorado Book Award
The now-legendary Rough Riders were a volunteer regiment recruited in 1898 to help drive the Spaniards out of Cuba. Drawn from America’s southwestern territories and led by the irrepressible Theodore Roosevelt, these men included not only cowboys and other Westerners, but also several Ivy Leaguers and clubmen, many of them friends of “TR.” Roosevelt and his men quickly came to symbolize American ruggedness, daring, and individualism. He led them to victory in the famed Battle of San Juan Hill, which made TR a national hero and cemented the Rough Riders’ iconic place in history.
Now Mark Lee Gardner synthesizes previously unknown primary accounts—private letters, diaries, and period newspaper reports from public and private archives across the country—to breathe fresh life into the Rough Riders and pay tribute to their daring feats and indomitable leader.
Additional text
“Gardner is one of this nation’s premier historians of the American West.”
