Editing Rough Riders (section)

=== Departure from the United States ===
On May 29, 1898, 1,060 Rough Riders and 1,258 of their horses and mules made their way to the Southern Pacific railroad to travel to [[Tampa, Florida]], where they would set off for Cuba. The lot awaited orders for departure from Major General [[William Rufus Shafter]]. Under heavy prompting from Washington D.C., General Shafter gave the order to dispatch the troops early before sufficient traveling storage was available. Due to this problem, only eight of the 12 companies of The Rough Riders were permitted to leave Tampa to engage in the war, and many of the horses and mules were left behind. Aside from Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt's first-hand mention of deep, heartfelt sorrow from the men left behind, this situation resulted in a premature weakening of the men. Approximately one-fourth of them who received training had already been lost, most dying of [[malaria]] and [[yellow fever]]. This sent the remaining troops into Cuba with a significant loss in men and morale.<ref name="ReferenceA">Hutton, "T.R. takes charge," 30(11).</ref>

Upon arrival on Cuban shores on June 23, 1898, the men promptly unloaded themselves and the small amount of equipment they carried with them. Camp was set up nearby and the men were to remain there until further orders had been given to advance. Further supplies were unloaded from the ships over the next day including the very few horses that were allowed on the journey. "The great shortcoming throughout the campaign was the utterly inadequate transportation. If they had been allowed to take our mule-train, they could have kept the whole cavalry division supplied," Roosevelt later wrote.<ref name=TR />{{rp|45}} Each man was only able to carry a few days worth of food which had to last them longer and fuel their bodies for rigorous tasks. Even after only 75 percent of the total number of cavalrymen was allowed to embark into Cuba, they were still without most of the horses they had so heavily been trained and accustomed to using. They were not trained as infantry and were not conditioned to doing heavy marching, especially long-distance in hot, humid, and dense jungle conditions. This ultimately served as a severe disadvantage to the men who had yet to see combat.<ref name=TR />{{rp|45}}