User blog comment:Battlefan237/DW Rematch : Lawrence of Arabia vs. Theodore Roosevelt/@comment-4661256-20180819034331

El Alamein's Edges:

 Melee: Bowie Knife vs. Khanjar:  Well, I think I'm going to surprise myself here and give the edge to the Bowie knife. Even though the khanjar (or jambiya, as it was called on the Deadliest Warrior episode, as they seem to be two closely-related types of blades) got the edge on the show, it was purely because it was bigger, while the statistics present on the blog seem to indicate the opposite. Looking it up, Wikipedia says that the Bowie knife is 12-18 in. long, with a blade length of 5-12 inches, while a quick Google search on the khanjar indicates that it's 17.25 inches long with a blade length of 10 inches. So as far as size is concerned, it's a wash for me. However, the Bowie knife still gets the edge, because from what I've seen on Wikipedia, the khanjar is a ceremonial dagger. It might be sharp and scary, but it seems to me like it's not really intended for combat, much less battlefield combat. The Bowie knife, on the other hand, is a practical tool that can be used in combat and for other, more everyday purposes.

Edge: Theodore Roosevelt

 Handgun: Colt Single Action Army vs. Webley:  This is an easy win for the Webley. It's double-action, not single-action like the Colt (pretty important when it comes to quickly laying down rounds in a firefight). In my mind, this is enough to get it the edge, especially when the rounds both weapons fire are fairly close in size and they have similar effective ranges. There just isn't too much else to say here.

Edge: Lawrence of Arabia

 Rifles: Krag vs. SMLE:  Much like on the show, I'm going to call it even here. While the Krag has a longer range, the SMLE has twice the capacity of the Krag (it can hold 10 rounds as compared to the Krag's 5), so while the Rough Riders can theoretically get the opening shots of the fight, Lawrence's men can keep firing or advance while the Americans have to duck down and reload. At the end of the day they're two functional bolt-action rifles so there isn't a lot to complain about, and the distinct advantages that each weapon carries into battle are countered fairly well by the other.

Edge: Even

 Machine Guns: M1895 Colt-Browning vs. Hotchkiss:  Major, major edge for Lawrence. The machine gun will do Teddy a major disservice in this fight. Per Wikipedia, the Rough Riders only had two of these machine guns in their unit, so it's not like they had a ton of firepower available with these weapons anyway, but more importantly (and in Roosevelt's own words), "These Colt automatic guns were not, on the whole, very successful...they proved more delicate than the Gatlings, and very readily got out of order." The Colt-Browning weighs a good four pounds more than the Hotchkiss, and its rate of fire is considerably slower, so that Lawrence's men will be better able to suppress their opponents. Importantly, Lawrence will be much more experienced with the use of a more modern machine gun, in an era where such weapons had evolved to be reliable, so I think he'll be better able to employ such a tool in combat anyway.

Edge: Lawrence of Arabia

 X-Factors:  Lawrence gets all of the edges worth mentioning. Roosevelt's victory at San Juan Hill is nothing to be proud of. He literally led a direct charge, uphill, into enemy fire and only won because of overwhelming material superiority. His victory came at the cost of several hundred killed and one thousand men wounded. Lawrence, to be sure, had flaws, but as a leader he demonstrated a greater degree of tactical thinking and leadership than Roosevelt, who, I feel I must reiterate, ''sent his men in a straight line directly into oncoming enemy fire. ''Lawrence probably also had more experience, considering he fought from 1916-1918 whereas Roosevelt was only a participant in the Spanish-American War, which lasted under a year in 1898 (and, again, much of that experience consisted of throwing his soldiers directly into enemy fire).

Edge: Lawrence of Arabia

WINNER: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

Yeah, Theodore Roosevelt is honestly a pretty bad military commander when you boil it down to the basics. He should not have suffered that many casualties in his victory at San Juan Hill, and yet he somehow managed to pull it off anyway. Lawrence should win firstly because he's a far more competent commander, who probably can manage a level head in combat far better than the brash, hot-headed Roosevelt, but also because his weaponry is a good deal more advanced technologically, particularly when it comes to the machine guns. The Spanish-American War still represented the transition between the 19th century and the dawn of modern warfare in the 20th, whereas World War I firmly demonstrates the nature of modern warfare and what modern weaponry could achieve. For these reasons, I see no way that Lawrence shouldn't absolutely stomp Theodore Roosevelt in a small squad skirmish. He's the better leader and the better warrior.