The Wichita tribune., 1898-08-06
THEY WANT TO CONE HOME
Secretary AIger Asked to Send
Skaters Men North.
NOT 10 PER CENT FIT FOR DUTY
Colonel Roosevelt Says Malaria Has
Placed the Soldiers In Condition
Where Yellow Fever VIII Klu Them
Like Rotten sheep" = a

WrTH SHAFTER's ARMY, Aug. a.
Summoned by Major General Shafter,
meetidg was held here this morniug
at headquarters and in the presence of
every commanding and medical officer
of the Fifth army corps, General
Shafter received cable message from
Secretary Alger ordering him at the
recommendation of Surgeon General
Sternberg to move the army into the
interior, to San Luis, where it is
healthier. As result of the confer
ence, General Shafter will insist upon
the withdrawal of the army north
within two weeks.
AS an explanation of the situation,
the following if*ter from Colonel
Theodore Roosevclz, commanding the
First volunteer cavalry, to General
Shafter was given out for publication:
E"Major General Shafter: Sir-In a
meeting of the geasral and medical Of
icers, called by you at this place this
morning, we were eal, as you know,
unanimous in vie c4 what sho-4ld be
done with the army. 70 keep US here.
in the opinion of every officer COM
manding a division or brigade, will
simply involve the destruction of
thousands. There is no possible rea-
son for not shipping practically the
entire command north at once.
yellow fever cases are very few in
the cavalry division, where l command
% 1,1 ~, h.,.n I.oc
true case of yellow fever has occurred
in this division, except among the men
sent to the hospital at Siboney, where
they have, l believe, contracted it.
In this division there have been ], 500
cases of malarial fever Not aeman
has died from it, but the whole COM
mand is so weakened and shattered as
to be ripe for dying like rotten sheep
when a real yellow fever epidemic, in
stead of fake epidemic like the pres
ent, strikes us, as it is bound to if we
stay here at the height of the sickness
season, August and the beginning of
| September. Quarantine against ma
| larial fever is much like quarantinine
--s,<-s.--.&
''All of us are certain, as soon as tho
authorities at Washington fully ap-
preciate the condition of the army, to
be sent home. If we are kept here it
will, in all human possibility, mean an
appalling disaster, for the surgeons
here estimate that over half the army,
if kept here during the sickly season,
will die. This is not only terrible
from the standpoint of the individual
lives lost, but it means ruin from the
standpoint of the military efficiency of
the flower of the American army, for
the great bulk of the regulars are here
with you.
NOT 10 PER CENT FIT FOR DUTY.
THE sick list, large though it is,
exceeding 4 1000, affords but faint in
dex of the debilitation of the army.
Not 10 per cent are fit for active work.
Six weeks upon the North Maine
coast, for instance, or elsewhere,
where the yellow fever cannot possi-
bly, propagate, would make US all as
fit as fighting cocks-able, as we are
eager, to take lcadins 1rt in the
great campaign against havana in the
fall, even if we are not allowed to try
Porto Rico.
''We can be moved north, if moved
at once, with absolute safety to the
country, although, Of course, it would
have been infinitely better if we had
been moved north or to Porto Rico two
weeks ago. If there was any object in
keeping Us here we would face yellow
fever with as much Indifference as we
face bullets, but there is no object in
it. The four immune regiments or
dered here are sufficient to garrison
the city and surrounding towns, and
there is absolutely nothing for US to
do here, and there has not been since
the city surrendered.
Il write only because I cannot see
our men, who have fought SO bravely
and have endured extreme hardships
and danger SO uncomplainingly go to
destruction without striving, so far as
lies in me, to avert a doom as fearful
as it is unnecessary and undeserved.
Yours respectfully,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
Colonel Commanding First Brigade"
After Colonel Roosevelt had taken
the initiative, all the American.general
officers united in similar address to
General Shafter
Major M. w. Wood, the chief sur
geon of the First division, said: "The
army must be moved North" adding
with emphasis, ''or it will be unable
to move itcelf."
General Ames has sent the following
cable message to Washington: 1.-The
Hon Charles Fl. Allen, assistant secre-
tary of the navy: This army is inca
pable. because of sickness, of march
ing anywhere except to the transports.
If it is ever to return to the United
States it must do SO at once. A full
list of the sick would mean copy Of
the roster of every company here"