The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1901-09-27

| ana good VIII, with patriotism thai
! famed into eloquence and made hi:
men follow him. shouting and
cheering to the finish.
BREAKS THROUGH RED TAPE.
Books would not hold the good
things that have been told of him.
With his bravery every one is ia.
miliar, but his many kindnesses to
the known and the unknown are
still coming to the light and yet tc
: be told.
1t is stated that when Roosevelt
"started to war" he turned the
War Department upside down ac-
complishing more than any man
who ever held an officers position
in regiment.
They say he telegraphed day by
day to every prominent administra-
tive officer in the Government beg
ging the official to send him with
his regiment to Tampa. Finally
he saw Mrs. Mckinley and begged
her to intercede with the President
to have his regiment of Rough
Riders sent on to Tampa.
Success finally rewarded his per-
sistence and he got there. But he
found that the authorities would
not allow mounted troops to go to
Cuba. One squadron had to stay
behind and take care of the horses.
Roosevelt's was among the very
last of the regiments receiving per-
mission to go. Indeed, it seemed,
at one time as if be had been inten-
tionally overlooked.
His next difficulty was inability
to get a train. He desired to move
his regiment to Port Tampa ten
miles away. But he was equal to
the situation. With characteristic
boldness he seized the entire train.
He jumped aboard the engine and
demanded that his men be conveyed
to the port. Then the train moved.
On arriving there he did not wait
to be officially assigned to a trans
port. He was not that kind of
man. He promptly put his regi-
ment aboard the nearest vessel.
Then followed long delay, due to
the news that Cervera's fleet was
cruising somewhere in Anne rican
waters.
However, he was at last trans
TERED to transport, sailing for
Cuba. His regiment was among
the very first of the troops to land,
Following the same tactics of bold
ness and self-initation, he got his
men ashore without awaiting spec
ifics or detailed orders.
sHAFTER's TWO OPINIONS.
On the first night of the landing
he began the march to the front.
He passed General Lawton, who,
under orders from General Shafter,
was holding the advance guard po-
sition of the American Army.
1t is said that Lieutenant Colonel
Roosevelt passed the extreme out
post without orders and began the
Las Guaismas fight at daylight the
next morning. When General
Shafter received news later the
next day of the Rough Riders en-
counter, which was of sensation
al character, he was not pleased.
He was even told that they had
been cut to pieces. Shatter swore
roundly at the Rough Riders and
declared that he would ''bring that
damned cowboy regiment so far
back in the rear" that it would new
er get another chance at the enemy
during the whole campaign. Two
hours later however, he received
further news and wrote a most
flattering and complimentary mote
to Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt,
congratulating him upon the bril-
liant success of his attack.
During the entire campaign, Col
onel Roosevelt made every effort to
get his regiment to the front, and
on July l, with the Rough Riders
moving in columns of twos through
a densely forested roadway leading
to the "Bloody Angle" and while
his men were falling around him,
with shells bursting almost at their
feet. Roosevelt answered the salu-
talion of war correspondents
"Helo, there !" with wave of his
hand, shouting.
"By Cad, isn't this fun?"
Where the battle ragged fercest
was at his best. The
greater the deeper the joy. Whist
ling bullets were music. Bursting
shells part of wars anthems in
the ears. The more desperate the
charge the more his patriotism
famed into action. Like Sheridan
at Five Forks, he courted death
like lover.
TENDERNESS TO SOLDIERS.
When soldiers wrote home Of his