791. "Ladies of Milton" versus Teddy Roosevelt 1898

The aftermath of the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor led to a declaration of war against Spain on April 25, 1898. But to fight a war, you needed soldiers and sailors. So, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Teddy Roosevelt resigned his governmental post to recruit and train the first voluntary cavalry regiment of the war. The 1st US Voluntary Cavalry Regiment recruits came from Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas and were specifically chosen because of their acclimation to the heat they would be experiencing in Cuba. In fact, so many men volunteered that many had to be turned away at the door. Roosevelt chose to restrict his recruitment to cowboys, prospectors, hunters, gamblers, Native Americans, law enforcement and military veterans. Other words, anyone from the rough side of town that could ride and shoot.

A regular Army doctor by the name of Dr. Leonard Wood, was appointed colonel of the regiment with Roosevelt as his lieutenant colonel. When the time came, the unit was ordered to load up onto six separate trains on May 29, 1898 and head east for the transport ships waiting in at Tampa, Florida. As a result, 1,060 Rough Riders along with their 1,258 horses and mules pulled out of Ft. Sam Houston, San Antonio aboard the Southern Pacific. When Colonel Wood was later promoted, Roosevelt quickly became the Colonel of the rough and tumble troopers. At every stop along the way, the men were hailed as heroes, especially under the leadership of the flamboyant Roosevelt.

On June 1, 1898, his train pulled into Pensacola with 170 of his Rough Riders and stopped at the passenger depot at Wright and Tarragona Streets. Food, snacks, whiskey and applause were showered on the men while they disembarked and stretched their legs. It was customary for the trains of the day to stop at many of the depots along the way to replenish their fuel and water. But at times, the troopers had a tendency to become quite rowdy especially when more and more whiskey came their way! It was reported that the Rough Riders "gave everybody including the brass, railway officials, and especially track side residents no end of trouble. At every stop, they restocked on bottled alcoholic liquor. They emptied bottle after bottle. They never bothered to open the glass windows to throw out their bottles until glass in the windows was the exception rather than the rule. Women, young and old, all nationalities and all colors, were the victims of a lot of indignities, to say the least, at New Orleans, Mobile, and Pensacola where ever the mood struck them. City police had no control, in fact, no one seemed to be able to face them down."

After they finally pulled out of a relieved Pensacola, the train rumbled through Galt City just outside Milton without stopping. When asked why they weren't stopping, the conductor explained that Milton was just down the tracks. Thus, he issued the soldiers a stern warning! He stated "the next town is Milton. The men there are proud of their town and their women. They actively resent any real or implied insult to either! I, myself, have seen men hanged to the cross arms of the telegraph poles there and then riddled with shot. I have had them take a train from me to search for one man. They would have no qualms about burning your horse cars (containing their cavalry mounts) and their contents. Please for your own sake, go through quietly." Minutes later, the train pulled into the Milton Deport and nary a word was heard from the subdued and frightened Rough Riders!

History records that on July 1, 1898, Roosevelt and those same men charged up San Juan Hill to attack a Spanish position that protected the city of Santiago. When the battle was over, the regiment had suffered a casualty rate of 37%, the highest of any American regiment in the war! But at least one could say that dealing with the enemy on San Juan Hill was easier for the men to accept than the penalty of insulting a Milton woman! After the war, one of those same troopers came back to settle in Milton and told this story to Santa Rosa educator and historian, Martin Luther King (1899-1965).