The Return Home 223 



them is nothing like so wide as that among volunteer 

 regiments, where at first there is no common stan- 

 dard at all; the very best being, perhaps, up to the 

 level of the regulars (as has recently been shown at 

 Manila), while the very worst ^,re no better than 

 mobs, and the great bulk come m between.* The 

 average regular regiment is superior to the average 

 volunteer regiment in the physique of the enlisted 

 men, who have been very carefully selected, who 

 have been trained to life in the open, and who know 

 how to cook and take care of themselves generally. 



Now, in all these respects, and in others like them, 

 the Rough Riders were the equals of the regulars. 

 They were hardy, self-reliant, accustomed to shift 

 for themselves in the open under very adverse cir- 

 cumstances. The two all-important qualifications 

 for a cavalryman are riding and shooting the mod- 

 ern cavalryman being so often used dismounted, as 

 an infantryman. The average recruit requires a 

 couple of years before he becomes proficient in horse- 

 manship and marksmanship; but my men were al- 

 ready good shots and first-class riders when they 

 came into the regiment. The difference as regards 

 officers and non-commissioned officers, between reg- 

 ulars and volunteers, is usually very great; but in 

 my regiment (keeping in view the material we had 



* For sound common-sense about the volunteers see Par- 

 ker's excellent little book, "The Gatlings at Santiago." 



