WERE TEDDY’S ROUGH RIDERS HERE? (1898)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Did Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders once ride their horses through a saloon located at No. 50 West Eighth Street? Read on and find out. It was 1898. Theodore Roosevelt’s organization of his “Rough Riders,” his well-publicized departure for Cuba, and his ultimate glorious charge in the Battle of San Juan Hill was literally still on the lips of every man, woman, and child in America. New York City was no different. In fact, approximately 1,000 New Yorkers had volunteered to serve with Roosevelt’s Rough Riders as part of the 71st Regiment Infantry New York Volunteers. Certainly, the pride of the regiment was the fact that among the units to reach the top of San Juan Hill with Roosevelt was Company F of the third battalion of the 71st Regiment. In the end, around 80 of the unit’s men were killed or wounded in the fight for San Juan Hill. Thus, it was a point of pride in New York City when the Spanish-American War ended in 1898 and the unit’s members returned home to blend back in with their civilian compatriots. While some probably blended in much better than others, those others may have wished for the glory days and their battle stories to continue. In fact, the camaraderie and good […]
