Talk:Rough Riders

There may have been a Merwin & Hulbert revolver in the movie, but it wasn't carried by Henry Nash (Brad Johnson). When Nash was robbing the stagecoach, in training near San Antonio, and then later in Cuba, he is carrying a nickel plated Colt Bisley with, as I recall, ivory grips. Perhaps it was his friend (and fellow coach robber) George Neville (Buck Taylor) who dies of Yellow Fever in Cuba that carried the M&H revolver?

You're quite correct that Roosevelt carried a Colt DA raised from the Maine, presented to him by his brother-in-law W.S. Cowles. My understanding is that Roosevelt did own a nickel plated Colt SAA with ivory grips embossed with the the large TR on them, so it's not completely out of whack to have him shown with it in Cuba; even though he didn't carry it there. But there are several historical inaccuracies in the film (and it's a great movie) such as showing William Tiffany being shot dead on Kettle Hill when in reality he died from Yellow Fever on Long Island after the regiment was moved out of Cuba, the fictional presence of German military advisors (there were none), the presence of Maxim machine guns on the San Juan Heights (the Spanish army had them but they were not deployed on the San Juan Heights). Also, while I enjoyed Gary Busey's portrayal of Joe Wheeler, he needed to get down to his "Buddy Holly" weight to accurately portray Wheeler, who was a slight physical figure, but a great cavalry leader. Also Frederick Funston was not in Cuba at this time and did not participate in the war there, he'd been in Cuba with the revolutionaries in 1896 but contracted malaria and his weight dropped to about 95 pounds, the Cubans granted leave and he returned to the U.S. Funston was commissioned as a colonel in the 20th Kansas Infantry, U.S. Army, a month after war was declared and landed in the Philippines and fought there during the "Insurrection". He was not in Cuba during the war.harleyguy