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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, Commander, North Atlantic Fleet, to Major General William R. Shafter

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,      

August 9th, 1898.

     CAPTAIN SIGSSBEE1 REPORTS AS FOLLOWS: HAVE CARRIED A FULL REGIMENT AND CAN DO IT AGAIN IF MEN ARE WELL. THE TROOPS WILL HAVE TO SUBSIST THEMSELVES. WILL COOK THEIR COFFEE ETC. TROOPS SHOULD HAVE SEVEN DAYS TRAVEL RATIONS.2

S A M P S O N .

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Source Note: Cy, DNA, AFNRC, M625, roll 237. Document reference: “No. 46.” Addressed before opening:”GENERAL SHAFTER. SANTIAGO.”

Footnote 1: Capt. Charles D. Sigsbee.

Footnote 2: Sigsbee’s ship, St. Paul, was a naval auxiliary vessel, not a traditional warship. St. Paul was offered to rapidly extricate American troops at Santiago de Cuba, where endemic supply shortages and epidemic levels of yellow fever and malaria were taking a deadly toll. DANFS

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