Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-08-05
WANT TO COME HOME
American Troops at Santiago
in a Fearful State.
IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH
Coion'i Ehco.lurc Roosevelt Makes IL Pow
errul Appeal 10 General ~,,urirr
in I;ehn!r OF ;he brave Fight
.. .. crs Now in Cul,,. .. Pc.

y M--Nf'ttdSt IN TRANSMISSION. y
Summoned by Major General S},af,er.
/. Il meeting was held here this morning
at Headquarters and in the presence OF
! every commanding and medical officer
| Of the iiph army corps. General Shat
| ter read a cable message from Secre-
| tarN AlScr ordering him. al the recoui-
mendation. Of Surgeon General stem
| berg. to move the army into the ipte-
rior. I" san Luis, where it is healthier
| AS Il result uf the conference. General
sh,fter will insist upon the Immediate
withdrawal Of the army north within
/! tW" weeks. AS ;n explanation of the
situation. the following letter from
| Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. command
ing ihe First volunteer cavalry. to
General Shafter WIS handed by the
latter to the CORES Fondcnt here Of tn.
Associated Press for publications:
Major General Shafter:
Sir: In a meeting OF the general aud
medical officers called at the palace
| this morning were. as YOU know
unanimous in the opinion as to w'hai
should he done with the army 10
keep us here, in the opinion of every
officer commanding division or a Dri-
gade Will simply involve destruction
70 thousands. There is no poss blc
reason for not shipping practically the
| entire army north at once. Yellow
fever cases are very scarce. in the
cavalry division where l command one
/ of the TWO brigadeS. and NOT un.. true.
case OF yellow fever has occurred IN
| this division except among the men
sent t" the hosptnliat Sboncy. wher..
they have | believe: contracted it. :r.
| in this division there have been 500
cases Of na,rial fever. Not n man died
| froEi it, but the Whole command is $50
| weakened aud shattered as to be ripe
for dying like sheep if IL yellow fever
epidemic instead of a fake epidemic
| like the present strikes us. as it is bound
to do if We stay here ut the height of
the sickliest season. August ana the be-
GINNING" OF September. Quarantine
against nalAri;iI fever is much like
| nual'antinng against the touthach,.
| MI of AS are certain that as soon ;s
the authorities at Washington fully APP
preci;,te the conditions. that the army
! Nnl be sent home. If we are kept here
!I will in all human probability mean
an appallins disaster. for. the surgeons
Eners timate That over half the army,
FIR Kept mere during TIE sickly= SeasUii,-
WlifSdie. This is. notaonly terrible from
the standpoint of the individual lives
lost. but it means ruin from The stand
point Of the military efficiency of the
flower of the American army. for the
great bulk OF the regulars are here
with you. The sick list LARGE though
IL is exceeding 1000. affords but a
fani index Of the debilitation Of the
| army. Not 10 per cent arr, fit for active
work, Six weeks on the north Maine
coast. for instance. or elsewhere where
| the yellow fever germ cannot possibly
| t'ioi'S'.tc, Nhulu MAKE us All as mt as
! lighting cocks, able. as we are eager,
| L" take 4 large part In the great cam
| pai@n against Havana in the fall, even
# we are not allowed to try Porto
Rico.
I'VE 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
heen moved north or to Porto Rico two
Weeks ago. If there were any object in
! EIaG u < no a
fever with as much Indifference as we
| face bullets, but there is no object III
it. The four immune regiments or
| dered here are sufficient To garrison the
cl'S ana surrounding towns. and there
Is absolutely nothing for us to do here,
and there has not been since the city
surrendered. It is impossible to move
into he interior. Every shift of camp
doubles The sick rate in our present
weakened condition. and that The IN
| terror is rather worse than the coast
| have found by actual Reconnaissance
| our present camps are as healthy rs
any camps at this end of the island can
| he.
| Il write only because I cannot see
our men. who have fought so bravely
| ana who have endured extreme hard
| shipS and danger 50 uncomplainingly,
go to destruction without striving. so
! lar as lies In me, to avert q doom as
fearful as it is Unnecessary and und4-
served. Yours Respectfully
| TH1IODORF, ROOSEVELT
Colonel Commanding First Brigade"
| After Colonel Roosevelt had taken
| the Initiative. all the American gene
rails united in a round robin addressed
I to General Shafter.
| 1t reads: ....
we. the undersigned officers. com
| mandins the various brigades. divs-
IONS. etc. of the army of occupatio in
| cuba. are Of the unanimous opinion
| that this army should be at once taken
out of the island Of Cuba ana sent
70 some point on the northern coast OF
the United States; that it can be done
| without danger to the people of the
| United States; that the yellow fever iii,
| the army is not at present epidemic:
| there are only few sporadic cases
nut the army is disabled by the malta
rial fever to the extent that its etficien
cy is destroyed. and that i is in a con-
ditlon 10 be practically destroyed BY
! ar epidemic of yellow fever which /.
sure t" come in the near future.
we Know from the reports of COM
vatlons that the army is unable 10
! move IN the interior and that there are
no facilities for such a move if attempt
ca: and that it could not be attempted
I'll too late. Moreover. the best medi-
cal authorities of the island saw rI;a;
| with our present equipment we couId
| moi i've in the interior during the rainy
! season without loss from nalarial fe-
yer. winch is almost as deadly as vel
| low fever.
This army must be moved at once
or perish. AS the army can be safely
moved now. the persons responsible for
presenting such move will be respon-
sibie tor the unnecessary loss of many
| thousands OF lives.
| Our opinion is the result Of careful
personal observations. and they are
also based on the unanimous opinion
or our medical officers with the army,
ly.''
Major NJ. NJ. Wood the chief surgeon
of the first division. said:
The army must be moved north"
and added with emphasis. cor it will
be unable to move ITSELF
| General Ames has sent the following
cable message to Washington:
| The Hon. Charles II. Allen, assistant
secretary of the navy:
| This army is incapable. because of
4 sickness of nlarchjnp anyvbara ~,