ii The Rough Riders 



our demands. Thanks to his knowledge of the sit- 

 uation and promptness, we immediately put in our 

 requisitions for the articles indispensable for the 

 equipment of the regiment; and then, by ceaseless 

 worrying of excellent bureaucrats, who had no idea 

 how to do things quickly or how to meet an emer- 

 gency, we succeeded in getting our rifles, cartridges, 

 revolvers, clothing, shelter-tents, and horse gear just 

 in time to enable us to go on the Santiago expedi- 

 tion. Some of the State troops, who were already 

 organized as National Guards, were, of course, 

 ready, after a fashion, when the war broke out ; but 

 no other regiment which had our work to do- was 

 able to do it in anything like as quick time, and 

 therefore no other volunteer regiment saw anything 

 like the fighting which we did. 



Wood thoroughly realized what the Ordnance 

 Department failed to realize, namely, the inestima- 

 ble advantage of smokeless powder; and, moreover, 

 he was bent upon our having the weapons of the 

 regulars, for this meant that we would be brigaded 

 with them, and it was evident that they would do 

 the bulk of the fighting if the war were short. Ac- 

 cordingly, by acting with the utmost vigor and 

 promptness, he succeeded in getting our regiment 

 armed with the Krag-Jorgensen carbine used by 

 the regular cavalry. 



It was impossible to take any of the numerous 



