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The Crowded Hour

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The Spanish-American War sparked the earliest fire of U.S. imperialism, and the eccentric rich man that pushed it forward, Theodore Roosevelt, was at its center. Risen provides a contemporary view of this badly managed chapter in American history, dispelling longstanding myths and examining the long term effect of the conflict on the U.S. military. My thanks go to Net Galley and Scribner for the review copy, which I read free in exchange for this honest review. This book is for sale now.

Roosevelt was challenged with a number of health problems as a youngster, but instead of embracing his sedentary, privileged existence, he embarked on a series of physically demanding adventures in order to strengthen his constitution and affirm his masculinity.

When Cuban nationalists sought independence from Spain, Teddy began campaigning for American intervention. Men of his generation was had not known the destruction of lives and property that touched every part of this nation during the American Civil War, and like most young people, they were unwilling to listen to their elders. Roosevelt believed that war was a splendid thing, and that in facing death, men were elevated to a higher level. He joined his voice to those in the press advocating military aid to Cuba, and after tapping every powerful connection his wealthy family could access, he was successful.

His own unit—all volunteers—were dubbed the “Rough Riders.” Most had no military training of any kind; the mighty Union Army had been all but disbanded once the nation was reunited. Though they were promoted as cowboys, the rugged individuals of the Wild West, a goodly number hailed from Wall Street and Harvard. In addition to being able to fund their own wartime excursion, they were noteworthy in their riding capability.

There was no San Juan Hill. There was a series of them.

The American invasion of Cuba cast a spotlight on its unpreparedness. Transporting troops, beasts and equipment across the Atlantic was a debacle of the worst order. There weren’t even close to enough seaworthy vessels, and because of this, most of the so-called cowboys fought on foot the entire time; horses and mules were stuck back in Tampa waiting to sail. There wasn’t enough food, potable water, or appropriate clothing for most of the men; the wealthiest among them fared best, but there were many occasions when there wasn’t any food to be bought at any price. There had been no reconnaissance and so they went in blind; the heat and disease killed more Americans than the Spaniards did. Vultures and immense land crabs that measured 2 feet across and traveled by the thousands made short work of the dead when not buried immediately. American losses were nearly triple those of the Spanish, and when the war ended there were no hospitals or sanitation ready to receive the legions of sick and wounded when they returned from the Caribbean.

Roosevelt used the occasion to point to the need for a standing army and U.S. readiness, and ultimately this was his one useful contribution. In other regards, the man was an ass hat. His bald-faced racism, though not unusual at the time, went over badly with the Cuban freedom fighters that were supposed to benefit from their presence. He crowed to his friends about how much he enjoyed shooting an enemy soldier from just a few feet away “like a jackrabbit,” and called his 45 days of combat the ultimate hunting trip. Mark Twain hated the guy, and it’s not hard to see why.

Risen has an engaging writing style, and he uses lots of well-chosen quotations. His research is excellent as are his sources. I would have liked to see more of a breakdown along the lines of social class and other demographics, but this war did not yield a rich archival treasury like the one that came from the Civil War, so this may not be possible.

All told, this history is a find. Right now it seems that every second historian on the planet is writing about World War II, whereas this cringeworthy but significant chapter of American history has been largely left by the wayside. I highly recommend this book.

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I really enjoyed this book! Initially, I feared it would be another boring textbook-like history book, but Clary Risen and his team created an engaging and exciting historical account of a pivotal moment in American history.
I would recommend this book to anyone who's interested in history, the military, imperialism, Theodore Roosevelt, Cuba, and humanitarianism. It's a thoughtful and important read that helped me better understand my country and its history.

