Secretary of the Navy John D. Long to Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, Commander, North Atlantic Fleet
5/2/98
Sampson, Key West, Fla.
Clyde steamship line reports small Spanish gunboats from Porto Rico are cruising in Mona Passage1 and about Santo Domingo, trying to capture American steamships. Steamer Cherokee chased April twenty-ninth into port. Department thinks you should send one or two gun vessels <cruisers> to Eastern Santo Domingo <ports> and Mona Passage.
Long
Source Note: CyS, DNA, AFNRC, M625, Roll 229. Words in angle brackets were handwritten above the line. Note: John D. Long also informed Wm. P. Clyde and Company that the Navy Department had ordered vessels to cruise Mona Passage and to protect American steamers in the area.
Footnote 1: Mona Passage is the channel between the east coast of the Dominican Republic and the west coast of Puerto Rico.
