Leonard Wood, a doctor who served as the medical adviser for both the President and secretary of war, was appointed the position of Colonel of The Rough Riders with Roosevelt serving as Lieutenant Colonel. As a whole, the unit would not be entirely inexperienced. In this regard they possessed the knowledge and experience to lead and train the men well. Men who had served in the regular army during campaigns against Indians or served in the Civil War had been gathered to serve as higher ranking officers in the cavalry. Among these men were also police officers and military veterans who wished to see action again. They gathered a diverse bunch of men consisting of cowboys, gold or mining prospectors, hunters, gamblers, Native Americans and college boys all of whom were able-bodied and capable on horseback and in shooting. "The difficulty in organizing was not in selecting, but in rejecting men." The allowed limit set for the volunteer cavalry men was promptly met. They were gathered mainly from the southwest because the hot climate region that the men were used to was similar to that of Cuba where they would be fighting. The volunteers were gathered in four areas: Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. When Colonel Wood became commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, the Rough Riders then became "Roosevelt's Rough Riders." That term was familiar in 1898, from Buffalo Bill who called his famous western show "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World." The Rough Riders were mostly made of college athletes, cowboys, and ranchers. Wood's second in command was former assistant secretary of the United States Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, a man who had pushed for American involvement in Cuban independence.
It was also called "Wood's Weary Walkers" after its first commander, Colonel Leonard Wood, as an acknowledgment of the fact that despite being a cavalry unit they ended up fighting on foot as infantry. As a result, President William McKinley called upon 1,250 volunteers to assist in the war efforts.
The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War roughly thirty years prior. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. A total of 56,900 stamps of this denomination were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.Īlexander T.The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st U.S. In many other cases it was used with other denominations to fulfill large-weight and foreign destination rates. There are instances of philatelic use of the 1-dollar stamp on mail originating from the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, even though it overpaid the postage rate. stamp designs had been printed and released to the public - the $1 Columbian and the $1 Perry. Prior to the issuance of the 1-dollar Cattle in the Storm, only two other 1-dollar U.S. The breed of cattle that were meant to represent the ruggedness of the American West and that inspired the original painting actually derive from the West Highlands of Scotland. Others deem it the most intricate and beautiful stamp ever issued by the United States. The 1-dollar Cattle in the Storm stamp is considered by many philatelists to be the most beautiful stamp of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition Issue. And between 19, the Post Office Department issued stamps in 13-, 15-, and 17-cent denominations.Īlexander T. The 1925 Issue had an additional five-cent fee for special delivery of parcel post mail, a total fee of fifteen cents. The 1922 Issue had a ten-cent denomination, and so did the 1927 Issue, but the stamp had 11 x 10.5 perforations. Six issues of the Motorcycle Delivery stamp were released with five different denominations in a twenty-two year period. And, of course, his special delivery carriers were the cycle's intended users. The motorcycle on the 10-cent Motorcycle Delivery Issue is not a specific brand, but if a postmaster had a motorcycle at his disposal, it was probably either an Indian or Harley-Davidson. It was also the first design in this class of stamps to actually show a carrier delivering a letter to a customer. In 1922 the special delivery stamp featured a letter carrier with motorcycle, a mode of transportation that suggested speed, efficiency, and growing modernity of the mail. 10-cent Special Delivery Messenger on Motorcycle, 1922Įarly symbols of the Special Delivery Service had been the running messenger (who was evocative of winged Mercury), used on stamps from 1885 until 1895, and the messenger on bicycle in 1902.