[The following is the report of the Associated Press correspondent of
the "round-robin" incident. It is literally true in every detail. I
was present when he was handed both letters; he was present while they
were being written.]
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, August 3rd (delayed in transmission).--Summoned by
Major-General Shafter, a meeting was held here this morning at
head-quarters, and in the presence of every commanding and medical
officer of the Fifth Army Corps, General Shafter read a cable message
from Secretary Alger, ordering him, on the recommendation of
Surgeon-General Sternberg, to move the army into the interior, to San
Luis, where it is healthier.
As a result of the conference General Shafter will insist upon the
immediate withdrawal of the army North.
As an explanation of the situation the following letter from Colonel
Theodore Roosevelt, commanding the First Cavalry, to General Shafter,
was handed by the latter to the correspondent of the Associated Press
for publication: