WERE TEDDY’S ROUGH RIDERS HERE? (1898)
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The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations.
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Did Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders once ride their horses through a saloon located at No. 50 West Eighth Street? Read on and find out.
It was 1898. Theodore Roosevelt’s organization of his “Rough Riders,” his well-publicized departure for Cuba, and his ultimate glorious charge in the Battle of San Juan Hill was literally still on the lips of every man, woman, and child in America.
New York City was no different. In fact, approximately 1,000 New Yorkers had volunteered to serve with Roosevelt’s Rough Riders as part of the 71st Regiment Infantry New York Volunteers. Certainly, the pride of the regiment was the fact that among the units to reach the top of San Juan Hill with Roosevelt was Company F of the third battalion of the 71st Regiment. In the end, around 80 of the unit’s men were killed or wounded in the fight for San Juan Hill.
Thus, it was a point of pride in New York City when the Spanish-American War ended in 1898 and the unit’s members returned home to blend back in with their civilian compatriots. While some probably blended in much better than others, those others may have wished for the glory days and their battle stories to continue.
In fact, the camaraderie and good feeling brought about by the campaign amongst Teddy followers did not wane at the end of the war. The good times for some would continue through the many Rough Rider Clubs that sprang up across the country from the smallest towns to the largest cities – like New York. The name itself was tailor-made for those who wanted to translate their enthusiasm for their former boss into a weekend event, a reason to drink with their buddies, and to campaign for the next political office to which Roosevelt would aspire.
Sometimes, though, events associated with some Rough Rider Clubs were liable to get out of hand, as bravado mixed with camaraderie and camaraderie mixed with good feelings, and good feelings mixed with alcohol. This is exactly what happened one night about a month after the end of the war at No. 50 West 8th Street.
“TRIED TO RIDE INTO A SALOON”
Camaraderie and alcohol rarely is a good blend. Add a few “ungainly horses,” a “saloon,” and full regalia Rough Rider military uniforms, and the effects can be outright dangerous.
It was a combination that took place of a Wednesday night somewhere within the Bowery section of New York City amongst a group of “Rough Riders.” When the celebration ended at the establishment where it had begun, it would continue with two of the group at No. 118 Clinton Place (the old address for today’s No. 50 West 8th Street – Eighth Street was once called Clinton Place from the Bowery west to Sixth Avenue).
At the saloon located at this address George Feldhusen was managing his “saloon.” A German-born immigrant, Feldhusen had come to the United States in 1871, and met and married his wife Margaret, who helped him in managing his establishment.
It must have been a site never seen before at the location (or any other locations within the city), and one that would probably never be seen there again. One could picture Feldhusen looking up with a start from wiping his bar to his front plate-glass door where the sound of horses and shouting was taking place.
Soon afterwards, came the crash of that plate-glass door as two men “in the costume of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, mounted on ungainly horses” began their charge into George Feldhusen’s saloon.
There is no indication whether Feldhusen gave the cry for the police or whether a roundsman on his beat could not help but hear and notice the ruckus taking place at the door of the saloon. Either way, a policeman was quickly on the scene assessing the situation and offering to arrest both “Rough Riders.”
Feldhusen, with the immigrant’s strong all-too-real sense of fear of offending politically powerful men, indicated that arrests would not be necessary. Feldhusen, in fact, indicated that his reasoning was that “he wanted no trouble with Col. Roosevelt.”
Feldhusen’s fear may not have been warranted of Roosevelt himself, who Feldhusen still thought that he might “in some mysterious manner try to get revenge.” That fear may have, though, stemmed from a concern related to the new Rough Rider groups which were popping up everywhere.
In the end, there may have been nothing much to worry about at all. The beat cop figured that the two men who had attempted a charge up “Eight Street Hill,” were probably “‘campaign’ Rough Riders, as their uniforms were new and looked like those worn by the campaign marching clubs.”
Feldhusen, however, was taking no chances. He paid for the “$20-plate glass door” and other damages, then, the cautious man that he was, he closed his bar early for the night.
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