32 The Rough Riders 



ready made, as far as concerned their capacity as in- 

 dividual fighters. What was necessary was to teach 

 them to act together, and to obey orders. Our 

 special task was to make them ready for action in 

 the shortest possible time. We were bound to see 

 fighting, and therefore to be with the first expedi- 

 tion that left the United States; for we could not 

 tell how long the war would last. 



I had been quite prepared for trouble when it 

 came to enforcing discipline, but I was agreeably 

 disappointed. There were plenty of hard characters 

 who might by themselves have given trouble, and 

 with one or two of whom we did have to take rough 

 measures; but the bulk of the men thoroughly un- 

 derstood that without discipline they would be mere- 

 ly a valueless mob, and they set themselves hard at 

 work to learn the new duties. Of course, such a 

 regiment, in spite of, or indeed I might almost say 

 because of, the characteristics which made the in- 

 dividual men so exceptionally formidable as soldiers, 

 could very readily have been spoiled. Any weak- 

 ness in the commander would have ruined it. On 

 the other hand, to treat it from the standpoint of the 

 martinet and military pedant would have been al- 

 most equally fatal. From the beginning we started 

 out to secure the essentials of discipline, while lay- 

 ing just as little stress as possible on the non-essen- 

 tials. The men were singularly quick to respond 



