Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, Commander, North Atlantic Fleet, to Major General William R. Shafter, 8/9/1898

Documentary Histories

Spanish-American War

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