The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-08-17
General Shafter to
Secretary AlgeI.


of Invasion Has Had
to Endure.
Washington. August Is -Secre-
tary A'ger to day received letter
from Gen Shafter, which is as fol-
lows:
Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, San.
tiago de Cuba, August 4, 1898.
Hon. R A. Alger, Secretary of War,
Washington, D. c.
My Dear Gen Alger: Your kind
letter of July 25th WAS handed me
yesterday by Maj Sniffen. thank
you and the President for the conf
dence you express in my ability to
handle the matters entrusted to me
here
The number taken i'll in my CON-
mand is very great, as you will see,
though not very much greater than
those returned to duty and the death
rate is not at present alarming, al
though it is steadily on the increase.
and the doctors tel! me that the fever,
malarial and otherwise, is constantly
presenting more virulent features
Every possible effort is made to guard
ships bringing supplies to the army,
but it is almost impossible to enforce
it, when ships must be unioaded, and
men necessarily must come together
in discharging and receiving cargo.
The great trouble is that the people
themselves seem to have no fear of
infection. and, unless you have a
guard over every individual man, it
is almost impossible to keep them
from mingling
The silver question has settled it
self, and American silver is received
the same as American paper The
missing, I believe, have nearly all
been accounted for Not single
man was captured, and the only men
now missing are those who were
killed in the thiok brush and whose
bodies have never been found The
country has been secured faithfully
for bodies This was done a short
time after the battle
The camps pow occupied are meas
u-ably good They certainly are on
the best ground in the vicinity, and
slight changes Of location can be
made. The difficulty of separating
camps of an army of this size is on
account of the great difficulty of sup
plying them with necessary food, es.
pecially during the wet season, when
half dozen wagons over road cut
it into ruts two feet deep in places.
Pack trains are very good, and we
have to use them and do use them sll
the time. In fact, without them we
could not get along, but the sickness
among the teamsters and packers has
been very great--nearly every one Of
them, | suppose. 95 per cent. have
been sick, and, like the soldiers, they
do not recover their strength
Supplies are abundant here Of all
articles of food and clothing. can
not fully express my gratitude to
you for all the opportunities that you
have given me and for the confidence
that you repose in me, as Shown
more strongly than in any other way
by leaving me unhampered in my
operations against Santiago. l ain
very sorry to see that some news
papers are attempting to throw blame
on your trying to run the campaign
from Washington, and i suppose
some people believe it it is one Of
the things. however, that don't
suppose we can help although when.
ever | have had All opportunity I
have tried to make it p!ain that |
have been left to my own devices. l
am very sincerely yours,
Wm R. Shafter.
Washington. Aug l5.-A cable
message was received at the war de
partment this morning from Gen.
Shafter at Santiago de Cuba. saying
that the last of the troops of his corps
(the Fifth) will have left Santiago for
The United States by Thursday, next
and that be (Gen Sbaf,er) will start
for home next Saturday All that
now remains to be transported is the
Third division. commanded by Gen.
Bates These troops will be EN-
barked as rapidly as the transporta-
tion facilities will permit