214 The Rough Riders 



fellows, who themselves had to surrender their be- 

 loved rifles. 



For the first few days there was great confusion 

 and some want even after we got to Montauk. The 

 men in hospitals suffered from lack of almost every- 

 thing, even cots. But after these few days we were 

 very well cared for and had abundance of all we 

 needed, except that on several occasions there was 

 a shortage of food for the horses, which I should 

 have regarded as even more serious than a shortage 

 for the men, had it not been that we were about to 

 be disbanded. The men lived high, with milk, eggs, 

 oranges, and any amount of tobacco, the lack of 

 which during portions of the Cuban campaign had 

 been felt as seriously as any lack of food. One of 

 the distressing features of the malarial fever which 

 had been ravaging the troops was that it was recur- 

 rent and persistent. Some of my men died after 

 reaching home, and many were very sick. We owed 

 much to the kindness not only of the New York 

 hospitals and the Red Cross and kindred societies, 

 but of individuals, notably Mr. Bayard Cutting and 

 Mrs. Armitage, who took many of our men to their 

 beautiful Long Island homes. 



On the whole, however, the month we spent at 

 Montauk before we disbanded was very pleasant. 

 It was good to meet the rest of the regiment. They 

 all felt dreadfully at not having been in Cuba. It 



