The Rough Riders
After joining the Rough Riders, Frantz was assigned to A Company and given the rank of First Lieutenant, where he served as the Deputy Commander under Captain Buckey O'Neill. Traveling to Daiquirí, Cuba, the Rough Riders would engage, on June 24, 1898, in the Battle of Las Guasimas, the first clash between American and Spanish forces. Frantz fought valiantly and his performance caught Roosevelt’s eye.
On June 30, Colonel Leonard Wood, the commander of the Rough Riders, was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Likewise, Lt. Colonel Roosevelt was promoted to Colonel and given command of the Rough Riders. On the following day, the fiercest battle of the Spanish-American War occurred: the Battle of San Juan Hill. Frantz’s skill during the battle would forever gain him Roosevelt’s friendship and trust. In the storming of the Spanish fortifications, the commanding officer of his company was killed. Frantz immediately took over the command and led the company to a successful charge. After the battle concluded, in recognition of Frantz’s service, Roosevelt promoted Frantz to the rank of Captain and commander of A Company of the Rough Riders.
On August 12, 1898, an armistice between the United States and Spain ended the Spanish-American War. In the coming months, on December 10, 1898, with the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States and Cuba gained its independence. Although Captain Frantz would leave military service behind him, he gained an abiding friendship with Roosevelt.
Read more about this topic: Frank Frantz
Famous quotes containing the words rough and/or riders:
“What war has always been is a puberty ceremony. It’s a very rough one, but you went away a boy and came back a man, maybe with an eye missing or whatever but godammit you were a man and people had to call you a man thereafter.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)
“Good swimmers drown and good riders get thrown.”
—Chinese proverb.