Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-08-12
STRONG PETITION FROM ARMY
OFFICERS IN CUBA.
MUST Be MOVED OR PERISH
Fever Threatens the Annihilation of SHAFT
tcr's Army-Thc Situation y
Frightfui One.


day morning at Headquarters and in
the presence Of every commanding
and medical officer Of the Fifth army
corps, General Shafter read o cable
message from Secretary Alger, order
ing him at the recommendation Of
Surgeon General Sternberg, to move
the army into the interior, to San Luis,
where IL is healthier.
As result Of the conference, Gen.
eral Shafter will insist upon the i'm
mediate withdrawal of the army north
within two weeks.
As an explanation Of the situation,
the following letter from Col Theo-
dore Roosevelt, commanding the
First volunteer cavalry, to General
Shafter, was handed by the latter to
the correspondent Of the Associated
Press for publication:
"Maior General Shafter--Sir In
meeting of the general and medical
officers called by you OF the palace this
morning, we were all, as you know,
unanimous in view OF what should be
done with the army. To keep us here,
in the opinion Of every officer COM
manding a division or brigade, will
simply involve the destruction of thou
sands.
'"There is no possible reason for not
shipping practically the entire COM
mand north at once. Yellow fever
cases are few in the cavalry division
where I command one of the two
brigadse. and not one true case of yell
low fever has occurred in this division,
except among the men sent to the hos
pital at Siboney, where they have, I
believe. contracted ii. But in this di-
vision there have been 1900 cases Of
mslarial fever. Not man has died
from il, but the whole command is so
weakened and shattered as to be ripe
Cor dying like rotten sheep when q real
yellow fever epidemic, instead Of O
fake epidemic, like the present, strikes
us, as it is bound to do if we stay here
at the height Of the sickness season,
August and the beginning Of Septem-
Der.
Quarantine against malarisl fever
is much like quarsntining against the
toothache. All Of us are certain, as
soon as the authorities at Washington
fully appreciate the conditions of the
army, to be sent home. II we are
kept here il will in all human proba-
bility mean an appalling disaster, for
the surgeons here estimate that over
half the army, IL kept here during the
sickly season, win die. This rs not
only terrible from the standpoint Of
the Individual lives, but it means ruin
from the standpoint Of the military
efficiency Of the flower Of the Ameri-
can army, for the great bulk of the
regulars are here with you.
~ ''Ths sick, large though 1t is, ex-
ceeding 1000, affords but a faint idea
of the debilitation of the army. Not
ten per cent. are .fit for rctive work.
Six weeks on the, north Maine coast,
for instance, or elsewhere, where the
yellow fever germ cannot possibly
propagate, would make us all as
fit as fighting cocks, able as we are
eager, to take leading part in the
great campaign against Havana in the
fall, even If we are not allowed to try
Porto Rico.
'We can be moved north, il moved
at once, with absolute safety to the
country, although. Of course, il would
have been infinitely better il We had
been moved north or 20 Porto Rico
two weeks ago. II there were any
object in keeping us here, we could
face yellow fever with as much indif-
ference as we faced bullets, but there
is no object in it The four immune
regiments ordered here are sufficient
to garrison the city and surrounding
towns, and thereis absolutely nothing
for us to do here and there has not
been since the city surrendered. 1t is
impossible to move into the interior.
Every shifting Of camp doubles tho
sick rate in our present weakened con-
dition, and anyhow the interior is
rather worse than the coast, as ! have
found by actual reconnaissance. Our
present camps are as healthy as any
camps at this end of the island can be.
81 write because I cannot see our
men who have fought SO bravsly and
who have endured extreme hArdships
and danger so uncomplainingly, 60 to
destruction without striving, so far as
lies in me, to avert doom as fearful
as it is unnecessary and undeserved.
THEoposR RoosEvxLr,
Colonel Commanding First Brigade .
After Colonel Roosevelt had taken
the initiative, all the American general
officers united in q round robin ad-