The composition of this half-minute short subject from 1898 is just fine. The troopers ride straight at the camera until they suddenly veer off to the left. As they leave the screen, a second unit enters from the right of the screen and rides after the first troop. As in a Lumiere movie of the same era, we see contrasting lines of movement, but not at the same time.
Although that lack of simultaneity robs this short of excitement, the audience for this would be excited to see the Rough Riders, Teddy Roosevelt's volunteer regiment from the Spanish-American War. Although Roosevelt was a politician of growing importance, the Rough Riders and the Spanish American War thrust him into national consciousness. Although Chester Alan Arthur was the first sitting president to be filmed and McKinlay used film in the course of his presidency to lend him an air of immediacy, Teddy Roosevelt is arguably the first president to be made by the movies.