Fun Facts:
Secretary of the Navy Long called Roosevelt (assistant or undersecretary) a bull in a china shop. "Shows how the best fellow in the world-and with splendid capacities-is worse than no use if he lack a cool head and careful discretion."
"Part of what made Roosevelt a great leader: his ability to identify people whose judgment he could rely on, then use that judgment to make quick decisions." (value in building trusted relationships)
Unofficial theme song of the regiment and the war: "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight."
One of the Spanish-American war's ulterior aims and ultimate achievements was reconciliation between the South and the North after the Civil War.
Before the Rough Riders headed via boat from Tampa to Cuba, they and 2,000 horses participated in the last mass calvary demonstration ever put on by the American Army.
One incident of racism: "Historian Willard B. Gatewood, Jr. found that in most cases, white violence - whether against property, civilians, or other soldiers - was dismissed in newspapers as wordiness and steam-blowing, while the same behavior by blacks was written up as 'rackets' and 'riots.'"
The largest invasion force the United States had ever assembled - 31 ships carrying 10 million pounds of rations; 2,295 horses and mules; 16 pieced of artillery; 16,987 men, including 89 war correspondents and 11 foreign observers.
Rough Riders were cowboys, football players, politicians, sports enthusiasts, horsemen from all backgrounds except black.
Why America intervened in Cuba and fought the Spanish: "Universal peace cannot come until justice is enthroned throughout the world. Until the right has triumphed in every land and love reigns in every heart, government must, as a last resort, appeal to force."
When faced with the opportunity to fight: Roosevelt "suddenly transformed into 'the most magnificent soldier I have ever seen,' the coolness, the calm judgment, the towering heroism, which made him, perhaps, the most admired and best beloved of all Americans in Cuba."
About James Church, Assistant Surgeon: "That so few of them died is greatly due to this young man who went down into the firing line and pulled them from it." [War correspondent Richard Harding] Davis wrote. (Church received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Las Guasimas).
"American gumption and guts could compensate greatly for a lack of formal military training."
Why title the book The Crowded Hour? "It was what Roosevelt has been waiting to hear. They were now to be in the first wave of the assault. 'The instant I received the order I sprang on my horse,' he wrote, 'and my "crowded hour" began."
On Roosevelt's leadership: "He set the pace with this horse and inspired the men to follow."
The value of a strong leader: "Unlike the Spanish soldiers at San Juan Heights, those at El Caney seemed determined to fight to the death--inspired, perhaps, by the tenacity of their commander, Vara del Roy."
Managing local civilians after battle: "Later generations would learn, as part of their training, to deal with civilians as a matter of fighting war. But in 1898, there was no [such] protocol."
Naming the White House: Theodore Roosevelt began calling the Executive Mansion the White House, and the name stuck.

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This book is well written and researched. The author does an excellent job of portraying the actual events and exploits of the Rough Riders versus the more public account created by the media of the time and some of the less engaged indviduals who "fought" during that time. What I found most interesting was that the outcome was the same, but the events leading to the creation of the Rough Riders, the training and supplies they received and the course of the actual battles is very different from what many believed. Add to that that the war started based on an event that happened, but not as told in history (the Maine blew up on its own, not due to Spanish sabotage) makes this a very engaging read.

I recomend this book for those looking for more information on the Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders and the actual role they played in the Spanish American War.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook and Twitter pages.

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It is always enjoyable to read a history book that reads like a novel. 'The Crowded Hour' is not a biography of Theodore Roosevelt nor is it a full description of the Spanish-American War or even the liberation of Cuba from Spanish control. It is, however, an in-depth portrayal of Roosevelt's Rough Riders and their trials getting to, fighting in, and return from the Cuban conflict. There were many failures on the part of the national government and the Army hierarchy that were tragic and unnecessary. The Rough Riders succeeded in spite of the all.

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Really enjoyed this one! I’m such a fan of this period in our history and learned a ton from this. Very well-written. I’ll read anything about TR but especially relished this one. This is a can’t miss for TR fans.

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The Crowded Hour by Clay Risen is a very colorful story about Theodore Roosevelt, the formation of the Rough Riders, and the Spanish-American War, but on a broader level it is about a conflict that brought together elements of founding American ideals of freedom, liberty, and equality with an element of America’s future and present: Wars and Humanitarian Intervention.

The United States before the Spanish-American War was not a country terribly eager to enter into military conflicts as evidenced by the frankly pathetic state of our military in terms of manpower and weapons. But then The Maine happened and a pattern all too familiar to modern headline readers emerged. A combination of press headlines and idealization of an oppressed people mixed with a certain rally around the flag effect made the tide of war too strong to resist.

Getting into a war may be easier than fighting it however as illustrated by the problems of supplies and manpower as the Rough Riders fought their way through the Spanish defenses and ended any serious consideration of Spanish Empire in the Americas. Crowded Hour is at once moving to read and painful as the best elements from American society from Ivy League athletes to Western cowboys launched themselves at Spanish forces with abandon and many didn’t make it back.

The Spanish-American War made Theodore Roosevelt a viable political leader and provided the blueprint for humanitarian intervention that is still used today (for positive and negative). Clay Risen’s The Crowded Hour gives it a larger than life quality that allows the reader to picture war in all its brotherhood and tragedy.

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