Secretary of the Navy John D. Long to Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, Commander, North Atlantic Fleet
TELEGRAM
Washington, July 15, 1898.
Your telegram beginning APPORY ABUM SUGGIL received.1 Do you mean to say that the armored vessels you mention cannot, in your judgment, successfully make a voyage across the Atlantic and back, in view of the importance of reinforcing Admiral Dewey?2
LONG.
Source Note: Cy, DNA, RG 80, Entry 194, vol. 1, p. 281. Addressed before opening: “Sampson,/Playa de Este, Cuba.”
Footnote 1: This telegram was written in response to Sampson’s claim that the North Atlantic Fleet was not prepared to leave the Caribbean without necessary repairs. See: Sampson to Long, 14 July 1898.
Footnote 2: RAdm. George Dewey, Commander, Asiatic Squadron. For Sampson’s response, see: Sampson to Long, 17 July 1898.
