Round - Robin Letter ( Spanish - American War ) The Round - Robin Letter is the name of an incident in the United States Army that occurred between July 28 and August 3 , 1898 , during the Spanish – American War . After disease incapacitated thousands of Army soldiers in the wake of the Siege of Santiago , high - ranking officers of V Corps drafted a round - robin letter demanding that the unit be sent back to the United States . Public release of the letter publicly embarrassed the U . S . government . About the incident . By July 28 , 1898 , malaria and yellow fever were pandemic among U . S . Army troops garrison ed near Santiago de Cuba on the island of Cuba . V Corps , to which the Rough Riders was attached , had 4 , 270 men seriously ill ( and dying ) , and corps commanders feared the unit could be wiped out if it stayed in Cuba . The McKinley administration , however , planned to keep V Corps in Cuba until peace negotiations with Spain concluded . Public opinion was also against bringing home an army infected with yellow fever . Several senior officers met with Major General William R . Shafter , commander of V Corps , and unanimously asked that the corps be withdrawn to the United States . It is unclear whether Shafter agreed and asked for this in writing , or whether Shafter disagreed and the corps commanders decided to put their request in writing . At any rate , Colonel Theodore Roosevelt ( commander of the First Volunteer US Cavalry Rough Riders ) and while now , acting brigade commander , the only non - general officer of the group of 10 officers was asked by the other generals to draft a round robin letter outlining the problems with living conditions and disease to sent to Army Headquarters in Wiashington , DC . It would also be deliberately leaked to the press . The term " round robin " dates from the 17th Century French " ruban rond " ( round ribbon ) . and refers to the practice of signatories to petitions against authority ( usually Government officials petitioning the Crown ) appending their names on a document in a non - hierarchical circle or ribbon pattern ( and so disguising the order in which they have signed ) so that none may be identified as a ringleader . This same practice had also been adopted by British sailors petitioning their officers in the Royal Navy ( first recorded 1731 ) . As a volunteer , Roosevelt ' s career would not be at stake in the way a regular army officer ' s would be by the communication . ( Some sources say there is doubt that Roosevelt was the author , while others say that Roosevelt was only the author of the abridged letter . ) Nine generals and Roosevelt signed the letter . An abridged version was given to Shafter to present to the United States Secretary of War . Shafter declined to do so , but did communicate with his superiors about what was happening . The letter was deliberately leaked to Associated Press correspondents at V Corps Headquarters which cabled it back to the US where it was published throughout the US and beyond . Publication of the round - robin letter turned public opinion against the War Department . The McKinley administration was outraged by the leaking of the round - robin letter , but knew the public response would be highly negative . On July 28 , Secretary of War Russell A . Alger cabled Shafter and ordered V Corps home to Camp Wikoff on Long Island , New York , for quarantine and mustering out . On August 3 , the day before the letter appeared in the press , Alger ordered construction on Camp Wikoff to begin and for United States Navy ships to head to Cuba to retrieve V Corps . The first units departed on August 7 . Alger claimed that the round - robin letter did not accelerate administration plans to repatriate V Corps . But this appears untruthful , as Alger had long claimed that naval ships were unavailable .