102 The Rough Riders 



force of good soldiers resolutely handled could 

 have held the pass with ease against two or three 

 times their number. As it was, with a force half 

 of regulars and half of volunteers, we drove out a 

 superior number of Spanish regular troops, strong- 

 ly posted, without suffering a very heavy loss. 

 Although the Spanish fire was very heavy, it does 

 not seem to me it was very well directed; and 

 though they fired with great spirit while we merely 

 stood at a distance and fired at them, they did not 

 show much resolution, and when we advanced, al- 

 ways went back long before there was any chance 

 of our coming into contact with them. Our men 

 behaved very well indeed white regulars, colored 

 regulars, and Rough Riders alike. The newspaper 

 press failed to do full justice to the white regulars, 

 in my opinion, from the simple reason that every- 

 body knew that they would fight, whereas there had 

 been a good deal of question as to how the Rough 

 Riders, who were volunteer troops, and the Tenth 

 Cavalry, who were colored, would behave; so there 

 was a tendency to exalt our deeds at the expense of 

 those of the First Regulars, whose courage and 

 good conduct were taken for granted. It was a 

 trying fight beyond what the losses show, for it is 

 hard upon raw soldiers to be pitted against an un- 

 seen foe, and to advance steadily when their com- 

 rades are falling around them, and when they can 



