The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century

Gardner (To Hell on a Fast Horse), a historian specializing in the American West, uses new primary sources to reintroduce the public to the Rough Riders of the Spanish-American War. Following the national uproar over the 1898 sinking of the USS Maine, President McKinley agrees to prepare for war in order to expel the Spanish from Cuba. McKinley's forces include a volunteer cavalry suggested by Theodore Roosevelt, who was then assistant secretary of the Navy. Gardner examines Roosevelt's notions of war's redeeming qualities in light of his sickly youth, his father's reluctance to fight in the Civil War, and the dual heartbreaks of his wife and mother dying within hours of each other in 1884. Once the military buildup was authorized by Congress, the press called the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry "Roosevelt's Rough Riders"%E2%80%94a motley unit made up of cowpunchers, Native American warriors, Ivy League athletes, sharpshooters, and assorted mavericks. Gardner provides some terrifying, exhilarating stories of the battle, including the valiant charge up San Juan Hill through enemy gunfire. Throughout, Gardner celebrates Roosevelt, who as a postwar commander-in-chief never forgot the lesson of war and the heroic sacrifices of the fighters. (May)